Chapter Twenty-Four
Rhys was a nervous wreck by the time he made it to the hospital. He dialed Carys’s cell to find out where she was. He found his daughter on the maternity ward in the waiting room. She was distraught and teary-eyed Carys. She stood up when she spotted him and ran to his arms. He held her close as she cried. “its okay baby, I’m here.”
“Daddy, I’m so scared. There was so much blood. Sadie was hysterical. They took her into this room to examine her and the next thing I know they’re wheeling her away to the delivery room. I think she’s going to have the baby. She’s not that far along. Dad, what if the baby doesn’t make it?”
He hugged her tight and kissed her on the top of her head. “It’s going to be okay. Look, you don’t need to deal with this. I’m going to call your Nana and Uncle Colin to come get you.”
“No! I don’t want to leave. I’ll stay right here.”
“Sweetie, I don’t think this is something you should have to deal with.”
“I’ll be fine, Daddy. I promise. I’ll call Nana and Uncle Colin and you go find Sadie. I’ll wait here okay?”
Rhys hesitated but he really did want to find Sadie to see what was going on. “Thank you, honey.” He gave her another kiss on the head before heading to the nurse’s station.
After verifying who he was, he was directed to the delivery room. He whispered a silent prayer as he made his way in that direction. When he arrived at his destination, he tapped on the door gently. After a few moments, someone poked their head out the door. “Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Sadie Flowers. I’m the baby’s father.”
“Okay. I’ll check and see if she wants you in here. I don’t mean to offend but since the two of you aren’t married its protocol that we get the mother’s consent for you be in the room with her.”
“Of course.” He nodded feeling a whole new anxiety. What if Sadie didn’t want her there? He waited tensely for the nurse to return.
She finally returned and allowed him inside to his relief. This wasn’t the type of delivery room he was used to seeing on television. It was like a large hospital room with one bed in the center. Sadie lay there looking despondent. She was connected to an IV. Next to Sadie’s bed was another nurse.
He cautiously approached her bedside. “Sadie?
She turned her head to look at him. Her red-rimmed eyes were puffy. Snot dripped down her nose but she didn’t seem to care. “Hello, Rhys.”
“How are you feeling?”
“I think I just pushed out a dead baby. How do you think I’m supposed to feel?”
His heart broke into a million pieces. Was the baby dead? He realized he needed to be strong for Sadie. He took her hand in his and brought it to his mouth in a brief kiss. “It’s okay baby. We’ll get through this.”
Sadie burst into tears. “But I love her so much!”
“I know you do.” He struggled to hold back his own tears. “I love her too.”
“I-I didn’t get to hold her,” she continued to sob.
Rhys’s heart continued to fall apart with each tear that slid down Sadie’s face. He held on to her hand for dear life as if she were a life jacket in the middle of a stormy ocean. He blinked hard to keep his own tears at bay but to no avail. They fell hard.
He and Sadie cried together holding on to each other, praying for some miracle.
A hand fell on his shoulder. Rhys jumped, startled out his grief. “Dr. Wong will talk to you shortly. He’s the physician from our Neonatal Unit who’s been working on your daughter.”
“Is she alive?” Sadie asked tentatively as if she were scared to hear the answer.
The nurse nodded. “The doctor will give you further details but until then you two take it easy. Can I get either one of you something to drink? Some water or juice?”
“Nothing for me thank you,” Rhys replied before turning to Sadie. “Have you had anything to eat today, sweetheart?”
She shook her head. “But I’m not hungry.”
“At the very least let me get you some juice. You’ve lost a lot of blood and you could use the calories to give you energy,” the nurse insisted.
Sadie nodded and lay back against her pillow looking pale and weak. Rhys eyed the bag of blood warily noticing for the first time that Sadie was receiving a blood transfusion. She must have lost a significant amount which probably meant she could have died. He shuddered at the thought. Losing the baby would be tough to deal with but losing Sadie would be one hundred times worse. He didn’t want to picture his life without her.
“I love you, Sadie. So much. No matter what happens, I just need you to know that okay, love?”
Before she could answer a tall Asian man in scrubs made his way to their bedside. He pulled up a chair on the other side of Sadie’s bed and took a seat. “Miss Flowers, I’m Dr. Wong. I was working on your daughter. They’re about to wheel her out. I just wanted to discuss a few things with you before you saw her.”
“Is she alive?” Sadie asked anxiously.
“Yes, she is. Have you thought of a name for her yet?”
Rhys hadn’t realized he was holding his breath until the doctor answered that question. “Thank God.”
Sadie began to cry again. “Names haven’t been discussed yet. I want to see her.”
“You will shortly. I just needed to go over a few things with you. As you know your daughter is sixteen weeks premature which usually gives her about a fifty percent survival rate. But she has three things going for her: her second APGAR score was an eight out of ten which is excellent for one born so prematurely. She’s a girl which typically means girls do much better than boys in these situations, and the final thing is that she’s African-American. African American children also seem to fare better.”
“So in other words, she’d be doomed if she was a Caucasian male?” Rhys asked not quite understanding the gist of what was being said.
“Not doomed, but there is a little saying we have in the NICU. They’re generally referred to as “wimpy white boys” We’re still not sure why but for some reason they don’t seem to fare as well as the other groups. Anything a preemie is prone to they usually get it.”
“Dr.Wong, what does APGAR mean?” Sadie asked tentatively.
“The APGAR score is something used to access the health of a newborn, one being lowest and ten being the highest. We take into account appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration.”
“So it’s good that our daughter scored an eight?” Rhys asked.
“It’s excellent,” Dr. Wong confirmed. “Like I said, for one born so early she generally has about a fifty-fifty chance of survival but this is an excellent hospital and we work hand in hand with two other leading children’s hospitals which increases her chances. Not to mention, your daughter seems very feisty and that also is a great sign.”
“So what happens now?” Rhys wanted to know.
“She’ll be staying in the Intensive Care Special Nursery until she’s strong enough to go home and that’s generally closer to the time of her original due date. Sometimes they get released earlier than that and sometimes later so please don’t get discouraged if she’s in here longer than you think she should be. Every baby is different and we have to do what’s best for her. That being said, she has a long way to go. Currently, she’s on a ventilator which is doing the breathing for her because her lungs aren’t developed enough for her to do it on her own yet. She has a delicate immune system so she’ll be susceptible to various infections but we do the best we can to make sure that doesn’t happen. For now, your daughter’s health status is listed as critical but we’re hoping that will eventually change. The next two weeks, in particular, will be crucial. There are five other doctors in the NICU and we are usually on rotation for a week at a time in the day and night. You can visit your daughter anytime you want; there are no formal visiting hours. The only time the nursery is closed to visitors is shift change at seven to seven-thirty AM and PM. You’ll be given wristbands as parents and you’re allowed six visitors for the duration of your daughter’s stay. Their names will be put on a list and you can let the nurse know when you go up.” Dr. Wong continued to go through some things they’d face in the coming months, which scared Rhys and gave him hope. “Any more questions?”
“I just want to see her.”
“Of course. She’s on her way out now. But only for a couple minutes. We have to take her to the Special Care Nursery.” Just as the doctor finished speaking a team of nurses, wheeled out an incubator. Rhys gasped in awe and fear. She was so tiny! No longer than the length of his hand. But she seemed perfectly formed. She moved her little hand and kicked her feet showing them that she was alive and kicking. He loved her so much his heart ached. Tears flowed down his cheeks.
“She’s so beautiful Rhys.” Sadie also had tears streaming down her face.
In that moment Rhys was determined more than ever that they would be a family. A complete one.
* * *
Sadie was so exhausted by the time she was wheeled into her own private room, tired from the Percocet the nurse had administered to her. She fell asleep once the nurse examined her; barely registering Rhys hadn’t left her side. She only woke briefly when the nurse gently shook her shoulder to change her pads.
When she came to, it was to find Rhys and Lily in the room. Rhys seemed to be giving her sister a blow by blow of what the doctor had told them. “Lily, when did you get here?” Sadie asked.
Lily and Rhys turned toward her when she spoke. Her sister rushed to her side and leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “Oh, honey. How are you feeling?”
“Just a little drowsy but fine otherwise. When did you get here?” she asked again.
“About ten minutes ago. Colin informed me when he received a call from Carys. I got here as soon as I could. Daisy is headed to the airport now and will be taking the next plane out so she probably won’t be here until the morning. And Rose is on her way back from Italy.”
“Oh, I didn’t expect them to drop everything and fly out. I know how busy they are.”
“Girl, stop it. We’re sisters. And you know we’d do anything for you.”
“I’m going to head down to the cafeteria and get some coffee. Would you like anything ladies?” Rhys asked.
“No thank you.” Sadie and Lily spoke in unison.
Rhys nodded. “Okay, I will be back. Perhaps when I return I can wheel you to the NICU to see our little princess?” he asked Sadie.
“I’d love that,” she agreed eagerly, anxious to see her daughter.
“I’ll be back soon.” He closed the door behind them leaving the sisters alone in the room.
Lily held on to Sadie’s hand as she took a seat next to the bed. “Honey I was terrified when I got the call. I think I cried all the way to the hospital so I can only imagine how you much have felt. She’s beautiful by the way. I didn’t know babies were born so small.”
“You saw her?”
“Yes. When you were sleeping Rhys took me to the NICU. You don’t mind do you?”
“Of course not. I’m glad you got to see her. Thank you for coming by the way.” Sadie patted her sister’s hand in reassurance.
“You couldn’t keep me away kid. The nurse said when you woke up you can go see the baby. I’ll get the wheelchair.”
Sadie was very anxious to see her daughter but something held her back. “Maybe I should wait for Rhys to return.”
“You’d rather go in with him don’t you?” Lily asked gently.
“No offense. I mean, he is her father.”
“None taken. I understand. It’s how it should be.”
“Really? You haven’t exactly been Rhys’s biggest fan.”
“I’m no fan of his brother but that’s beside the point. I, of course, will always be on your side and honestly, Rhys was on my shit list for a long time. But if you would have seen the way he looked at you while you were sleeping. And then the way he looked at your daughter. I know that man loves you. He’s a good guy. Yes, he turned a blind eye while his kid was acting out but I think he realizes the mistake he made and wants to make amends. I think even the demon seed may actually be contrite as well. I saw her outside the waiting room. She really wanted to see the baby, however, Rhys told her it was your decision whether she could visit the NICU.”
“He told her that? He could have just put her on the list as one of the visitors”
“Yes, I suppose he could have but the fact that he’s putting you and your concerns above anything else tells me he’s trying. As much as I wanted to powerbomb that kid she may not be as bad as I thought she was. She seems to be just a lost little girl.”
“Yes. I know. She came to see me before I drove myself to the hospital to apologize. She’s getting help for her problems and I believe she’s sincere.”
Lily raised a brow. “And did you accept her apology?”
“Of course. She was hurting Lily. I wish I would have seen it. Maybe I could have approached the situation differently.”
“So where does that leave you with Rhys?”
“I’m not sure. I feel like it’s all water under the bridge and right now I need to focus on my daughter. I can’t even think about working on a relationship right now.”
“Fair enough but you won’t have the baby to hide behind for long. You’ll eventually have to deal with your feelings for Rhys.”
“I know.” Sadie decided to change the subject not wanting to delve too deeply into the subject of her feelings for Rhys. “Speaking of the baby, we can’t just keep calling her ‘the baby’. I didn’t really have time to consider names. I definitely don’t want her to get stuck with a name like Chrysanthemum.” Sadie shuttered at her first name. “But if Rhys agrees I think I’ll name her Elizabeth. That’s what Aunt Joyce said my mother’s middle name was.”
Lily rubbed her chin in her thinking mode. “I like that name a lot. What about a middle name?”
“I’ve always liked the name, Miriam.”
“Elizabeth Miriam. That’s pretty. It will certainly look better than baby Flowers.”
Rhys returned several minutes later. “Are you ready to go to the NICU?”
“Yes!” Sadie said eagerly.
Rhys and Lily helped Sadie off the bed and into the wheelchair. Lily assured her sister she’d be waiting in the lobby. As he wheeled her to the Special Care Nursery, Sadie told him about her choice of name which Rhys agreed to. She also told him it was okay if Carys wanted to see the baby. It wasn’t like she could do anything with all the nurses and cameras on her—not that Sadie believed she’d try anything.
After scrubbing thoroughly, they entered the unit and tears burned Sadie’s eyes as Rhys wheeled her past several tiny babies. Finally, he stopped in front of one incubator with a sign that read “Baby Flowers”.
Elizabeth was under an ultraviolet lamp with patches over her eyes.
“That’s for the jaundice,” Rhys explained.
The baby was tinier than Sadie remembered, her skin was bright red and paper thin. She could practically see every single delicate organ and vein inside that tiny body. Her baby. Her heart. Sadie desperately wanted to hold her and knew she couldn’t. She began to cry at the sight of the tiny angel. Rhys leaned over and wrapped his arms around her.
“She’s going to make it Sadie. Our girl is a fighter.”
Sadie wanted those words to be true more than anything she’d ever wanted before. There was one thing that made her feel better, however: having Rhys by her side.