Against the Odds (Fighting to Survive #2)(28)

He disappears and I can no longer focus on anything but the intense pain. The baby is coming. There is no way they’ll be able to stop the contractions this time. I’m almost 30 weeks pregnant. Better than 27 weeks but it’s still too early to deliver. I pray in between contractions and try to breathe through the contractions.

Robert wipes my legs off with a warm wet towel and tells me calmly that it’ll be all right. He removes my bloodied nightgown and replaces it with a clean one. When the contraction stops, I finally open my eyes. “Did you call Mom and Dad?”

“I did, I also called my parents. They are going to meet us at the hospital. If the ambulance doesn’t hurry, I’ll drive you to the hospital myself.”

“This is all my fault,” I cry.

“Baby, don’t say that. This isn’t anyone’s fault.” He kisses me tenderly and wipes away my tears.

I can hear the ambulance sirens outside and Robert disappears.

Robert

“She’s upstairs in the bathroom.”

“How far are her contractions apart?” One of the two medics ask.

“Shit! I have no idea. She’s bleeding a lot, I do know that!”

I lead them up the stair and into the bathroom where Leah is. I notice a copious amount of blood around the toilet that I didn’t see earlier. “Did you try to get up, Leah?” I ask.

“No, I haven’t moved. I can’t!” She cries some more.

We have a large house and the gurney made it up the stairs with any problems, but the bathroom is a lot smaller. “Can you give us some room?” someone asks me.

“I’ll be right on the other side of the door if you need me,” I say to Leah before I step out of the room to give them some space. I’m out of the way, but still close enough, if Leah needs me. They ask her several questions before they move her from the toilet onto the gurney. I watch helplessly as they start an IV in her left hand and check her vital signs. I hear someone call out some numbers and watch as the other one writes them down. I have no idea what they mean and I don’t ask. I want to focus solely on Leah and the baby. Oh, God! My baby! Leah could deliver the baby today. I’ll be a Dad. I can’t be a Dad. I failed Jamie as a father and what if I fail this child as a father, too?

I back up and sit on the bed. I remember the accident that claimed Jamie and how it feels like it’s my fault. I should have protected her. I should have saved her.

“Sir.” I look up when I hear a male’s voice. “We won’t have room in the ambulance for you. Are you okay to drive yourself to the hospital?”

I stand up and say, “I'm all right. Take her to Lakewood Ranch Hospital.”

“Manasota Hospital is closer…” he begins to say.

I follow them out of the bedroom and down the hallway. “I said to take her to Lakewood Ranch.” That came out as harsh as I intended it to.

As they open the back door of the ambulance, I kiss Leah and tell her I love her. I also tell her everything will be all right and that I will see her soon. As I kiss her wet cheeks, I try to hold myself together for her. I’m falling apart beneath the surface and I don’t want her to see it. She cries and kisses me back with trembling lips. When she cries out in pain, I know that she has another contraction.

When the ambulance pulls out of the driveway, I back out of the garage and follow them. I turn on my flashers so everyone on the road knows that I am with the ambulance in front of me. If he goes through a red light, so do I. I try to clear my thoughts but it’s useless. I call Mom and tell her we are on our way. I also try to fill her in on what I know, which isn’t much. Next, I call Sue and tell her the same thing.

“When we arrive at the hospital, Leah is taken immediately upstairs. Sue, Tim, Mom, and Dad meet us at the emergency room entrance. Sue and Mom cry when they see Leah. Tim informs me that they already registered Leah before he comforts his wife. We are instructed to go to the 3rd floor and wait in the waiting labor and delivery room.

Dad makes a fresh pot of coffee while we all wait. I pace the small room as my head fills with all the things that can possibly go wrong. “Think positively, Son,” my Dad says as he hands me a cup of black coffee.


“I’m trying. There was just so much blood,” I say, attempting to wipe the thought from my head.

He says, “With a birth of a baby, there usually is.”

“It’s too soon. It’s too early for the baby to come,” I whisper.

“I think the baby may have other plans,” he says as he sips his hot coffee.

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

I pace the room while the guys try to comfort their wives. “What is taking so long?” I ask.

“I don’t know, Robert,” Sue says honestly.

Just then a nurse walk into the room wearing a green surgical gown with a paper white mask hanging from around her neck. We all stand and she asks, “The Grether family?”

“Did Leah delivery?” my Mom asks.

“No, not yet. She’s asking for you all. You can see her briefly and the doctor will fill you in on her status.”

This is good news, I think to myself as I follow the nurse out of the room. Normally, I would follow behind everyone, but tonight, I want to see Leah first. I’m scared and frightened for her and for the baby. My mind drifts back to Leah delivering and I can’t lose another child. I barely survived the loss of Jamie. I know I won’t survive… I can’t even finish my thought. They both have to be all right.