“Okay.” Michelle said, praying for wisdom as she headed for Amber’s room.
She found Amber sitting on the floor, her back supported by the bed, with books and papers scattered around her. “Hey, there,” Michelle said.
Amber looked up and smiled. “Hey. Come on in. Sorry about the mess.” She brushed aside some of the papers, and Michelle sat down beside her on the floor.
“How’s it coming?” she asked, gesturing to the paperwork.
“Okay, I guess. Here’s some stuff you can take back to school with you.” She gathered up several assignments and handed them over.
Michelle gave her the new paperwork, and Amber perused it. Shifting her weight and arching her back slightly, she tried to get into a more comfortable position. “Your back hurt?” Michelle asked.
“A little. I can’t sit very long.”
“I remember that,” Michelle replied. “Would you like to go for a little walk? That used to help me.”
Amber began pushing herself up. “Sure. Sounds good.”
Michelle helped her to her feet.
“We’re going for a walk,” Amber called to her mom.
“Okay. Have fun,” Stacy replied.
Once they were outside and strolling down the sidewalk, Michelle broached the subject Stacy had asked her to discuss. “So I heard your dad is coming home.”
Amber rolled her eyes. “Mom’s crazy.”
“You don’t want to give him another chance?”
“Why should we? He practically killed my mom when he left. And look what happened to me.” She glanced down at her swollen abdomen.
“So you blame him for this?”
“If he would have been here and taken care of us, we never would been in those stupid foster homes. Plus he could have maybe been like a dad and kept me from sneaking out to meet Adam every night.”
Michelle nodded.
“Besides,” Amber added, “he doesn’t want to come back here. He wants us to move where he is in Arizona. He likes it there better.”
Michelle drew in a quick breath. So there was more to this tale than Stacy had let on. Her first thought was whether Amber would even be in Sandy Cove when the baby was born. “When would you go?” she asked, trying to sound routine in her question.
“Don’t know. If Mom had her way, it would be yesterday.”
“I see.” Silence engulfed them as they continued down the street.
“Maybe I could come and live with you guys,” Amber suggested. “Just until the baby’s born, I mean.”
Michelle didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t picture Steve going for that idea, and she wasn’t sure she’d be comfortable with it either.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” she said. “Why don’t you discuss your concerns with Bonnie and have her help you talk to your mom about this. Hopefully she’ll be fine with waiting until after the baby comes.”
Amber looked at her skeptically and shrugged. “I guess.”
“Think about this, Amber. Maybe after he’s born, a change will be a good thing for all of you. You could start fresh with new friends in a school where no one knew you or had any preconceived ideas about you.”
Amber didn’t respond, but Michelle could see she was considering the idea carefully. They walked a little farther, and then she turned to Michelle and asked if they could go back to her house. “I’m getting kind of tired.”
“Sure, honey. Let’s go back.”
After they walked in the door, Michelle retrieved her purse and Amber’s completed work and said goodbye. “See you in a couple of days,” she told her student, smiling at Stacy and subtly nodding in her direction. “We’ll talk later.”
Stacy nodded in return.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
A shrill ringing sound awakened Michelle from her deep sleep. Sitting upright in bed, she reached for the phone before it could pierce the silence again.
“Hello?” she whispered, leaning away from her sleeping husband.
“Michelle? It’s Bonnie Blackwell. Sorry for calling like this, but Amber’s in the hospital. I thought you’d want to know.”
Michelle swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up, walking as far from Steve as the phone cord would allow. “The hospital? Why?” she asked in hushed tones.
“She started cramping and bleeding. It’s not good. They’re prepping her for a C-section.”
Steve turned over and asked Michelle what was going on.
“It’s Amber. She’s in the hospital.”
He flipped on the light and joined Michelle by the bed.
“Is everything going to be okay?” she asked Bonnie.
“We don’t know yet. She’s bleeding pretty heavily. The doctor seems concerned. It has to do with the placenta previa they diagnosed early in her pregnancy.”
“I’m coming down there,” Michelle said. “I’ll be there as quickly as I can.” She looked at Steve, who nodded his agreement.
“Okay. We’ll see you in a bit,” the social worker replied.
As soon as she hung up, Michelle threw on some clothes and grabbed her water bottle from the nightstand. “I’ll call you as soon as I know anything,” she promised.
“Okay. Drive carefully. Those streets are slick from the rain.”
Michelle nodded and kissed him on the cheek then headed for the hospital. As she drove, she thought about how scared Amber and her mother must be.
The streets were empty. Although they were wet, the rain they’d had after dinner had stopped, leaving a clear sky filled with stars. She tried to take her time as Steve had requested, but urgency pressed on her heart.
The fifteen-minute drive seemed to take an eternity, but finally she pulled into the parking lot of the ER. She remembered the hospital OB orientation before Maddie’s birth, and how they had instructed the expectant parents to enter through the emergency room if they arrived after regular hospital hours.
Quickly pulling into a spot near the door, she hurried into the vacant room. She was greeted by a receptionist, who logged her in and gave her a wristband to wear. “Do you know the way to labor and delivery?”
“Yes,” Michelle replied, heading for the double doors that would lead her through a maze of hallways to her destination. As she entered the waiting room, Bonnie rose to her feet and came to her.
“She’s in the operating room. Stacy is with her, but she’s pretty out of it. They need to get the baby out as quickly as possible and stop the hemorrhaging,” she reported.
“Is there a chance the baby won’t make it?” Michelle searched Bonnie’s face for unspoken clues.
Bonnie took a deep breath and replied, “There’s a chance neither of them will.”
Michelle sunk into the nearest chair and hung her head, immediately resuming her prayers for Amber and her premature baby, who was about to make an entry into the world. Bonnie quietly sat beside her, eyes closed, seemingly lost in prayers of her own.
A few minutes later, Stacy appeared, eyes red and bleary with tears.
Bonnie walked over and wrapped her arm over Stacy’s shoulder, guiding her to the seat next to Michelle.
“They…they…made me… leave,” Amber’s mom said between sobs. “I’m so scared for Amber. Oh dear God, what will I do if she dies?”
Michelle watched Bonnie hold Stacy tightly and murmur words of encouragement and hope. “It’s okay, Stacy. We’re here for you. Amber’s getting the best care possible.”
Stacy nodded, blowing her nose into the tissue Bonnie handed her. “She… she looks so pale.”
“I know,” Bonnie replied. “She’s lost a lot of blood. But they’re taking care of her. The doctors know what to do in cases like this. That’s why they’re delivering the baby early. It will be easier to stop the bleeding after he’s out.”
The three women huddled together under the dim lights of the waiting room, each pulling into their own thoughts and fears. It seemed they’d been that way for quite a while, when a nurse appeared at the
door. “Stacy Gamble?” she said.
Stacy shot to her feet. “Is she okay?” she asked, her voice thick with concern.
“She’s out of danger. We were able to stop the bleeding.”
“And the baby?”
“The baby is alive. He’s been moved to the NICU. You’ll be able to see him in about an hour.”
“Thank God,” Stacy replied. “Can I see Amber now?”
“We had to put her under, so she’s still asleep. But you’re welcome to go sit by her bed.”
Stacy looked at Bonnie and Michelle. “I’ve got to go to her.”
“Go,” they both said simultaneously.
She nodded and followed the nurse. “I’ll let you know when I’ve seen the baby,” she said.
Bonnie turned to Michelle. “Coffee?” she asked.
“That would be great,” she replied.
“I saw a machine down the hall. I’ll go get some for both of us.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Michelle dug into her purse and retrieved her cell phone. As Bonnie walked out, she punched in Steve’s cell phone number.
“Hey. How’s it going?” he asked.
“It was pretty scary when I got here. They didn’t know if either Amber or the baby would make it. But they did a C-section, and the baby’s in the NICU. Amber lost a lot of blood, but they say she’s going to be okay. She’s asleep right now. Stacy’s with her.”
“Wow. Did they say anything else about the baby?”
“Only that he’s very tiny, and that Stacy can see him in about an hour.”
“Do you want me to wake Maddie up and come down there?” he asked.
“No. Let her sleep. There’s not much to do right now. Bonnie and I are just going to hang around here and wait. I’ll call you again in a while.”
“Okay, babe. Love you.”
“Love you, too.” She flipped the phone shut and dropped it back in her bag, just as Bonnie appeared with the steaming hot coffee.
Two hours later, Stacy reappeared at the door. She looked drained but no longer fearful. “Michelle?”
“Yes?”
“Amber’s sleeping peacefully. But she did wake up for a few moments, and she told me to take you to see the baby.”
Michelle’s heart pounded in her chest. She was going to see little Caleb for the first time. This was so different than how she’d imagined.
In her mind, she’d pictured the three of them — Steve, Maddie and her — coming to the hospital together and spending some time with Amber before seeing Caleb and taking him home with them.
As the two women walked through the first set of doors into the NICU, a nurse showed them how to scrub their hands before entering the unit. After completing the process, they walked through the other doors.
Another nurse, who was attending to Caleb, looked up at them and smiled. “It’ll just be a minute,” she said. “Then you can come closer and see him.”
She finished adjusting some tubing, carefully taping an IV line to his tiny arm. Then she pulled her hands out of the access ports in the side of the incubator, and gestured to them to come over.
No amount of description could have prepared Michelle for what she saw. The baby’s body was half the size Maddie had been when she was born.
His skin was darker than she expected and seemed to be covered in a thin fur-like hair. Tubes and wires ran from his chest, both arms and one foot, as well as from his abdomen. What she guessed to be a respirator tube was fed into his mouth and she watched as his tiny chest lifted and fell with each breath.
Oh God, he looks so fragile.
The nurse began explaining the various machines that were monitoring Caleb’s vital signs. She pointed to each wire and tube and explained its function. Michelle tried to take it all in without appearing too overwhelmed or afraid. “How long will he have to have all of these?” she asked.
“It’s hard to say. The goal is to give him the kind of support he would have gotten in the womb until he can function on his own.
“There are many determining factors, such as lung development, the ability to swallow and digest, and the regulation of bodily functions and temperature that we will be monitoring. And, of course, we want to see a stable breathing pattern and heart rate as well.”
“But he’ll be okay, right?”
The nurse looked her in the eye. “That’s the hope. But it’ll be some time before he’s out of the woods. Babies born this early are vulnerable to many possible complications.”
Michelle nodded. Was it possible they’d lose this little one before he even had a chance to become part of their family?
But even as that thought passed through her mind, she realized he already had. Just gazing down at his tiny form and watching him take each breath with the assistance of the respirator brought a surge of love coursing through her very soul.
In an instant, he’d become her son.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Michelle was able to see Amber the next day. As she entered the room, Stacy shifted in the chair by the window where she’d been sleeping. She looked over at Michelle and nodded, holding her finger to her mouth as a signal to be quiet. She tipped her head toward the bed on the other side of the hospital curtain.
Michelle peered around the fabric wall and saw Amber was sleeping peacefully, her long hair strewn across the pillow in clumps that clearly had not seen a brush since before Caleb’s birth.
“How’s she doing?” Michelle whispered.
Stacy gave her a sad smile and replied softly, “She’s wiped out. But the doctor says she’ll be okay.” She offered Michelle her chair. “Think I’ll go get some coffee.”
“Okay, thanks,” Michelle said, then added, “Is someone with Jack?”
“Bonnie’s got him for the day. The neighbor took him last night, but she works. What about you? Don’t you have school today?”
“I got a sub before I came last night. She’s covering for the rest of the week. Then I’ll be getting a long-term after that.” Somehow she couldn’t bring herself to say when the baby comes home, not wanting to broach the subject yet. Clearly, Amber was Stacy’s primary focus, and that’s how it should be.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” Stacy said. “Want me to bring you some coffee?”
“I’m fine. Thanks, though,” she replied as she sunk down into the chair. Amber had begun to stir, and she hoped their whispers hadn’t awakened her prematurely.
Once Stacy was gone, Michelle relaxed, gazing at Amber’s sleeping form. She looked so childlike, so vulnerable. She flashed back to the first time she’d seen her in class. Amber had looked so hardened, like a cynical adult in a teen’s body.
Now all Michelle could see was the sweet, young girl who’d been buried beneath the bitterness of her parents’ split and the subsequent breakdown her mom had experienced.
Stacy was acting incredibly strong right now. Michelle whispered a prayer of thanks, knowing that Amber needed her mom now more than ever.
She paused in the midst of her prayer and thought about all the trials this young girl would face over the coming weeks and months — turning her baby over to them, all the hormone changes and physical healing that accompanied the recovery from pregnancy and a C-section birth, and the possible move away from Sandy Cove to be reunited with her father.
Stepping up her prayers, she fervently asked God to meet all of Amber’s needs and to teach her how to lean on Him.
Then Michelle noticed Amber beginning to stir again. “Hey,” she said softly, placing her hand on Amber’s arm.
“Hey,” the girl replied with a sad look.
“How are you feeling?”
Amber paused, shifted her weight slightly, and grimaced. “Not too great.”
Michelle nodded. “You’ve been through a lot.”
Amber sighed. “You could say that.”
“Can I get you something?”
“Water would be good.” She gestured to a cup and straw on the rolling table against the wall.
> Michelle retrieved the cup and held it in place while she took a few sips. “It really hurts whenever I move,” Amber said.
“Yeah. It’ll take some time to recover from your surgery.” Michelle took her hand and added, “Your mom told me the doctor said you’re going to be fine.”
“That’s good,” Amber replied, but her voice did not match her words.
Michelle reached over to brush the hair away from Amber’s face. She was at a loss for words.
Amber broke the silence. “Have you seen him?”
Michelle nodded. “He’s very tiny.”
“They said I could see him later today,” she said wistfully. “Do you think he’ll know I’m his mom?”
“I think he’ll know you love him,” Michelle replied. “Babies can sense that kind of thing.”
Amber smiled in response. “That’s good.”
A moment later, Amber’s mom returned. Michelle backed away from her spot by the bed, and Stacy reached for her daughter’s hand asking, “How are you feeling this morning, honey?”
As Amber began talking to her mother, Michelle tipped her head and waved. “I’ll come back later,” she promised, slipping out the door.
She heard Amber say, “Okay, see ya,” in reply.
Michelle stopped at the NICU on her way out. She flashed back to the days by her father’s bedside in the hospital at Bridgeport and how she and her mother had spent a little time each day gazing into the windows of the nursery.
The NICU was certainly a different kind of place. Many more nurses were constantly attending to each tiny patient. Monitors, IVs, and special lights reminded the observer of the critical care these babies required.
Now a nurse from the night before was just getting ready to leave. She spotted Michelle and gestured her into the unit, via the washing station, where Michelle meticulously scrubbed up again.
“You’re still here,” she said to the nurse, amazement in her voice.
The nurse smiled. “Double shift. We have a couple of little ones in here who were struggling last night. I hate to leave them until I know they’re stable.”
Into Magnolia (Sandy Cove Series Book 3) Page 25