Chapter 6
Harold and Brian stepped out of the elevator on the Maternity
floor and headed down the hall. Brian
lagged behind, his feet dragging on the floor.
Suddenly,
he tripped and fell forward, landing hard on his knees.
“Bri?”
Harold asked, turning back to his son.
“You okay, buddy?”
Brian
had begun to cry. Harold wasn’t sure if
he was hurt from the fall, or if he was just exhausted.
“Shh,
it’s okay,” Harold soothed, helping Brian up from the ground. He noticed the strips of velcro on one of
Brian’s shoes had come undone. The
shoes were old, and the velcro was worn, so they had been coming undone a lot
lately.
Harold
started to bend down to fix the velcro, when Jillian, the nurse that had
brought Jackie to this floor earlier, came running up.
“Mr.
Littrell!” she shouted. “Your wife has
just been taken to the delivery room!”
“Oh,
my gosh,” Harold cried, beginning to panic.
He leapt back onto his feet, forgetting about Brian’s shoes.
“Come
with me; I’ll show you to the delivery room,” Jillian said. Then she noticed Brian, who was still
crying. “I’m sorry, but your son can’t
come back. Maybe-“
“Brian,
sit right here, and don’t move,” Harold said firmly, interrupting Jillian as he
set Brian down in the nearest chair, which was sitting under an Anne Geddes
picture of a baby dressed up as a sunflower.
“Got that? Don’t move.”
Brian
nodded, his teary eyes wide, as he watched his father run off with the nurse.
***
“Jackie!”
Harold cried, bursting into the waiting room, gowned up in green doctor’s
attire.
“Harold,”
she moaned, reaching for his hand. “It’s
coming!”
“I
know, honey. I know,” he murmured,
squeezing her hand. “Just keep
breathing.”
“Okay,
Jackie, I want you to push now,” Dr. Franks guided.
Jackie
nodded, breathing hard, and began to push, scrunching up her face in pain as
she did so. A hoarse cry escaped her
lips.
“That’s
great,” Dr. Franks said. “Keep
pushing. It’s coming.”
Jackie
pushed harder, her grip on Harold’s hand tightening.
“Okay,
I can see the head. One more should do
it,” Dr. Franks announced.
Jackie
grimaced and pushed one last time.
Suddenly, an infant’s loud cry cut through the room. Jackie burst into relieved tears, as Dr.
Franks held up a wailing newborn.
“Congratulations,”
she said, smiling. “It’s a little girl.”
“Ohh,”
Jackie breathed, crying harder, as she gave Harold’s hand another squeeze. “A girl.”
“Our
first daughter,” Harold said happily, kissing his wife’s sweaty forehead. “You did wonderful, honey.”
Jackie
smiled, her body relaxing.
Dr.
Franks cut the baby’s umbilical cord and dried her off, then wrapped her in a
light pink baby blanket. “You wanna
hold your new daughter now, Jackie?” she asked.
“Oh
yes,” Jackie said, nodding eagerly. She
smiled proudly as the doctor placed the little bundle into her awaiting
arms.
“Hello
there,” Jackie cooed, gazing down in delight at her baby girl. The baby had quieted down and looked up at
her mother with sleepy blue eyes. “Oh,
Harold, isn’t she beautiful?”
Harold
looked down in admiration at his daughter.
“She’s beautiful,” he agreed, nodding in pride. “Perfect.”
“Have
you decided on a name for her?” Jillian asked.
Jackie
and Harold exchanged glances, and Jackie replied, “Taylor Renee.” It was one of the names they had agreed on
in advance in case they had a girl.
Harold
nodded in agreement. “Yes. Taylor Renee,” he repeated.
“That’s
a beautiful name,” the nurse said, smiling as she wrote it down on the birth
certificate. “I’m sorry to butt in, but
I need to take Taylor for a bath and then to the nursery. I’ll bring her back up later. In the meantime, these other nurses are going
to take you back to your room, okay?”
“Sure,”
Jackie said, carefully handing Taylor to Jillian.
“Get
some rest,” Jillian said to Jackie, as she carried Taylor out of the room.
“Are
you ready to head back to your room now, Jackie?” another nurse asked.
“Yes,”
Jackie replied, nodding. She looked at
Harold. “Honey, go tell the boys they
have a little sister,” she said, her eyes sparkling.
Harold
nodded. “I will, sweetheart,” he
replied.
“Where
is Brian, anyway?” Jackie asked suddenly.
“Is he in Harry’s room?”
“Uh,
no, he’s waiting out in a chair in the hall,” Harold replied. “We had just gotten on this floor when
Jillian came to get us, so there wasn’t anywhere else I could take him. I’ll go tell him the good news now.”
“Okay. Bring him down to my room in a few minutes so
I can see him,” Jackie said, smiling.
“Okay,”
Harold replied, returning her happy smile.
“See you later.”
With
that, he headed out of the delivery room and started down the hall towards
where he had left his son.
Halfway
down the hall, he stopped and looked around, puzzled. Hadn’t he left Brian in a chair somewhere in
this hall?
Then
he noticed the picture of the sunflower baby hanging on the hall a few feet in
front of him. His heartbeat increasing,
Harold looked down at the chair positioned under it. It was empty.
Harold
looked up and down the hall, trying not to panic. Brian must have just wandered off
somewhere.
And
then something lying against the wall further down the hall caught his
eye. His heart pounding loudly in his
ears, Harold hurried over to it and picked it up.
As
he realized what it was, he gasped. It
was a small Sesame Street tennis shoe, its velcro strips undone. Brian’s shoe.
He wouldn’t go anywhere without his shoe, Harold realized,
beginning to sweat. He could only think
of one thing – that something terrible
had happened to Brian.
***
