by Leigh Lennon
“Listen to your fiancée, kid,” a voice says behind me. “She knows what she's talking about.” I turn with the registration forms in my hand and am face to face with Gladys. I only smile at her confidence and between this and Rose’s reassurance, I try to calm myself.
I'm not happy when Gladys and the nurse take Rose back and say they will come get me once she’s in a room. “Sorry, kid, this is the hospital's stupid as shit policy, not mine.” In this instance, Gladys has grown to be one of my favorite people in my book.
My phone is ringing off the hook as I see Nick, Rafe and Hildy rushing into the hospital. I wave them over, “Shit, you all got here in record time.” I ignore all the texts so I can focus on all the questions I know these three have, yet I have one even more important question. “Where is Justine?”
Nick has his own phone in his hand and says, “She's leaving work now. But I have a phone call for you,” he says, giving me the phone, not telling me who wants to talk to me.
Assuming it is Justine, I say, “Gladys just took her back.”
“Oh, thank fuck I finally got ahold of you. I have been trying to reach you.” With a very slight pause, I know who this is.
“Lila, I've been a little busy,” I say, turning my back so no one sees my annoyance. “And I know nothing yet. She's getting checked in.”
“I know, I'm on the next flight out,” she says quickly.
“Wait, I thought you had decided to wait?”
“I did, until it hit me, my best friend is having a baby and I want to be there. Don’t worry, I'm coming alone,” she says, not in her normal Lila way but actually with concern, putting Rose first.
Her tone is touching and I find myself saying something I never thought I would. “Hey, hold on, Lila, I want to talk to you about that. Just a second.” I cover up the phone and tell Nick, Rafe and Hildy to give me a second. I walk away, still on Nick’s phone as I say, “Listen, Lila, this is what I was thinking.”
I turn to find Nick, Hildy and Rafe near the registration desk. Giving Nick back his phone, I say, “Lila is on her way, she can’t stay away. She will be here at 8:45.”
“I just booked a flight for Kai, too,” Rafe says. “He feels the same way. He will be here at 8:30. He’s getting a rental; none of us want to leave the hospital. I will text him to wait for his sister-in-law. What a weird family we have.”
I inadvertently walk away from them with my hands over my head. My whole world is somewhere in this hospital and I’m going ape shit crazy not being with her. Nick finds me wandering just to clear my mind and puts his hand on my shoulder. “How are you doing, Brody?”
“Just nervous, I want to be back there with her now.” I turn to him, “Can you keep my parents up to date hourly?” Looking at the time and finding it is just a little after 6 pm, I say, “They left over ninety minutes ago, they will make it in record speed, I’m sure.”
“No problem,” Nick confirms.
My mind is going crazy, wrought with fear until I hear, “Mr. Buchannan, they are ready for you now, you can go back. Your wife is in some pain, but please don’t be concerned. This is normal.”
I correct her, “She’s my fiancée, and when can she get some relief with the pain meds?” I follow, anxious to get to her. I have been away from her for a good half hour and she needs me, like I need her.
“They have her set for pain management next. She’s asking for you, a lot. I wasn’t sure I could handle hearing your name one more time. You can tell she loves you very much.”
“And I love her more than anything,” I say as I disappear from the small group who has gathered behind the double doors.
I don’t need to be told what room she’s in because I hear her screams many doors down. I start to run to the door as I’m bombarded with nurses and doctors running in. Gladys is the last one to come around the corner. “Stay out here, Brody.”
“Hell no,” I say as I hear Rose calling for me. Pushing my way in, I call, “Toots, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t know, all of a sudden I got the worst pain and the baby’s heart rate plummeted.”
I turn to Gladys as she barks orders to the staff. “Rose, honey, we are taking you right now to the O.R. This baby is coming out in less than five minutes.” Gladys turns to me, “Normally, you can’t come in for emergency C-sections but I don’t feel like arguing. Keep your head up by hers and keep your ass in the chair. You understand me?”
I nod my head as I hear Rose screaming. “Brody, something is wrong with the baby!”
I reach down to hold her hand as they take the gurney, rushing her to the O.R. I shake my head no. “Toots, I'm coming with you. This baby is fine.” I’m as scared as she is.
The nurse stops me at the operating room. “I need you in these. I will be back to get you, I promise.”
Gladys stops at the door and tells the same nurse, “Go out and brief the family, few details, baby needs to come out now, C-section, I will be out shortly to talk to them. Nothing else.”
I follow Gladys into the operating room where Rose is as pale as a ghost. I stop her, “Is Rose okay?”
She doesn’t answer me as Rose is calling out, “Gladys, is the baby okay?”
She walks over to Rose’s head, comforting her like the second grandmother Rose always claims Gladys to be. “Honey, just concentrate on yourself right now, let me worry about the baby.” She looks at the last nurse in the room. “Call Pediatric NICU and get me the pediatric doctor in the O.R.
“Now, Rose, you’re going to be a mother in less than five minutes. Think about meeting your child for the first time, this is all you need to do, okay?”
She nods at Gladys with wide eyes. “Brody?”
“Hey, Toots, I'm here.” I lean down and give her a kiss.
Brody looks up at Gladys as they place the sheet between Rose’s midsection. “Take care of my girl, Gladys.”
“That's my plan,” she says, looking down at Rose’s stomach that's on the other side of the partition.
“Brody, the baby comes first, okay?” Rose says to me as she’s being wheeled out to the operating room and right then, it hits me.
I'm now scared shitless at the thought that has never occurred to me. “Now you’re talking crazy, Toots. You both will be fine.” I kiss her on the forehead like I did the first night I found out she was having my baby. My heart stops for a brief second as I look away with tears falling down my cheeks.
39
Justine
I race into the waiting room, searching for my crew as I hear someone walk into the open space, “The family of Rose Hernandez?”
I immediately see Rafe stand up and I make my way to him, spotting Nick. More of our family has gathered as I see my parents and Ryan now standing with the group. “I'm her father and her mom will be here shortly.”
“I'm here!” I yell, nearing them and Nick immediately stands to take ahold of me. “She just went into labor, surely she's not having the baby.”
The young nurse looks like a deer in the headlights and I don’t like it, not one fucking bit. My baby is back there, having a baby, and I’m instantly nervous. “Dr. Applegate wanted me to keep you up to date on Miss Hernandez. She’s being prepped for an emergency C-section right now. That's all I know at this point.”
“Emergency?” Hildy asks, worried.
“I’m not sure of the situation, she will be out to talk to you as soon as she can.”
The nurse quickly walks away before I can ask her any more questions.
Ryan and I exchange a glance and he instantly comes over to Nick and I. Giving me a hug, he says, “I have known that girl since she was born. I remember that day, seeing the look in your eyes like I do now. You were responsible for another life. Rose is a fighter and that baby will be, too, especially if she has a girl. We know she will take after her name sake,” Ryan tries to comfort me and I have to say, he’s doing a good job, as I think of how much Lore would love this moment.
40
Brody<
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I have watched all they've done and I was never aware Rose would be put out. I sit at the top of Rose’s head as she’s asleep. “I didn’t know she would under general anesthesia.”
“I didn’t tell her, I knew she would be frantic. Now stay there and I will let you know when this is over.”
I look over at Rose and feel helpless. This is not how I imagined the birth of our first child.
“It will go quick. We will have your baby out in minutes. Now, the NICU team will take her and assess her. After that, we will likely let you hold the baby if she’s all right.”
“She?” I ask.
Gladys doesn’t confirm this and I stay quiet as I wait. Within a minute, Gladys says, “Brody, we are bringing her out now. Congratulations, it's a girl.”
“You knew all along,” I say. She only smiles until all of sudden, she loses that smile quickly.
I stand still for a second, waiting to hear my little girl cry. “Gladys…”
“Dr. Holland, we need you, now.” Gladys looks at her nurse, “Leah, please escort him out.” She searches my eyes but gives me no explanation. “You need to leave, let us do our work.”
“Gladys.”
She looks at me as I start to protest. “Get your ass out of my operating room now,” she says while she frantically clips the umbilical cord from little Lorel as the pediatric doctor takes her to the small table. I look behind me as I’m escorted from the room, leaving my entire life behind.
The nurse leads me to a bench right on the other side of the operating room. “I will let you know when we know something, this is why we normally don’t let family in for situations like this. Please stay here, no need to get your family alarmed for no reason.”
I stand, I sit, I stand, I sit again. I can’t just be out here without any knowledge of what my girls are going through. Being a grown ass man, in the span of twenty minutes, I have cried twice. My girls are possibly both fighting for their lives. Rose has no idea our child is in danger. Five minutes slowly ticks by, but it seems as though it’s an hour. Gladys walks out with a concerned look on her face.
“Lorel is heading to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. We have her stabilized but she’s having a hard time breathing on her own. There’s a couple of concerns at this point but we will know more soon. I was waiting to bring Rose out until we knew more. The pediatrician will get back to me very soon,” she assures me. “For now, we will move Rose to recovery, where you can stay with her.”
Gladys walks with me to the recovery room. “Now that she’s here, she should come out of it in a couple of minutes. I would give her very little details until we know more. I will go speak with Justine.”
“Thanks, Gladys,” I say, because I'm numb. I'm broken and I'm not sure how to tell Rose that our baby may not be all right.
“Sorry I had to get mean with you back there, Brody. You would not have done us any favors staying.”
“I know.”
I have never been more scared in my life from the mute sound of my daughter. I’m still shaking visibly and as Rose comes to; thankfully Gladys walks in the room. It has been at least an hour and Rose is finally waking.
She’s still groggy after several minutes of waking up and doesn’t see the anguish painted on my face. Smiling at me, holding my hand, she’s barely audible when she asks, “Gladys, when am I going to meet my baby?”
“We have a girl, Toots. A beautiful little girl,” I say.
She’s a little more alert when she excitedly says, “We have a Lorelei again.”
“They are getting her ready. She’s a big girl, beautiful. Nine pounds and nine ounces. No wonder she didn’t want to come out,” Gladys says as I stroke her hair.
After Gladys fills Rose in on the scare during delivery, we talk a little more about the baby until the doctor from the operating room arrives. He’s the doctor that took Lorel to NICU.
Gladys’s expression scares me instantly and I hold onto Rose who is now wide awake. “Rose, honey, you did wonderful in there. Sweetie, you should be proud of yourself. I want to introduce you to the hospital pediatrician. This is Dr. Holland. He was called in to observe Lorel’s respiration. We had concerns that she might have had some sort of heart problem,” my heart stills, “but that is not the case.”
“No wonder you whisked the baby off. Is she all right?” Rose asks, hopeful.
Gladys walks toward her, now holding Rose’s other hand opposite me. “She is, but I do need to talk to you about something Dr. Holland detected in her. You know, in my many years of bringing life into the world, I have learned that the higher power picks only the special parents to take care of the most special babies.”
“Gladys, what are you talking about?” Rose asks, squeezing my hand hard. My heart is thumping so loud, she can probably hear it.
“Rose, honey, your baby is as healthy as an ox. But hon, we have tested her and she has Trisomy 21.”
Why don’t I know what that means? I hear it and don’t need an explanation because Rose’s face is full of tears. “Do you mean Down syndrome?” Rose asks and as she does, I fall to my knees next to her bed, burying my face in the mattress and grabbing her hand.
Dr. Holland begins, “Yes, that is her diagnosis. Our concern with children that have Down syndrome is heart problems. We don’t know what caused her respiration distress, maybe your water breaking so early on before contractions starting? We won’t know, but she’s fine. And we know children with Trisomy 21 can live independently as adults.”
Rose pulls my head off the bed, making me look at her as she asks, “She has Down syndrome but she’s healthy, is that what you’re telling us?” Rose can function with facts better than emotions at first, when faced with a tough situation.
“Rose,” Gladys begins, “I went over the tests and wanted to figure out how I missed this. I still can’t see anything in all your screenings and ultrasounds on how I could have prepared you. The odds are low but in my career, this does happen from time to time. I'm so sorry.”
“You didn’t cause this and you gave me the best care possible. When do I get to see my girl? I love her more than life itself and I still haven’t met her yet. Will you talk to Mom? I don’t have the heart.” Her voice is so shaky.
I agree with Rose and if it were anyone else, I know I would have to break the news. Gladys looks at us as she, too, has tears in her eyes. “With your permission, I will,” she says. All Rose does is nod in agreement while she leaves.
Dr. Holland speaks, “I will personally see that she’s brought to you as soon as possible.”
41
Justine
Pacing around, not taking my eyes off the entrance, I see Gladys walking through the double doors pointing toward me. No one else sees her and I find myself walking to Gladys on my own. “Gladys, is Rose okay?”
“Yes, honey, she’s fine,” is all she says but somehow, I don’t believe her. Gladys glances around as she waves just Rafe, Nick and the Buchannan’s over.
“You’re scaring the fuck out of me, Gladys. Can you tell me about my daughter?” Gladys only sighs at me as Nick, Rafe, Ruth and Henry join us.
She takes us to a little room, as my heart starts to go crazy with nerves. She turns to us the second Hildy joins us and says, “Well, you all have a beautiful little granddaughter.”
I don’t hug Nick, though, even as everyone else is giddy with excitement. I know more by Gladys’s tone. “Gladys, what aren’t you telling us?”
Everyone stops with the congratulatory hugs as Gladys’s tears confirm my fears. “Honestly, your granddaughter is fine. We had an unexpected turn of events.”
“Gladys,” I say, on the verge of tears, “What's wrong?”
“Both mother and baby are doing great but when Lorel was born, her breathing was not right. It took us a while to figure it out, but Lorel has Down syndrome.”
All I do is turn to Nick and cry. My own baby is now grieving for her own baby.
42
Rose
Brody looks up, smiling through his tears, looking at Gladys. “This is not the first time today someone told me to do something with my ass.”
Gladys smiles and giggles, “Yes, you’re right, I said those very words to him several times during the delivery.” She looks at Rose and says, “I know where your daughter gets her fighting spirit from.”
“Good, now we have that worked out, if you’re crying, leave. If you can get your shit together to be able to meet your granddaughter then please stay.”
My mother is suddenly by my side. “Honey, I love you and I love that baby. It was just a lot to take in. But I’m beyond happy to meet her.”