attempt. He'd been sweating and panting by the time he arrived at the reception desk, grateful that maternity nurses had seen so much that a wild-eyed unshaven man gibbering like a fool didn't even register on their Richter scale.
"Mrs. Gilbey? Ah yes, we've taken her straight up to the delivery suite."
Alex tried to concentrate on the directions, repeating them under his breath as he navigated the corridors of the unit. He pressed the security intercom and looked anxiously into the lens of the video camera, hoping he looked more like an expectant father than an escaped lunatic. After what seemed an eternity, the door buzzed open and he blundered into the delivery suite. He didn't know quite what he'd expected, but it wasn't this deserted foyer and eerie silence. He stood uncertain in the foyer. Just then, a nurse entered from one of the corridors radiating off in all directions. "Mr. Gilbey?" she said.
Alex nodded frantically. "Where's Lynn?" he demanded.
"Come with me."
He followed her back down the corridor. "How is she?"
"She's doing fine." She paused, her hand on the door handle. "We need you to help keep her calm. She's a bit distressed. There have been one or two dips in the fetal heartbeat."
"What does that mean? Is the baby OK?"
"It's nothing to worry about."
He hated it when medical professionals said that. It always felt like a blatant lie. "But it's far too early. She's only thirty-four weeks."
"Try not to worry. They're in good hands here."
The door opened and Alex was confronted with a scene that bore no relationship to the routines they'd practiced at the antenatal classes. It was hard to imagine anything that could be further from his and Lynn's dream of natural childbirth. Three women in surgical scrubs bustled around. A monitor with an electronic display sat next to the bed, a fourth woman in a white coat studying it. Lynn lay on her back, legs apart, her hair plastered to her head with sweat. Her face was scarlet and damp, her eyes wide and anguished. The thin hospital gown stuck to her body. The tube from a drip stand next to the bed disappeared under her. "Thank fuck you're here," she gasped. "Alex, I'm scared."
He rushed to her side, reaching for her hand. She gripped him tightly. "I love you," he said. "You're doing just fine."
The woman in the white coat glanced across. "Hi, I'm Dr. Singh," she said, acknowledging Alex's arrival. She joined the midwife at the bottom of the bed. "Lynn, we're a wee bit concerned about the baby's heart rate. We're not progressing as fast as I'd like. We might have to consider a section."
"Just get the baby out," Lynn moaned.
Suddenly, there was a flurry of activity. "Baby's stuck," one midwife said. Dr. Singh studied the monitor briefly.
"Heart rate's down," she said. Everything began to happen more quickly than Alex could comprehend as he clung to Lynn's clammy hand. Odd phrases penetrated. "Get her to theater now." "Catheterize her." "Consent form." Then the bed was on the move, the door open, everyone bustling down the corridor toward the theater.
The world turned into a blur of activity. Time seemed alternately to race and to crawl. Then, when Alex had almost stopped hoping, the magic words, "It's a girl. You've got a daughter."
Tears welled up in his eyes and he swung round to see his child. Blood-streaked and purple, frighteningly still and silent. "Oh God," he said. "Lynn, it's a girl." But Lynn was past noticing.
A midwife hastily wrapped the baby in a blanket and hurried off. Alex stood up. "Is she OK?" He was led out of the theater in a daze. What was happening to his child? Was she even alive? "What's going on?" he demanded.
The midwife smiled. "Your daughter's doing great. She's breathing on her own, which is always the big concern with premature babies."
Alex slumped into a chair, his hands over his face. "I just want her to be OK," he said through the tears.
"She's holding her own. She weighs four pounds eight ounces, which is good. Mr. Gilbey, I've delivered quite a few premature babies, and I'd say your wee girl's one of the strongest I've seen. It's early days, but I think she's going to be just fine."
"When can I see her?"
"You should be able to go down to the neonatal unit and see her in a wee while. You won't be able to pick her up yet, but since she's breathing on her own, you'll likely be able