Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 105398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Daina walked up to us and wrapped us up in her arms, and I curled into her, sobs choking me. Gabe wrapped his arms around both of us, and we stayed that way for a long time.
“Gabe, go be with him. Please don’t leave him alone.”
He looked into my eyes, his cerulean blue ones boring into mine. Something profound passed between us in that second, and he nodded, gave me a soft sweet kiss, and left.
Max took up his position, gathering me close. I wrapped my arms around his waist, and continued to cry. He squeezed me tighter, and held me that way until a young male doctor came in a while later.
“Mrs. Maldonado. I’m the on call pediatrician. Your son is currently stable. He’s breathing on his own, but we’re going to monitor him for a few more hours just to be on the safe side. They did break his clavicle in order to get him out. You’ll need to be very gentle with him, for that is going to hurt him until it heals. Which it will do very quickly. Your husband’s in with him now.”
“Thank you.” I whispered, and then let my tears flow freely again.
Max shuddered around me, and I knew that he was crying with me. Terror was still in the back of my mind, but I had renewed hope that everything would be okay.
Ω
Gabe
I stared down at the sleeping boy in my arms. He was nestled in a blue blanket that Blaine sewed for him. He made a cute baby sound, and turned his head slightly to the side before falling back into his peaceful slumber.
I looked over at Ember, and marveled at how proud I was of her.
The memory of the birth was horrific. When the doctor had yelled that he had a shoulder, I knew immediately what was going on. I was pushed away from Ember, and watched from the other side of the room while doctors and nurses surrounded her bedside. Thirteen people crowded around the small bedside, and I could see how terrified Ember was. I saw her eyes dart from side to side looking for me, but I knew she couldn’t see me over the massive amount of people surrounding her.
I could feel the tears running down my cheeks, but I didn’t swipe them away. Every second Ember experienced the pain and terror was another piece of my heart that broke off. I couldn’t stand seeing her cry and not being able to get to her. My body ached to go to her, hold her, and comfort her.
I couldn’t see what was going on below, couldn’t see if the baby was making any progress, but when I heard him say he was going to have to break it my stomach dropped. They only did that as a last resort. A last ditch effort to save the baby. I knew that they’d been working on him for three minutes now. At five minutes, lasting brain damage would occur, and the baby probably wouldn’t survive.
The wall of people split as a young doctor took my son and transferred him to the station where they worked on the newborns. I watched as they crowded around him, working, and I prayed that he would be okay.
It was only when the baby was wheeled out of the room that I came unstuck and went to Ember. She was sobbing loudly; each one tore my heart in pieces. Gathering her in my arms, I cried with her. No one ever thought it would end up like this.
I’d absently read the emergency procedure on the wall above her head when she got into the bed earlier, but never did I think that it would be needed.
Ember sent me to my son, begging me with her eyes. Leaving her was one of the hardest things I’d ever done, but I couldn’t resist the pleading in her eyes.
I saw them working on him through the glass of the NICU. They weren’t scrambling like they were doing earlier, which was a good sign. From what I could see, they had him on CPAP. The mask was over his nose, and he was hooked up to multiple IVs and monitors.
The truly beautiful thing was the lusty cry coming out of him. My knees nearly buckled at the profound relief I felt. A nurse spotted me, and opened the door for me to come inside to see him. She handed me a yellow gown, and told me to wash my hands. Once done, she led me over to my baby boy.
The young doctor explained to me more in depth what happened. As it turns out, at thirty-five weeks, the baby weighed in at nine pounds two ounces. They wondered if his due date could’ve been off, but we’d never know for sure. His clavicle was broken during the birth to assist in delivering him. From what they could tell, Ember also had a narrow pelvis.
Throughout the next two hours, they weaned him off CPAP slowly, to make sure he did well on his own. I sent multiple texts to Ember, and she ooohed, and awed over every one of them. By hour three, I was finally able to hold him.
“You may take him back to the room to see your wife, if you’d like.” A younger nurse said.
Like I was going to argue. Yea, right.
Wheeling him down the hall, I peeked into the room to find Ember cradled against Max’s chest. Her eyes were swollen, and still in her sleep, she was weeping. Every so often, her breath hitched, and each time my heart skipped a beat. Her iPhone in her hand curled close to her chest, and she looked exhausted.
The room was filled with our family. Daina, with a sleeping Cora, sat on the couch next to Elliot, and Blaine, who was holding Justin. Cheyenne curled into Sam’s side; each had a twin in their lap. Jack had Phoebe curled against his chest. James sat on the floor playing quietly with Janie. Even Payton was there, leaning against the wall near the bathroom door. Each one of them broke out in smiles when they saw me wheeling in our son.