Page 60 of Daigo

"She's not crying. Why's she not crying?"

"Give her a minute."

Shelby watched as the nurses efficiently wrapped her daughter and worked on her. A sigh of relief left her when the baby wailed indignantly. "Oh, thank God!"

"Now, no time for respite. Baby number two. Another girl." Dr. Middleton worked delicately and efficiently. "Perfect and identical. With all ten fingers and toes, face screwed up in annoyance at being ousted from her comfortable home." She handed her over to the waiting team.

"Keira Allison." Daigo spoke for the first time, his voice hoarse.

"Lovely names." Dr. Middleton tried not to frown as she went back to work again. Very soon, Keira followed her sister and started wailing. "Comforting sounds."

"What's wrong?" Shelby's instinct as a mother kicked in as she tore her eyes away from the girls and saw the slight frown on the doctor's face.

"Nothing too worrisome. Your son tangled himself up in the umbilical cord. It's just a matter of setting him free." She worked assiduously and tried to minimize the bleeding. "Ah, here we go." Moving swiftly, she handed the baby to the team. "Get them into the incubator immediately."

"What's wrong?" Shelby asked in alarm.

"His breathing is a little labored." The doctor motioned to the team. "We have excessive bleeding." She glanced at Daigo. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to step aside."

"Why?" he demanded. "I'm not leaving my wife-"

"If you want us to work on her, you're going to have to. She's hemorrhaging."

"I don't-"

"Please, Mr. Nakano, we have to act expeditiously. I promise to take care of her."

Chapter 15

It was taking too long; the thought raced through his mind and sent his heart thundering. He couldn't settle. A glance at his watch told him it was barely an hour since they had wheeled her into surgery, but it felt like days.

He had stepped into the SCBU (Special Care Baby Unit) to look at his children. Their names were attached to the incubators, identifying them, especially the girls, who were so identical that one could not tell them apart. His heart melted as he stared at his two princesses, with the downy dark hair scarcely covering their pink scalps. He could see his wife's pert nose and cupid's bow lips on them.

His son, Kai, was attached to a breathing tube. Christ! He looked so tiny. He looked so vulnerable and helpless that Daigo felt panic gripping his heart.

"Is he all right?" he asked the nurse abruptly as she came in to check on them.

"He's holding his own," she told him with an evasive smile that had him searching her face for answers.

"I don't know what the hell that means."

"It means this little man is a fighter," she elaborated. "His vitals are getting better."

"Thank you." He was tired, he realized with a sigh. Turning from the room, he went back to the waiting room, where his mother sat. His brows lifted when he caught sight of the slim redhead who was seated in the corner of the room next to a man with sable brown hair and light green eyes.

"Tammy." He acknowledged her briefly.

"I hope you don't mind the intrusion. I had to come and be here for her, and I brought reinforcements."

"I insisted on accompanying her. She was a right wreck," the man stated with a smile as he rose and extended a hand. "My name is Derek McNeill."

"You're Irish."

"Irish-American, yes. I hear congratulations are in order."

"Thanks."

"Any word?" Tammy asked.