The Violinist at The Summit

Chapter 28

It was a cold, cold day when Susie went into labor. It happened early in the morning. She had been lying next to Frank and woke up with a sudden pain.

Frank, who had been on high alert for weeks now, sat up quickly and already had the lamp next to the bed turned on. "What's wrong?"

"Just a little twinge," Susie struggled to sit up. Frank rubbed gently rubbed her arm.

"What kind of a twinge?"

"I don't know how to describe it, Frank. It hurt enough to wake me up."

"Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I have to pee."

She stood up and waddled toward the bathroom, but on her way, she felt a gush of fluid.

"Oh shit," she muttered.

"What? What?" Frank grabbed for his cane and limped toward where she stood.

"I think my water broke."

He stood beside her, "Okay, let's call Dino to drive us to the hospital."

He offered her his arm to help her hobble back to bed. After he got her seated and grabbed her a change of clothes, he called Dean.

While they waited for Dean, they sat on the bed. Frank rubbed Susie's back and spoke calmly to her. Finally, Dean came in the front door and soon was outside their bedroom door. He knocked quietly, "I hear it's time to see a stork about a certain Sinatra Baby."

Susie smiled, and Dean walked toward her. After helping her up, he led her down the stairs followed by Frank. Once everyone was loaded into the car, Dean drove them safely to the hospital.

Frank was with Susie every moment as promised. And hours later, Grace Sandra Sinatra was born.

Having the stroke had made Frank more emotional than he already was. Once Grace was on his arms, he couldn't stop the tears from falling. It had been the over a decade since he'd had a child born, and he couldn't explain how special this moment was.

Gracie was gorgeous. He held her in his arms and wouldn't let her go

Frank glanced over at where Susie was resting. He loved her before, and he loved her even more after watching her bring Gracie into the world. Gracie slept beautifully and peacefully in his arms. 

Suddenly, as they were all quiet and peaceful, an alarm began blaring in the hospital room. Susie woke in a panic, "What the hell is happening?"

"I don't know!" Frank spoke loudly over the alarm. 

Nurses came running in and then sighed with relief, "It's another malfunctioning smoke detector!" 

"Ma'am," another nurse said, "Let's get you into this wheel chair, and we will get you in another room while we wait for them to fix this." 

Frank handed the baby to a nurse, and then he hobbled behind them, commenting, "What a good baby! She didn't even wake up in that mess!"

Susie shot the nurse a glance, and the nurse's face confirmed what Susie was thinking. 

When nighttime came, Susie insisted that Frank go home to get some good rest. He was still less than a month out from his stroke and needed as much rest as he could get. He didn't argue with her, and soon enough, his daughter, Nancy, arrived to take him home.

Once Frank was gone, Susie summoned the nurse. Luckily, it was the same nurse as earlier in the afternoon. "What can I do for you, ma'am?"

"Earlier, when Gracie didn't wake up to that awful alarm, what does that mean?"

"Well, it could be any number of things... However, I think you should get her hearing tested."

Susie nodded, "Can we do it now? If it's nothing, I don't want her father to worry... He's been through a lot lately."

"Let me see if the doctor can squeeze her in tonight." The nurse disappeared and returned quickly. "I'm going to take Gracie to be tested. Would you like to come so you can talk to the doctor right away?"

Susie nodded. After Susie was placed in the wheelchair, Gracie was handed to her. 

While Gracie was being tested, the nurse sat with Susie. "You don't have to wait with me. I'm sure there are patients who need you more than I do."

"Yes, I do. I'm off my shift. My daughter was born with partial blindness. I know how you must be feeling. Until you can know for sure and ask someone else for support, I'm here for you."

After what felt like an eternity, the doctor returned and handed Gracie back to Susie. "Well, she does have moderate to severe hearing loss. She's not completely without hearing, but the alarm earlier today wasn't blaring to her like us. That's why she didn't wake."

"What does this mean?"

"Well, this means that you and her father are going to want to start taking American Sign Language classes now. She'll likely have some speech, but it would be beneficial to her to have ASL early on. That will probably give her the best chance at developing spoken language and lip-reading skills later on."

"Thank you, Doctor."

After the nurse got Susie back to her room, she said quietly, "Is there someone you can call?"

"Yes, could I have the phone please?"

The nurse handed her the phone, and she called the one person that she thought would know how to break the news to Frank with her.