Unsuccessful

Can we catch a break?

Hardin's Point of View...

Hardin...Hardin.

I feel someone pushing me hard which helps me bring me back from my moment of shock. This cannot be happening, not to Hope, not to us. She is too young to face the harshness the world has to offer. I promised Tessa to keep her and our children safe and yet I fail again. It's my life now, chapters of failures written down by the acts of my mistakes. I look at the person who pushed me, it's Tessa's father. When I look back I see some more familiar faces staring at me with confusion. I see my mother, I see Tessa's mother and I see Casey and Terra, the two most important persons in Tessa's life. Today was supposed to be a happy day for us, we should be planning to celebrate, but it seems like I can never catch a break.

I turn to face our doctor. She has a sad and worried look on her face.

"What...What did you just tell me? Please tell me again,"

"Hardin you should sit down, I can understand it's a lot to take."

I slam my fists on the wooden surface of the doctor's desk. She has no idea what I have been through. She has no idea what Tessa has been through. She thinks I am weak to understand that my daughter's life is at risk. That my firstborn child may leave me, my wife, and us any day, any time and she still thinks I should sit down.

"Doc..I don't need to sit down. Now, you tell me what you just told me moments ago."

I feel my mother's arms rubbing my back, trying her best to calm me down. When I see her face, all I see is confusion. All of them, including me to some extent is confused. No one knows what just happened moments ago.

"Please,"

I plead with the doctor to help us understand the medical condition that my daughter has been diagnosed with. I will do anything and everything possible to my reach to save my daughter's life. She is my Hope, she is Tessa's Hope and I will not let anything happen to her. I will fight God if I have to. I don't believe in God but if it exists, I will let him know that he has already taken a lot from me and there is no way I will let him take my Hope from me. She is my fucking daughter and I will protect her at all costs.

"Hardin, your daughter is diagnosed with Myelomeningocele. It's a medical condition found quite common in newborn babies. Look it's not life-threatening. If we operate on Hope within 72 hours of her birth, I can assure you she will have a normal life, just like her sister and like other kids."

"What does it means for our granddaughter?"

Tessa's mother asks with a worried tone.

"Mrs. Young, it's a medical condition in which the baby's backbone does not form normally during pregnancy. The baby is born with a gap in the bones of the spine. It's curable. We would need Hardin to sign the Consent form and allow us to operate Hope into a surgery. After the Surgery, we will move Hope to a private incubation chamber where we will observe her for 72 hours. Post that we will run some tests to understand if or not the surgery was successful."

Everyone in the room except me gasps when they hear the word Surgery and the name of our daughter, Hope together in a sentence.

"What are the chances that Hope will be ok after the surgery?"

"Hardin usually it's 90% but we cannot say anything beforehand. I have successfully performed the surgery multiple times and looking at Hope's stats, I can assure you, that she will be ok. She is a healthy child and we should not be afraid that she may not make it through. We all should be hopeful, just like her name."

"I want guarantee Doc. It's my daughter's life you are talking about. There is no way I will sign onto something that doesn't give me a 100% guarantee that my child will be ok. You have to guarantee me. If you need money, I will give you as much money as you want, but, I want my daughter healthy and alive. Can you do that?"