Then someone called out, “Second baby is in distress.”
The doctor nodded and then focused on Mia. “Okay, Mia, I need you to give me your best push.” To the nurse, he said, “Prep for a c-section.”
The words hit Ethan, but before he had time to process them, Mia squeezed his hand hard as she bore down and pushed out his first son.
God … his son. He had a loud, screaming son. Ethan watched them take his firstborn to the warming table and clean him up, Ethan’s eyes filling with tears as they examined him. The nurse gave him a thumbs up and his hand flew to his mouth before he used it to wipe away his tears. The flurry of activity happening around Mia didn’t register with him until the doctor swore loudly, pulling Ethan’s focus back to his wife.
Her eyes were wide and moved all over in panic, and then they changed and she seemed confused, disoriented. Not two seconds later, her hand went limp in his and her body started to convulse.
“Fuck!”
He wasn’t a doctor but he knew that she was having a seizure—the thing they had worked so hard for her to avoid.
“Mia!” he yelled as he was removed from her side as the hospital staff worked on her. He felt so helpless watching his wife’s body jerk on the table. When the longest fucking minute of his life was over, chaos of another kind began. “Get ready, people … meds are in. We need to get this other guy out of her as soon as possible.”
And within five minutes, his other son was born, but wasn’t crying like the first.
Please be okay, he prayed as he watched the nurses and doctors work on him. Please, God, let my son be all right!
The blare of the machines pulled Ethan from his prayers.
“She’s hemorrhaging!”
Ethan looked down at his wife. She was unresponsive. Her brown eyes closed. Her skin so damn pale.
“We’ve got to control this bleeding!”
He looked over at his boys and then at his wife, the doctors working frantically on her, and the panic started to set in.
“What’s going on?” he asked, needing to know what was wrong with her. A nurse came to him and explained, but he didn’t understand. Only bits and pieces of information made it to his brain. Too much blood loss. Had to control it and fast. Body was in shock. Blood transfusion.
Ethan just stared at Mia on the table, his eyes on her sweet, beautiful face. He had never been so scared in his life. He could not lose her. She needed to fight! She had to fight. She couldn’t give up.
He leaned down, his face against hers. “You’ve got to make it, Mia. You cannot leave me. Do you hear me? You cannot leave me now. I just got you back; I cannot let you go again. I won’t make it without you.”
Mia
As she tried to open her eyes, the brightest light she’d ever seen assaulted her. Snapping her lids shut, Mia then blinked a few times to adjust to the light. She felt like she’d fallen asleep while sunbathing, the sun blinding her as she tried to wake.
Pushing up off the floor, the light so bright it was white lay ahead of her. Behind her it was dark … and loud … the noise chaotic. She didn’t like it, especially when the path ahead was bright and peaceful. Mia was so tired of all the noise.
Taking a step further, the light seemed to envelop her and the sounds behind her disappeared. It was like she was in the middle of a deep fog, yet this was brighter than that. She felt calmer as she walked further in.
The steady thump of footsteps towards her stilled her advance—a tremor of panic shot down her back—and she waited to see what was coming her way. The footsteps came closer and her heavy breathing filled her ears.
Breaking through the bright, foggy light were two figures—one tall and one small like a child. As they approached her, Mia took a step back and shook her head. No.
“Hi, baby girl.”
No. It couldn’t be. She studied the figure who now stood in front of her. That hair, that face …
“Tom?” she asked unbelievingly. This place was so bright it was playing with her eyes. Where the hell was she and who was that little girl next to Tom with curly hair the same color as his and eyes dark as mud?