Chapter
44
After another hour, Dr. Linden came in again. “Hi, Julie,” she said. “How are you doing?”
I shrugged. “They’re
getting closer together,” I said, referring to my contractions.
She nodded. “It’ll
be time soon,” she said. “Just try to
relax.”
I nodded, although I didn’t think it was possible for me to
relax at a time like this. Right then, I
just wanted it to be over as soon as possible.
***
“Nick? Honey, can I
get you anything?”
Nick glanced up to see his mother standing before him.
“No thanks, Mom,” he said softly.
“Nick, sweetie, I’m so sorry,” Jane said, putting her hand
on her son’s back. “If there’s anything
I can do, just let me know.”
“There’s nothing you can do. It’s all up to God,” Nick mumbled.
It had been over an hour since he had gotten the news on
Sammy, and it hadn’t gotten any easier for him to accept. He recalled the surgeon telling him the
horrible news, that he hadn’t been able to fix Sammy’s injuries, and that it
was very likely she would die. The scene
played through his mind over and over again, and each time, his mind screamed,
“No, no, it can’t be!” But it could be,
and it was.
“Megan, sweetheart, how about you? Can I get you anything?” Jane asked, leaning
down to Megan, who sat beside Nick, her eyes red and puffy from crying.
Megan solemnly shook her head. “Nick, when can we see Mom?” she asked,
looking up at her soon to be father.
“I don’t know, hun,” Nick said gently. “Whenever her doctor tells us we can. It could be awhile.”
“Oh,” Megan said glumly, slumping back in her chair.
From across the room, Leslie and BJ exchanged sad
glances. They had never seen their
older brother so upset before. But who
wouldn’t be upset, when their fiancée was dying?
“Girls, why don’t you come down to the cafeteria with me?”
Jane asked them softly. “Let’s let Nick
and Megan have some time alone.”
BJ and Leslie nodded and stood up. Bob did as well, and they all went with Jane
down to the cafeteria. Brian’s family,
along with Howie, AJ, and Amanda, was with Brian, Kevin’s family was with
Kevin, Heidi and Josh were with Julie, and all the other guests had either
stayed back at Julie and Josh’s house or gone to their hotels, so Nick and
Megan were left alone in the waiting room.
It was just as well, for neither one of them felt like talking to
anyone. They just needed each other to
share their misery.
***
Brian looked at the group of people around him, feeling
nearly overwhelmed. His parents were
there, along with Harry and Tracy.
Leighanne and Hope were there too.
And so were Howie, AJ, and Amanda, who had come down only an hour before
from the surgical waiting room to tell Brian the news about Sammy. Brian felt frustrated. He wanted more than anything to get out of
that bed and go see his friends. He
wanted to see poor Nick, who had just found out his fiancée was dying. He wanted to see Julie, who was in labor on
the maternity floor. He wanted to see
Kevin, who was in another room with a concussion and a bullet wound to the
shoulder. But, no, he was stuck there in
that room with a broken leg.
Brian noticed Hope rubbing her eyes and realized how tired
she must be. He wasn’t sure what time it
was, but he knew it was late, way past her bed time. “Hey, Leigh, maybe you should take Hope
home,” he said. “She’s exhausted.
Leighanne glanced down at Hope, then back at Brian. She obviously didn’t want to leave him.
“Leigh, honey, Harold and I were planning on leaving soon,”
Jackie spoke up. “We can take Hope back
to our hotel room for the night.”
“Oh, would you? That
would be great,” Leighanne said.
“Of course,” Jackie said.
“It’s the least we can do.”
“Thank you,” Leighanne said gratefully.
“Yeah, thanks, Mom,” Brian echoed.
“Hopie, say bye to Daddy,” Leighanne said to her daughter.
“Bye bye, Daddy,” Hope said, waving at Brian.
“Bye, sweetie,” Brian said, smiling. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Okay,” Hope said.
“We’ll be back tomorrow, honey,” Jackie said, kissing Brian
on the top of the head.
“Goodnight, son,” Harold said.
Jackie took Hope’s hand, and the three of them left the
room.
“Well, Bri, I think Tracy and I are going to head back
too,” Harry said, yawning. “See ya
later, bro.”
“Okay. Bye, guys,”
Brian said.
He watched as his older brother and his wife left, and then
sighed. He loved his family, but he was
glad they were gone now. They were
beginning to suffocate him. Now it was
just Leighanne, Howie, AJ, and Amanda in the room.
“Can I get you anything, baby?” Leighanne asked.
“I just want to go see Nick and Julie,” Brian said. “They need me, and I’m not there for
them. This sucks.”
“Hey, Bri, I’ll go see how Nick’s doing for you,” Howie
said.
“And I can go see how Julie’s doing,” Leighanne offered.
“We’ll go check on Kevin then,” AJ said, glancing at
Amanda. She nodded.
“Okay,” Brian said.
“Thanks, guys.”
“No problem,” they all said and left the room, going to see
how his friends were doing.
***
I looked up to see Leighanne enter the room.
“Hey, Leigh,” I said, smiling up at her.
“Hi,” she said, smiling back.
“How’s Brian doing?” I asked.
“Aw, he’s up there complaining,” she said. “He’s been begging to come see you and
Nick. He just heard about Sammy, and
he’s real worried about Nick.”
I nodded. “So am I,”
I said. “Poor thing. And Megan too.”
“Yeah,” Leighanne said.
“It’s so horrible.” She
paused. “Do you think Sammy could still
make it?” she asked.
“There’s always a chance, I guess,” I said. “If they could keep her alive long enough to
take her back into surgery, maybe they could fix everything, and she’d be
alright. The problem is, she’s too weak
for surgery.”
“Yeah,” Leighanne said, sniffing. I saw her eyes grow misty, but she quickly blinked
back the tears that threatened her. “So,
how are you doing?” she asked, changing the subject.
“I’m in pain,” I said, chuckling. “No one told me being in labor sucked so
much.”
Leighanne just laughed.
“Believe me, I know what you mean,” she said. She glanced at Heidi, who sat in the
corner. “Get ready, Heidi, cause you’ll
be doing this next.”
Heidi smiled. “It’ll
be worth it though,” she said. “I can’t
wait.”
“I know, it’s definitely worth it,” Leighanne agreed.
I was filled with sadness as I listened to them talk. Of course it was worth all the pain to have a
child, but for me, it was different. If
my baby lived, it would be worth it. But
I knew the odds of the baby living after being born so early were not
good. Not good at all.
***
