6. Six - Ahmad
Six - Ahmad
M y days and nights were running together so much that I found myself sleeping on the sofa in my office.
My eyes were closed, and I was trying to get a quick cat nap in, but as soon as I felt myself drifting, my phone went off.
Damn! I just want an hour. That’s all.
I got up, checked the code on my phone, grabbed my jacket and headed out the door of my office.
I walked into the emergency room and grabbed the tablet from the nurse.
“Diana, what do we have?” I asked, leaning on the nurses’ station.
“Dr. James, we have a woman twenty-nine weeks pregnant and in active labor. We can’t stop it and I’m not sure if the little one can take a natural birth. I think she’ll need an emergency c-section.”
“Thanks, Diana.” Diana was one of the best ER nurses, so I listened to each word carefully as they left her mouth. Most doctors didn’t respect the opinions of their nurses enough. However, I wasn’t one of them.
I walked away while reviewing the chart.
Jameela Moody, age thirty-nine, twenty-nine weeks pregnant and diagnosed with gestational diabetes.
I walked into the triage room, still looking down at the tablet.
“Okay, Ms. Moody, it looks as though you are in active labor, and quite early. Do you mind if I do an exam? I’m Dr. James the head of Gynecology and Obstetrics here at GW, by the way.” I finally looked up from the chart and damn near dropped the fucking tablet out of my hand.
“MiMi?” I asked, stunned.
She looked back at me like a deer caught in headlights.
But before she could even get a word out, she screamed in pain.
I rushed over to her and checked her vitals. It seemed to be a contraction, and I coached her to breathe through it.
“My baby… it’s too early.”
My brain was moving a mile a minute, but my first priority was to do my job and make sure her and her baby were stable.
“Ms. Moody, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you and your baby are safe.” I approached her with caution. “You mind if I check you out?”
She looked hesitant but nodded.
After doing a vaginal exam, sure enough, MiMi… Jameela… whatever her name was… was five centimeters dilated.
“Ms. Moody, you are in active labor. Your contractions have been consistent, and you’re dilating at an accelerated rate. I’m going to give you something to try and stop your labor. I am also going to get you a shot of corticosteroid.”
“What’s that?” She asked, afraid. I could see the worry all over her face, but I was going to do everything in my power to make sure her and her baby made it through this ordeal.
“It’s an injection that will trigger the production of surfactant for your baby’s lungs. We want this little guy’s lungs to be strong and healthy.”
“It’s a boy?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you didn’t know the sex.”
“It’s okay. I… I didn’t want to know until the baby got here because I felt like knowing the sex would really make it real. I mean, I’m forty and giving birth to a baby… alone.”
Alone? Who the fuck would leave this beautiful woman alone, and pregnant?
“Well, MiMi… I mean Ms. Moody, we’ll get you up to labor and delivery and see if we can slow down your labor, okay?”
“I’ll trust your word, doc.”
She blushed a little, but immediately looked away, embarrassed.
Walking back to the nurses’ station, I made sure to let everyone know to get her up to labor and delivery as soon as possible and to treat her like a V.I.P.
I was going to take very good care of MiMi. And her child.