King

She’s seizing. I’ve never seen someone have a seizure in person, but there’s no doubt in my mind that’s what’s happening.

“Gloria. Call 911 now.”

Damn it, what do I do? Juliette is crying. I startled her when I yelled, but she’s safe in her bassinette and I can’t worry about her right now.

I kneel on the bed next to Holland and roll her onto her side. Her body is jerking uncontrollably. I rack my brain, trying to think what you’re supposed to do when someone seizes.

“What’s goin . . . oh my God.” Gloria enters the room, already on the phone with 911, to find out why she’s calling them.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“I don’t know. Tell them she’s having a seizure and to come to 2112 Sweetwater Lane right away. And tell them she just had a baby two days ago.”

Holland’s body twists until her face is smashed into the pillow as she convulses. I slide the pillow out from under her and press the mattress away from her mouth and nose so she can breathe, but her skin is ashy and her lips are blue. Fuck, what is going on? After what seems like an eternity, her stiff muscles begin to relax.

“Holland? Holland, baby, are you okay?” Stupid question. Of course she’s not okay. I can’t even tell if she’s breathing. Check her pulse, check her pulse . . . I press my fingers against the side of her neck and wait until I feel a weak, slow beat, thank God. “Baby, please open your eyes. Come on, Holland, can you hear me?” I shake her gently and pat her cheek, but just when I think she might be coming around, her body stiffens again.

“No, no, no. This isn’t happening.” Gloria is moving around behind me, crying and talking to the 911 dispatcher while Juliette screams bloody murder in her bassinette. This is not how this day was supposed to go.

I keep Holland on her side and watch and wait. Five hundred years and three long seizures later, I hear the sirens of an ambulance coming down the street. My heart is overwhelmed with dread. I can’t lose her.

Gloria scrambles down the stairs to let the paramedics inside.

“Upstairs to the right, at the end of the hall. Hurry, please!” she yells.

Holland’s body is still and quiet. The seizures have stopped, or maybe she’s between them. I don’t know. Someone is kneeling beside me . . . the paramedic, thank God.

“Sir, how long has she been unresponsive? Does she have a known seizure disorder?”

“No, and I don’t know how long it’s been.” I turn my head parallel to Holland’s body and look at my watch that is on the arm holding her on her side.

“We got home thirty minutes ago. I brought her upstairs fifteen or twenty minutes after that, and we were only here for a couple of minutes before she started doing this.”

“Greg, she’s been seizing for at least ten minutes.” The paramedic next to me tells his partner.

“Not constantly, though. She’s had three episodes with a minute or two in between.”

“Okay, good, thank you . . . what’s your name?”

“King.” The man pauses, as most people do when I introduce myself. It’s a weird name.

“Okay, King, I’m going to need to examine her. Could you let me squeeze in there?”

“You have to help her, don’t let her die.”

“You’ve got it, buddy. I’ll take good care of her. Now, can you tell me a couple of things like—how old is she?”

“Twenty.”

“Is that her baby with the set of lungs back there?”

“Our baby, yes.” I watch his partner crawl across the other side of the bed and start an IV, but I can’t move. My hands ache from holding her in place.

“Oh okay, so ya’ll are new parents. That’s awesome. What’s her name?”

“Holland.”

“Does Holland have any medical conditions, asthma, blood clotting disorders, heart problems?”

“No, no. She’s healthy. She just had a baby, everything went fine until we got home today,” I say, prying my eyes from her face for a moment to let this guy know how irritated I’m getting. I realize he’s trying to keep me calm, but he’s pissing me the fuck off. I wish he would just shut the hell up and help her.

“B/P’s 187/98. She’s coming around,” Greg says to my friendly paramedic.

“Alright, let’s get her loaded up. We need to get her to the hospital. King, do you think you could let go of her for just a minute while we get her on a gurney?”

I grit my teeth when he puts his hand on my shoulder. She’s improving, though, so I stand and move out of their way while they slide her limp body onto the gurney. She looks so small and helpless. I wish they would just let me carry her downstairs.

“What hospital do you want us to take her to?” Greg asks.

“St. Mary’s, that’s where she delivered. Her doctor is Dr. Glock.”

“Do you want to follow us with the baby, King?” Friendly asks. No, I don’t want to fucking follow them. I don’t want to leave her side, but I don’t have much choice. I can’t leave Gloria here with Juliette.

Savannah rushes into the bedroom, jerking to a halt when she sees Holland being loaded onto a stretcher.

“What’s going on?” She covers her mouth with a trembling hand as the gurney makes a loud click when they lift it from the ground. I grab Holland’s bag from the floor where Gloria dropped it earlier and follow the paramedics with Savannah on my heels.

“How much do you know about babies?” I ask her.

“Uh . . . what? Why? Hey, what’s wrong with her?” She yanks on my shirt as we walk.

“I don’t know, Savannah. She’s having seizures and they’re taking her to the hospital. I want to ride with them, but I need you to take care of the baby for me. Can you do that?”

“Um well . . . yeah.” Everyone pauses at the top of the stairs as they adjust the gurney to fit around the corner.

“What about her mama? Can’t she watch the baby? I mean, I used to babysit a lot, but Juliette’s so new . . . and tiny and stuff.”

“Gloria isn’t stable, Savannah, she’s having some sort of breakdown. I can’t leave the baby with her. You have to stay with Juliette,” I whisper so Gloria won’t hear me.

Her eyes fill with tears, and she swiftly wipes them away. She glances at the paramedics and back at me with wide, concerned eyes.

“Yes, okay. Yeah, of course, go ahead. I’ll figure it out and I’ll call my mama and have her come and help me. Is she gonna be okay? Like, you don’t think she’s gonna . . .” Her voice trails off and I place my finger against her lips.

“Stop, she’s going to be fine. She has to be.”

“King?” Holland murmurs from the bottom of the stairs.

“Hey there, Holland, can you open your eyes for us?” Greg asks as I take the stairs two at a time to catch up.

“Hey, baby, I’m right here, I’m not leaving you. How are you feeling?”

She reaches her pale hand under the rail of the gurney, and I take it in both of mine as we roll down the sidewalk to the ambulance waiting in the street. Our new neighbors are milling around their yards and on the sidewalk watching us, probably wondering what the heck kind of people have to be toted off to the hospital the day they move in.

Her eyelids droop.

“I’m so tired.”

Juliette cries inside the house.

“The baby, who’s with the baby?”

“It’s all right, Savannah’s here and she’s calling her mother to come help her.” Her body collapses back onto the stretcher and she sighs, closing her eyes again.

Gloria appears and announces that Savannah and her mother are going to watch the baby, like it’s all her idea, and that she will follow in her car.

“That’s fine, Gloria. We’ll see you there,” I call over my shoulder, climbing into the back of the ambulance. She turns to head to her car and hesitates before turning back around.

“I really should ride with her, you know. I’m her mother, after all.”

My fists ball at my side, and I look her straight in the eyes just before the doors are closed.

“She wants me, Gloria . . . me, not you.” She gasps and the doors close. Fuck, I should have kept my big mouth shut. She’s crazier than a rat trapped in a tin shithouse. I hold Holland’s hand and use my other hand to text Savannah.

I’m serious about Gloria. Don’t trust her around the baby. I may have just stirred up a hornet’s nest, so stay out of her way. Juliette has breast milk in the tan bag on the kitchen table. She’s hungry and stressed. See if you can feed her and calm her down while you wait for your mom. Holland’s awake. I’ll text you when we find out what’s wrong. Call me for anything.

* * *

“Eclampsia? What’s that?” Savannah asks when I call to give her an update.

“Apparently, it’s a disease women get when they’re pregnant. It usually begins during pregnancy, but she never had any of the typical symptoms.”

“But she’s not even pregnant anymore,” she says, and I hear Juliette squeaking in the background. The sound makes my chest ache, she’s two days old, and I’ve already left her in someone else’s hands. My dad was never there for me until I could be of use to him in the business. I will not be that Dad. Holland will always come first before anyone else on earth. She will always be my top priority, with Juliette being a close second. There shouldn’t be a hierarchy for love, but for me, there is no question. It’s God, Holland, Juliette, and everything else, period.

“The doctor says that sometimes it comes on after the baby is born. There’s no real cause, but it’s more prevalent in older women and teens.”

“Ah, okay. Well how is she now?”

“Better. They’re giving her medication in her IV to keep her blood pressure down. She’s resting. The seizures took a lot out of her.”

“Um, okay, well do you know when you’re going to be coming home? I mean, we can stay and all, but I have to work tomorrow, and Juliette’s gonna need more to eat.”

“I’ll talk to the nurses, but I think it would be okay to bring the baby down here. If you can stay a couple of more hours, I’ll be back to get her.”

“Okay, sure, no problem. Take your time. Mama and I are having fun, so no hurry.”

“Thank you, Savannah. You have no idea how much you and your mother have helped.”

“Anything for you guys. So . . . is Gloria there?”

“Yes.” She’s sitting across from me on the other side of Holland’s bed. She looks like any normal, attentive mother.

“Oh, you can’t talk, huh?”

“No, not right now.”

“Okay, we’ll see you later then.”

“I won’t be long. Take good care of my girl.”

“You too,” she says.

I smile and press end. Thank God Holland has such a good friend.