37
Taylor
In record time, Taylor had been whisked from The Four Seasons hotel to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. As soon as they arrived, a team made of nurses and hospital administrators were waiting to take her directly to Labor and Delivery.
When they transferred her from the gurney to gurney, Taylor noticed the large puddle of blood that she’d left behind.
“Victor!” she said through a terrified breath.
Her entire body was trembling with fear. Victor clutched her hand and jogged along the gurney. Even though he seemed calm, he couldn’t hide the horrified look in his eyes.
“You’ll be fine, sweetheart. They’re gonna take good care of you and the baby.”
A nurse began to take her blood pressure as they rolled her into an elevator. The concerned look on the nurse’s face did nothing to ease Taylor’s fears. The doors separated when they reached the 4thfloor. Dr. Jacquelyn Crane, her obstetrician, was waiting in the hall.
“Suite 32,” she instructed the nurses with a trained calm. She smiled down and Taylor. “I’m gonna take a quick examination, then we’ll get you all straightened out.”
Taylor nodded and squeezed Victor’s hand. She tried to remain calm as they rolled her to her room. Dr. Crane grabbed a pair of latex gloves from a box on the wall and walked over to the hospital bed. Taylor was transferred from the gurney to the examination table. Dr. Crane’s tranquil disposition changed immediately when she noticed the amount of blood on the gurney.
“Get me an OR ready! Get me an anesthesiologist! I think Dr. Takashi is on call!”
There was not one bit of calm in her tone as she shouted orders to the hospital staff. Taylor was freaking out. She pulled at Victor’s arm until he was holding her. The doctor frowned. She seemed to realize she was scaring the shit out of them. She took a deep breath, but Taylor was holding hers. Noticing her distress, Dr. Crane moved closer and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Mrs. Creed, judging from the amount of blood loss you’ve suffered, I can safely diagnose you with a condition called Placental Abruption. It’s when the placenta detaches from the uterus. Right now, your baby is being denied oxygen, and you are running the risk of bleeding out. So, we need to perform an emergency caesarian.”
“What causes something like this?” Victor asked.
The doctor shrugged. “We really don’t know. Your wife’s lifestyle is inconsistent with the listed possible causes. Some causes are listed as drug and alcohol use, smoking, or some sort of trauma. From my understanding, you told the EMTs and the nurses that you hadn’t suffered any trauma. So, there’s really no way of knowing.” She turned to one of the nurses. “Paula, please get Mrs. Creed on a fetal monitor and get her prepped for surgery.”
Taylor sighed and looked up at Victor. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his worried eyes.
“Please, don’t worry, Governor and Mrs. Creed.” Dr. Crane implored with a smile. “I am the Michael Jordan of maternity. Not only am I gonna get that angel out safely, but I might even give you a little tuck while I’m down there.”
The return of the doctor’s confidence helped Taylor to relax a bit. However, the sharp pain in her lower back rendered her peace short lived. It was a pain like no other. It felt like God was reaching down from heaven, squeezing her insides. When she screamed from sheer agony, Victor nearly jumped out of his skin.
“What is that?” he yelled at the doctor. “What is happening?”
“That sounded like a contraction, Governor,” Dr. Crane responded.
Taylor was groaning, Victor was freaking, and the nurses were gathering the materials needed to prep her for surgery. When the contraction passed, the doctor gave her shoulder a squeeze.
“I’ll meet you in the operating room,” she said with a smile.
When she left the room, three nurses remained. They politely shooed Victor out of the way and started removing Taylor’s clothing. Once they were done, they slipped two cloth belts under her back and attached them to two round monitors, one to measure the contractions, and the other to monitor the baby’s heartbeat. The sound of her baby’s heartbeat brought her instant comfort. She looked up at Victor and smiled weakly.
“He’s gonna be fine,” she assured.
“He? Do you know something that I don’t?” he asked with a grin.
“I know God wouldn’t dare give me a girl to raise,” Taylor joked.
One of the nurses laughed and snapped her into a hospital gown. They left the strings untied and stuffed her hair into a surgical bonnet. The nurses were polite and engaging, but it didn’t go unnoticed how fast they were working.
After slipping a pair of hospital socks on her feet, one of the nurses went out and came back with a clean gurney. They transferred her to the gurney by pulling the sheet she was lying on to slide her over.
“I’m sorry, Governor. In cases of emergencies, dads are not allowed in the operating room. But you can accompany your wife as far as the double doors,” one of the nurses nervously conveyed.
To Taylor’s surprise, Victor was the most cooperative she’d ever seen. As she began to roll, she reached for his hand. Victor waited until they cleared the narrow doorway before covering her hand within his.
