At First Glance- A Marina Love Story

Chapter 38

16 Years Ago

"Tia, I'm scared," Andy cried to her aunt.

"It's going to be okay, Andrea," her aunt assured her as she wheeled her into the small Veracruz hospital.

The teenager's dark brown eyes filled with fear. She might not be keeping her child, but she still loved and cared for her well-being. Andy was unaware that her pregnancy was high-risk. She had not received proper healthcare since her father sent her to Mexico to live with her aunt.

"Am I going to be okay? Is my baby going to be okay?"  young Andy asked a fury of questions. The doctors surrounded her as she was checked in, but no one seemed to be addressing any of her concerns.

Doctors and nurses poked and prodded her as they tried to understand why she entered labor prematurely. The small hospital did not have any specialists at the hospital, so Andy and her baby would certainly not receive the best care possible.

The doctors loaded the small teenager onto the hospital bed and wheeled her into an operating room where they performed an emergency c-section. They did not allow her aunt to come with her. She was alone. She was frightened. She was about to become a mother at 17.

Andy silently wept to herself as the team of doctors took the scalpel and ran it across the bottom of her swollen belly. There was no longer pain, but she could feel the pressure from their hands reaching inside of her to retrieve her baby.

Within minutes, a baby was extracted from her belly. Loud cries could be heard throughout the well-lit room.

Present Day

The familiar feeling of pressure that Andy had felt 17 years ago returned. Carina had gotten her to the hospital quickly and worked with Arizona to ensure that the baby received the steroid shot necessary to develop his lungs at rapid speed.

"I'm here, I'm here," Maya yelled as she bolted into the operating room in full scrubs. She had ran around the hospital and tried to find a pair small enough to fit her tiny frame. Carina allowed Maya to join Andy because she knew how important it was to both women that they were together as Andy gave birth.

The pressure inside of her increased as Carina reached down to bring her son into the world. This time though, there were no cries.

Andy relived the feeling of fright. She tried to lift her head to see if he was okay, but there was no one near to answer. Her eyes found Maya and she could see that tears were streaming down her best friend's face. "Maya, is he okay?" she asked, weakly.

Maya bent her head down close to Andy and rested her forehead against hers. "I don't know, but what I do know is that he is in the best hands possible."

Arizona and Jo worked to get the baby boy to cry. He was small, but mighty, they knew he had a shot at survival.

"How can I assist?" a tall red-headed doctor walked into the operating room.

Carina motioned her over to the incubator where the child was laying. "Mother's water broke at 25 weeks. He is weighing in at one pound, two ounces. No sign of crying, but he is trying very hard to breathe on his own."

Arizona stepped in to wrap the small child into a warming blanket. She placed an oxygen mask over his fragile face to help inflate his lungs. Once his lungs had inflated, the red-headed doctor assisted her in inserting a breathing tube down his tiny throat.

Carina looked over to see the frightened set of best friends watching their every move. She went over to them and explained what was happening, "Dr. Robbins is working with Dr. Montgomery to insert a breathing tube into his lungs. He is already such a fighter, Andy. I will try to get them to wheel him over to you so you can see him before he is transferred to the NICU for further analysis."