37. Chapter 37
Rhett
My heart races as I park at the emergency entrance of the hospital in Windy Peaks. I know she really liked our doctor, but with the current situation, the closest hospital sounded like the safest bet.
“Get her inside; I’ll park the truck and then meet up with you guys if I can.” She tries to put on a brave face with a small smile, but behind it, I can see what’s going on. A mom terrified for her little girl.
The automatic doors slide open and the front desk staff immediately sees me with Aspen in my arms. “Let’s get a wheelchair, call Labor and Delivery,” she hollers behind her back to the other worker.
“What are you bringing our girl in for?” The lady is older, and I scan the name on the tag.
Julie. I don’t remember her from any of Aspen’s stories.
“She has preeclampsia and suddenly got a headache. She also mentioned being dizzy and foggy.” I fumble over my words.
“Okay, if I remember right, you guys were doctoring out of town, correct?”
I nod. “Yeah, we are seeing Dr. Norris. She told Aspen to go to the ER with any worsening of symptoms.”
“Okay, if you can fill out some paperwork, I can get her checked in while they wheel her up for evaluation. They will take her directly to our L a small couch sits flush with the window, and a chair is in the corner.
There’s a tiny bassinet next to the bed, and it starts to hit me.
There is a very real chance that I will be a dad today.
“Let’s get you comfortable.” Evelyn's voice is soft and calming as she helps Aspen out of the wheelchair and into the bed. Once Aspen is comfortable, Evelyn pulls the blankets up and I walk over to the side of the bed.
I lean in and kiss her forehead. “How you feeling?”
“Not as dizzy but,” she furrows her brow as she searches her thoughts, “kind of like I took benadryl or five.”
“One of the doctors is in-house right now; we’ve already set out an emergent page so she should be here any second.
I’m going to take a round of vitals. Once we get some orders in, there will probably be some blood work and maybe some medication.
” She walks over and grabs a blood pressure cuff from a machine mounted on the wall.
It’s different seeing this, what Aspen's world looks like when she’s clocked into work here. A different department, but I’m sure it’s a lot of the same stuff. I’ve heard her talk about it a million times, it’s just different seeing it in action, on her.
The first round of vitals come in and I look over to Evelyn's face; her brows shoot up as the initial blood pressure comes through. I don’t know what it means; I know one hundred twenty over eighty is standard, but Aspen's is reading so much higher than that.
Even without all the information, I start panicking even worse.
“Your blood pressure is two hundred five over one hundred eleven.”
Aspen looks taken aback as she takes in the information. “Okay, guessing you’re going to load me up with antihypertensives?”
Even with feeling awful and struggling with a headache, she is incredibly intelligent. I hope our kid gets her brains and my brawn.
There’s a knock on the outside of the door before it swings open. “Hey guys. I’m Dr. Crile. I’ll be taking care of you guys today. Evelyn, can you fill me in?” She walks over to Aspen to start her evaluation as Evelyn gives her the rundown.
The doctor turns to Evelyn. “Alright, here’s what I would like to do.
We are going to do stat labs, all of our standard panels for delivery, but tack on a comprehensive metabolic panel.
Make sure to cross-match her for blood.” She then turns to us.
“I don’t know what your current birth plan was, but I’d really love for you to be able to deliver vaginally.
We’re going to try a couple of doses of blood pressure meds in your IV.
We will be monitoring you closely. If the blood pressure doesn’t come down, or your symptoms get even a hair worse, I'd like to do an emergent cesarean. I know it isn’t ideal, but as your doctor, I want to make sure we have a healthy baby and mom.
At the end of the day it is your body, your baby and your call, but that would be my request.”
Mabel finally bursts through the doors, not bothering with knocking.
“Glad you made it here quickly,” I say, knowing what we were just told is a lot and my girl is going to need her mom. They’ve always had a special bond, and I want Aspen to feel safe.
Aspen turns her head to me, and I feel sick. She doesn’t look like my happy-go-lucky girl. She’s almost clammy, and her eyes are glossy. I can’t believe this is happening to us. I was hoping just one thing would go smoothly. We’ve already been through the wringer.
The doctor sticks out her hand to shake Mabel’s. “Hi, I’m Doctor Crile. I’m guessing you are Aspen’s mom?”
“Yes, I am Mabel.”
“Aspen, are you okay with everyone in the room getting updates on your status?”
Aspen slowly nods. “Of course.”
The doctor gives her the rundown, and then she and Evelyn leave the room. Two nurses come back in, starting IV’s and drawing labs. Within twenty minutes, her first med has been pushed, and I sit nervously staring at the blood pressure. It reruns every fifteen minutes and so far it hasn’t gone down.
I try to distract Aspen with anything I can think of. Stupid stories of her brother. Stupid stories I never told her. Anything that will put a smile on her face.
A half hour later, the doctor comes back in with a solemn expression on her face. “We need to talk about that C-section.”
Aspen looks at me, and I already know she’s silently asking what I think. And I think we should do what the doctor thinks is best. I nod once.
“Let’s do it.” Her voice is so small and weak, nothing like the fiery woman I adore.
“Okay, I’d like to have you back in the OR in about fifteen minutes.” The doctor looks at me and Mabel. “It’s going to get a bit crazy in here. If you guys wouldn’t mind sitting on the couch til we wheel her back. The faster we get her in the OR, the better.”
I try to digest everything she is telling me. “Can I go with her?”
“Hopefully, we will get her prepped, and as long as the spinal tap goes okay, you should be fine to come in. There are some additional risks of more bleeding with preeclampsia; if we run into that, it’s manageable, but we will have you step out with the baby until mom is in recovery.”
She looks between Aspen and me, but I’m at a loss. I can’t believe this is happening. “Okay, just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”
Mabel and I do what we are told as more people file in and out of the room. Aspen’s eyes are now closed, which just fans the flame of my worry.
A tall man enters the room and addresses me. “Hi, I am Tom with anesthesia, I’ll take good care of her and hopefully we will get to see you soon. I’m going to wheel her back to the OR now.” He slaps my shoulder once and gives it a squeeze before wheeling out the love of my life.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m dressed in a white covering and a scrub cap, waiting outside the OR. Mabel went to the waiting room until it’s time. Part of me wishes she was here with me as my feet bounce a hundred miles an hour as I wait.
“Rhett?” The nurse from the room steps out. “I am so sorry, but anesthesia is having a difficult time with her spinal. We are going to put her under a general anesthetic, which means no outside personnel or support persons in the room.”
I feel tears spring to my eyes. “Is she okay?”
“She’s doing well and in stable condition right now. The spinal only worked on her left side, so this is just to keep her comfortable. We will bring the baby to your room as soon as we can. We have a team for both of them. We’ll take good care of her,” she says, empathy evident in her tone.
She disappears behind doors and I sink back into my chair, burning my face in my hands to hide the tears I feel building behind my eyes.
It feels like my heart is being torn out of my chest right now. I’m going to miss the birth of my son, and not only that, I can’t protect Aspen from out here. Even worse, I can’t protect her from this at all. I’ve never felt so fucking helpless in my life.
I can’t remember the last time I even thought about praying, but at this moment, it’s all I can do.
So I pray long and hard. I want my life with Aspen.
I need her to be okay. I need my son to be okay.
I thought maybe having Becker Muscular Dystrophy was bad, but this?
Someone you love being in pain and not being able to help them beats it by light years.