A couple months later, Gabriella walked into the house and smiled when she saw Troy rocking Olivia to sleep. He looked up and smiled. Gabriella walked over to Troy and kissed his cheek softly.
"Did she just fall asleep?" Gabriella asked.
Troy nodded.
"I changed her and she passed out by the time that I came downstairs" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled.
"Is Pat still taking his nap?" Gabriella asked.
"Yeah. He got hit at school today. His teacher said that the kid who hit him apologized" Troy said.
Gabriella sighed.
"He's okay though?" Gabriella asked.
Troy nodded.
"He's fine. A little upset. But, fine" Troy said.
"Did anyone call?" Gabriella asked.
"No. Were you expecting someone to call?" Troy asked.
"My mom maybe. But, I guess she didn't" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled sympathetically.
"I'm sorry honey" Troy said.
Gabriella shook her head.
"Don't be. This is on her" Gabriella said.
Troy kissed Gabriella's lips softly. The next day, Troy was in his office at the hospital working on patient files. Nicole stuck her head in the door.
"Troy" Nicole said.
"I don't have any more patients today" Troy said.
"Troy" Nicole repeated.
Troy looked up and saw the serious look on Nicole's face.
"What's up?" Troy asked.
"Don't freak out yet. Brooks called the office and told me to find you as soon as possible. Something's going on with Olivia. Gabriella tried to call but the call failed" Nicole said.
Troy's eyes widened. He got up and grabbed his phone and didn't see any messages or missed calls.
"Where are they?" Troy asked.
"In peds. Second floor. 2134" Nicole said.
"Thank you" Troy said running out of the office.
Troy caught the elevator and pressed the second-floor button. He started to take deep breaths to try to calm himself down. Troy didn't know what was going on. Olivia hadn't had a complication with her heart up until now. He was pulled out of his thoughts when the elevator door opened. Troy walked to the room that Nicole told him. He knocked on the door softly and heard Gabriella's voice. Troy walked into the room and Gabriella fell into his arms.
"I'm here baby. I'm here" Troy said holding Gabriella in his arms.
Troy looked up and saw Dr. Brooks. He reached out one of his hands and shook his colleague's hand.
"What happened?" Troy asked.
"She got an infection. She will be alright. We need to treat it and keep her here until it's cleared" Dr. Brooks said.
Troy took a deep breath and released it.
"It's common, Troy" Dr. Brooks said.
"I know. I guess I thought everything was fine because she had gone so long without a problem" Troy said.
"We will give her antibiotics and see how she responds to everything and we will take it from there okay?" Dr. Brooks said.
The couple nodded.
"I'll be back in a little while to check on her" Dr. Brooks said.
"Thanks Brooks" Troy said.
Dr. Brooks smiled sympathetically and left the room. Troy looked down at Gabriella.
"What happened baby?" Troy asked cupping Gabriella's cheeks.
"She looked like she was having hiccups. But when they didn't go away an hour later, I got scared. I tried to call but it wouldn't go through" Gabriella said.
"You did the right thing, Brie" Troy said.
Gabriella took a shaky breath.
"I was so scared, Troy" Gabriella said.
"I know. But now we know what this thing is and we are going to fix it" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Troy put his chin on top of Gabriella's head and held Gabriella in his arms.
"Where's Pat?" Troy asked.
"With your parents" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded. Several hours later, Dr. Brooks had started Olivia on antibiotics and the couple was waiting to hear how everything was progressing. Gabriella was going in and out of sleep. It was seven o' clock in the evening. Troy looked down at his emotionally exhausted wife. He picked up his phone and texted his mother and asked if she or Jack could bring a bag of clothes for both of them. Troy didn't want to leave Gabriella. An hour later, there was a knock on the door. Lucille stuck her head in. Troy smiled sympathetically and motioned to be quiet because Gabriella was trying to fall asleep.
"Baby, mom is here. I'm going to go talk to her outside for a minute okay?" Troy whispered.
Gabriella opened her eyes and looked into Troy's. Troy smiled and kissed Gabriella's forehead softly.
"I'm going to go out to the hallway for a minute to talk to mom. I'll be right back okay?" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"You go back to sleep. I'll be right outside the door" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Troy got up carefully and covered Gabriella more with the blanket that had been given to them. Troy and Lucille walked out of the room. Lucille handed Troy the bag.
"Thank you so much" Troy said.
"What happened, Troy?" Lucille asked.
"Olivia got an infection in her heart. Dr. Brooks put her on antibiotics" Troy said.
"How did that happen?" Lucille asked.
"She's a baby. Her immune system is not like Pat's was. She has very little immunity to infections" Troy said.
Lucille sighed.
"How is Gabriella holding up?" Lucille asked.
"A little emotional. But, that was expected" Troy said.
Troy and Lucille talked for a few more minutes. Troy walked back into the hospital room and saw Gabriella sitting up in the spare hospital bed.
"Mom brought us a couple days worth of clothes" Troy said holding up the bag of clothes.
Gabriella nodded.
"Why don't you go back to sleep, Brie?" Troy said.
"I can't sleep" Gabriella said.
Troy put the bag down. He walked over to the bed and sat on the edge.
"Babies get infections all the time. Especially ones like Olivia. You did the right thing by bringing her in" Troy said.
Gabriella sighed.
"Pat never gets infections. He gets colds. But, that's all. This is just completely new for me" Gabriella said.
Troy placed his hand on top of Gabriella's.
"I know. It is for me too. But, things like this happen all the time. She is getting antibiotics and she will be fine" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded and yawned.
"Go back to sleep okay?" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Troy got back into bed and Gabriella snuggled into his chest. The next afternoon, Troy was finishing up his appointments for the day. Dr. Brooks knocked on the door. Troy looked up and smiled.
"How's my girl today?" Troy asked.
"Troy, we need to discuss some things" Dr. Brooks started.
Troy nodded.
"I've been watching how Olivia has been reacting to the antibiotics and the problem hasn't improved" Dr. Brooks said.
"So, we try something else?" Troy asked.
"The tests that I have ran have all been pointing to one thing" Dr. Brooks said.
Troy took a deep breath and released it. He knew what Dr. Brooks was going to say. Troy didn't want to even think about how Gabriella would react to it. He rubbed his face.
"I know that it's a stressful situation and you know that I wouldn't recommend it if I wasn't absolutely sure" Dr. Brooks said.
Troy nodded.
"I got to go home and talk to Brie. Prepare her" Troy said standing up and getting his stuff together.
Dr. Brooks nodded. An hour later, Troy walked into the house and smiled when he saw Patrick run over to him.
"Hey buddy. How was preschool?" Troy asked his son.
"He's been learning how to draw pictures" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled. Gabriella handed Troy the paper with Patrick's drawing.
"You did this?" Troy asked his almost two-year old son.
Patrick nodded.
"I'm so proud of you, Pat" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled. Patrick walked away and played in the living room. Troy stood up and looked at Gabriella.
"I need to talk to you about something" Troy said.
Gabriella looked at Troy and saw the serious look in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Gabriella asked.
Troy motioned for Gabriella to sit down. Gabriella sat down and looked at Troy.
"Dr. Brooks came to my office today. She wanted to give me an update on how Olivia was doing" Troy started.
Gabriella nodded.
"She hasn't been responding to the antibiotics. She's run tests and said that all of them are pointing to the same thing" Troy said.
"Which is what?" Gabriella asked.
Troy put his hand on top of Gabriella's. Gabriella looked at Troy.
"Troy, you are scaring me" Gabriella said.
"Brie, Dr. Brooks needs to do surgery again on Olivia" Troy said.
Gabriella's eyes filled with tears.
"Sweetheart, talk to me" Troy said putting his hand on top of hers.
Gabriella took a shaky breath.
"She was fine" Gabriella said shakily.
"I know. Sometimes things happen baby and we can't control them" Troy said.
Gabriella wiped a tear that was running down her cheek. Troy put his arm around Gabriella and kissed her head softly.
"We will get through this" Troy said.
"I am going to call your parents and my mom and let them know what's going on. Dr. Brooks came to you and told you?" Gabriella asked.
Troy nodded.
"Why couldn't she have made sure that both of us were at the hospital so she could tell us together instead of having you tell me?" Gabriella asked.
"Because she knows you now, Brie. She knows that the first person you look to for advice or to ask for another opinion is me. I didn't really agree with her reasoning since she should have told us regardless. But, if you heard it from me we could talk about it. See how we feel about it" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"Let me call our parents and let them know the update and we can talk" Gabriella said.
"Okay" Troy said.
Gabriella called her mother and Troy's parents and explained what was going on with Olivia. An hour and a half later, Gabriella walked into the living room.
"Everybody on the same page?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded. She sat down next to Troy and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Did she tell you when she wants to do it?" Gabriella asked.
"No. But, when we go in to see her tonight or tomorrow, she will talk to us about it" Troy said.
Gabriella sighed.
"Do you want to go over there now and get it over with?" Gabriella asked.
Troy smiled sympathetically.
"Let's sit here for a while and let everything sink in. We don't need to go over there and demand answers or anything like that" Troy said.
"I wouldn't do that to her, Troy" Gabriella said.
"I'm not saying you would. These types of things have an emotional component" Troy said motioning to Gabriella's tearstained face.
Gabriella looked down. Troy placed his hand on Gabriella's leg.
"It just needs to sit for a little bit. Maybe tomorrow would be better" Troy said.
"Would she get worse in a day?" Gabriella asked.
Troy shook his head.
"The way she's monitored, it would be caught in no time. But, most likely nothing will happen. She's stable right now" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"And if anything happened we would be notified" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Troy kissed Gabriella's head softly. Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy's waist and buried her face in his neck.
"Let's get some sleep okay? Tomorrow is going to be a long day" Troy said.
"Okay" Gabriella said.
The couple went to bed. The next day, Gabriella arrived at the hospital and smiled when she saw Troy already in Olivia's hospital room holding their daughter.
"Hey" Troy said.
"Hey" Gabriella said.
"Dr. Brooks just came by and said she would be in soon" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. She leaned down and kissed Olivia's head.
"I love you baby" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled. An hour later, Gabriella and Troy walked out of the hospital and drove home. Dr. Brooks and the couple talked about Olivia and the whole surgery situation. Gabriella had gotten emotional, as Troy expected. He was upset too. But Troy knew that they had to do what was best for Olivia. Troy was pulled out of his thoughts when he arrived home. He walked into the house and smiled at his mother, who had been watching Patrick.
"Is everything okay? Gabi walked in looking really upset" Lucille said.
Troy nodded.
"Olivia's surgery is next Tuesday. Brie is emotional right now" Troy said.
"Do you want me to take Pat for the night?" Lucille asked.
"I think that would be best. Plus, it would make it easier for tomorrow" Troy said.
Lucille nodded.
"She will be fine, Troy" Lucille said.
Troy smiled sympathetically. A couple minutes later, Lucille and Patrick left the house. Troy walked into the bedroom and saw Gabriella pacing.
"Sweetheart, do you want to talk about it?" Troy asked.
Gabriella looked at Troy with tears in her eyes.
"How did this happen?" Gabriella asked.
Troy sat on the edge of their bed. He motioned for Gabriella to sit next to him. Gabriella walked over to Troy and sat next to him, leaning her head against his shoulder.
"This is what life will look like for her, baby. Everyday is different. Luckily, we caught it before it became a big problem" Troy said.
Gabriella took a deep breath and released it.
"Why don't you go take a nice, hot shower? I think you will feel a little better after" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. An hour later, Gabriella emerged from the bathroom looking a lot better than earlier that day. She climbed onto the bed, where Troy was on his computer. Gabriella leaned her head against Troy's shoulder.
"How was your shower?" Troy asked.
"I feel a little better" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"Good" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled slightly. She took Troy's computer off his lap and closed it. Gabriella placed it on the floor. Troy looked at her confused. Gabriella moved back to Troy and straddled him, kissing his lips. Troy kissed back and placed his hand on the small of Gabriella's back. Gabriella pulled away slowly and rested her nose against Troy's.
"Brie" Troy said softly.
"Troy, I need you" Gabriella said softly.
"I don't want to hurt you, babe" Troy said.
"You won't. It would be good for you and for me" Gabriella said.
"I don't want to take advantage of you, Brie. We're emotional" Troy said.
"I want this" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded.
"You stop me if anything-" Troy started.
"I know. Thank you" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled slightly.
"I love you" Troy said.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
Clothes were discarded. The couple made love…not once…not twice…but several times that night. The next morning, Troy woke up and smiled when he saw Gabriella sitting up in bed, reading emails on her phone. He kissed her bare shoulder softly.
"You okay?" Troy asked softly.
Gabriella looked away from her phone and nodded. She placed her hand on Troy's cheek.
"I'm fine" Gabriella said softly.
Troy smiled.
"When do you want to go over to the hospital today?" Troy asked.
"In a little bit" Gabriella said putting her phone down and laying back down and snuggling into Troy's bare chest.
Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella and kissed her shoulder. The couple lied in bed in silence. It wasn't awkward. They were thinking the same things.
"She's going to be a strong girl once she is older" Troy said randomly.
Gabriella smiled slightly and nodded.
"The strongest. Just like her daddy" Gabriella said.
"More like her mom. Maybe this happened for a reason" Troy said.
"But what reason?" Gabriella asked.
"Maybe based on her struggles, she can help others that are going through the same types of things" Troy said.
"Maybe" Gabriella said.
A couple hours later, the couple walked into ICU and smiled when they saw Olivia. They put on their protective gowns and Nicole and Troy carefully placed Olivia into Gabriella's arms. Troy and Nicole made sure that all the monitors were still attached and working properly. Nicole then left the room to give the couple some privacy.
"She looks a lot like you today" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled. There was a knock on the door and Dr. Brooks came into the room.
"Hi guys" Dr. Brooks said.
"Hi" the couple said.
"So what's the plan?" Gabriella asked.
The couple and Dr. Brooks discussed Olivia's treatment plan and surgery details. A week later, the couple walked into ICU and saw that Olivia was already being prepped for surgery. Dr. Brooks went over the surgery plan with the couple. Troy and Gabriella both kissed Olivia and were escorted to the waiting room. A couple hours later, Gabriella was sitting in Troy's office. They needed to get out of the waiting room. Olivia was still in surgery. Troy was working on progress notes when the phone rang.
"Bolton" Troy answered.
Troy listened to the caller and nodded. A couple minutes later, he hung up.
"It was a nurse calling to tell us that Brooks wanted to make sure that she got all of the infection and there wasn't anything else" Troy said.
"She's still in surgery?" Gabriella asked.
Troy nodded. Gabriella sighed. She got up and started pacing. Troy looked up from his notes and stood up. He walked to the front of his desk and stopped his wife in her tracks.
"Brie, she's just making sure she got everything. Why don't we go down to the cafeteria for a little bit?" Troy said.
Gabriella shook her head.
"Babe, you need to eat something" Troy said softly.
Gabriella let her tears fall. Troy knew that she was trying to stay strong for Olivia. He held Gabriella in his arms. Gabriella cried and tightened her grip on her husband.
"I'm just worried" Gabriella mumbled through her tears.
"I know baby. But, she is in good hands. When she's out of surgery, she's going to need her mommy. To be there for her, you need to make sure that you are okay" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded slowly.
"Let's go" Gabriella said quietly.
Troy smiled slightly. He took her hand in his own and the couple walked to the cafeteria.