His Always: Book 1 Rhodes Character Series

Chapter 2: Tate

"Do you have any other questions for me?" I asked, looking at the happy couple in front of me.

"No, Dr. Rhodes, I think we are all set. I am so ready to get this baby out - she has really strong legs and I miss not peeing my pants every other day." We both let out a laugh.

"That's very typical for 38 weeks. Unfortunately, we are all at the mercy of your little one's schedule. So, you will have to keep chatting with her about that complaint." She smiles and looks towards her husband, silently asking for help down off the table. He immediately places a hand on her back and grabs her arm gently with his other. I remind them to make their next weekly appointment with Linda at the front desk and add that I look forward to seeing them soon.

I step out of the exam room and am greeted by Lucy, the best damn staff nurse I have ever worked with. "Dr. Rhodes, hi, they needed you over at the hospital. One of your mom's came into the ER about 30 minutes ago, about five centimeters dilated and twenty percent effaced. Here's her chart - I can catch you up on the rest of your patients on the walk over," she states proudly. Like I said - she's the best. Five minutes later, I am pushing the double doors to the emergency room open and walk to bay five, where my very pregnant patient is laying down.

"Hi, Ryan. Talk to me - I hear your baby is tired of being locked up. Tell me how we are feeling and don't leave anything out." A nurse walks in and starts rambling off her latest stats. As I am listening to Ryan, I quickly glance over at all the monitors. I look over to the nurse and ask if we can get some oxygen for mom. Something bugs me a smidge about the little one's heartbeat.

"Do you feel any pressure? You said your water broke about an hour ago. Is it okay if I check you cervix? I just want to make sure we have a good handle on your progress before we send you upstairs towards labor and delivery." I draw the curtain completely closed as she gripped out a yes as another contraction was spiking on the monitor.

"Okay - take a few deep belly breaths for me. You're going to feel my hand on the inside of your leg." I keep talking to her as I continue my exam. It's always good to keep mama talking. If she is talking, she is usually managing okay. "Well, mom and dad it looks like we are going to be meeting your little bundle today after all." I look at the nurse and ask her to go ahead and get her checked in and comfortable in a room on the labor and delivery floor.

I take the chart and look up to tell my patients that I will be by to check on her when they are up and all squared away in their room upstairs. As I pull the curtain back, I see Natalie walk out of trauma room, one covered in blood with a look of shock on her face. We both walk over to the nurses' station and drop off our charts. "Dr. Pearson, anything I can do to help?" I ask, hoping that the start of her twenty-four-hour shift wasn't a loss.

She looks up and I immediately notice how tired her eyes seem. She looks defeated as she says, "No, he was DOA. I have to go talk to the parents. I will see you around later." She puts her head down and walks around me and out the double doors on the other side of the room. I follow her and see her dip into a supply closet. I try to grab the handle, but she shuts it too fast. I hear the click of the lock and silently groan to myself. "Nat, let me in. Come on, please."

I don't even get a response. I sit down by the door and hope that she can feel me just a couple of feet away. One of the first things I ever noticed about Natalie was her desire to keep her emotions and thoughts closely guarded. After a few minutes, my pager goes off. Even from the very first day I met her when I helped my sister move into her door room, it was noticeable. I know she confides most of her life with Madison, Penelope, and sometimes Eric, but ever since our kiss all those years ago, I got kicked off the list of who is in the know about Natalie Pearson. Despite my efforts, I stand up and lean my forehead against the door and stress that she could page me anytime she needed. I walked away with a rock in my stomach. Losing patients was part of the job - we both knew that way before we even applied to medical school. But I won't lie and say that losing kids doesn't add an extra slice of guilt when you close your eyes at night. And Natalie knew this, we all did, but each one chips a little piece of ground out from underneath you.