Path Of Shadows: The Awakening

Chapter 29

I go downstairs and grab my keys then I shout for Jàime. She comes around the corner from her room and follows me out the front door to my vehicle. We get inside and head to the hospital. The whole ride was quiet. We pull into the hospital parking lot, park the car then go inside. Nathan is still here. Wide awake but looking exhausted. I walk over and hug him.

"How is he today?" I ask.

"Well, they didn't have to give him the steroids today. He's breathing a little above the machine so they turned it down to see if he could sustain his breathing and he could but he's on reduced oxygen flow. He has no discoloration of the fingers, toes or lips so he is getting enough oxygen. He was sleeping most of the time I've been here. They said that by tomorrow night he will be out of the crucial phase. They still want to keep him for a while, they said it could be months, could be days, it depends on him. They keep asking if we have a name yet. Apparently they think that babies with a name have a higher survival rate." Nathan says.

"That's a weird philosophy. I'm glad he's doing well, but how are you doing?" I ask.

"Exhausted." Nathan says.

"I'm going to have Jàime drive you home so you can get some food, some rest maybe and do what you have to do. I'll stay here with the baby. When you're ready to come back, I'll have Jàime come get you." I say.

"I'll be okay. I'll just stay here for a little while longer and then I'll leave in a bit." Nathan says. I give him a look.

"I have lost one parent already. You need sleep, you can't drive on no sleep. And I'm not gonna risk losing you too." I say annoyed.

"Fine." Nathan sighs. He knows he won't win so it's best he just gives in.

"You gonna be okay here by yourself for a few?" Jàime asks.

"Yeah. I think I'm all cried out, for now anyways." I say. Jàime hugs me then she takes my keys to bring Nathan home.

I sit in a waiting area in the NICU. One of the nurses come in and talk to me about the baby. She tells me he is doing very well, eating well. His color is great. All his results came back good. Nothing is wrong and he's in perfect health.

He's just small. No word on when he can come home but if he can pass the car seat test in a few days then they can let him go home but that's only if he maintains all the requirements to go home so it's iffy. She then asks me if I want to come back and hold him. He's so tiny that I'm not sure. He still has an IV and has wires from the monitor and oxygen on him but she says it's fine and the nurses on call will help me.

I agree then I follow her. We go back into a room that you have to use a keycard to enter. The NICU is locked up pretty good and watched closely. They have cameras, speakers and microphones everywhere. She tells me I have to wash my hands throughly then I have to put on a scrubs to cover my clothes. I do as she says then we go into the room where the baby is.

She has me sit in a rocking chair then she disconnects him from the IV, the only thing she keeps on him is the oxygen and monitors. She picks him up. He fusses and stretches. She looks at me and says she is going to show me how to swaddle him in a blanket, she brings him over to a bassinet and holds him in one arm while she adjusts the blanket. She lays him on it while I watch closely as she wraps him up in a blanket. She picks him up then brings him over to me and places him in on my chest and she adjusts my arms and hands around him. I'm afraid to move.

"Don't be so stiff. Just make sure you support his head and be careful when you move him because of the wires." The nurse says.

"Okay." I say as I relax a little bit.