After The Honeymoon

25. Next Door Suite

A/N: Make sure you've read Chapter 24 first!

2:00 pm

Salman

"Ok Sal, the mother is under anesthesia. You can begin your procedure now," the anesthesiologist told me.

"Great. Thanks." I placed the ultrasound probe on the mother's abdomen, trying to locate the fetus and then it's thigh to inject the sedative.

There was absolute silence in the room. All eyes were on me, not just because of how rare this procedure was but also because this was the first time a trainee would be doing it. A trainee who was almost an attending, if Dr Lopez had her way, but a trainee, nevertheless.

I had just pulled out the needle after sedating the fetus when the sound of my pager going off pierced the quietness surrounding me. I ignored it once, but when it beeped again, I pause and asked the nurse to see who was paging me.

"It's someone called Brad. He says it's about your wife. Should I call back?"

A resident is calling me about my pregnant wife? That couldn't be good

Dr Lopez must have realized the same thing and immediately replied to the nurse, "Yes, please call back and let me talk to the resident. Sal is scrubbed in and needs to stay sterile."

The hushed conversation was difficult to understand but the intermittent glances Dr Lopez directed towards me were enough to answer the questions swirling in my mind. Eventually, she put the phone on speaker. "Your wife wants to speak to you."

"Salman," Noor's measured voice came through. "I know you're in the middle of a procedure, so please don't worry about me. But my water broke, and I am starting to go into labor."

"You can't go into labor," I interjected in panic. Going into labor and having her uterus contract could literally kill her.

"I know, that's why the obstetrician needs to take me for a c-section right now. It's too risky to wait or try to stop the contractions."

"But..." I looked at Dr Lopez, and at the sedated mother in front of me. There was no way I could stop the procedure now, or hurry it up, and no one else could take over.

"I am so sorry Sal," Dr Lopez whispered.

"Salman, listen to me, I'll be fine," Noor's calm voice penetrated through my anxiety. "I am in the OR suite right next to you. The nurses here will keep you updated. Your baby and I will see you after you're done. But you need to focus on the baby in front of you. I promise to take care of ours till you're done. Don't worry about us, ok?"

She told me she loved me, and that I was the best doctor for the job at hand. I heard the OB doctor tell her that she needed to be wheeled into the OR right away just before she hung up.

How the heck was I supposed to not worry about her? And was I really going to miss the birth of my second child as well?

"Sal, if you feel like you can't focus, we can stop now and wait till next week when Dr Ramesh is back and hopefully my hand will heal," Dr Lopez offered.

Yet, that wasn't a feasible option at all. Next week could be too late for this fetus. His heart would already have developed a fair amount, and we may not be able to reverse the damage to his left side.

I took a breath to calm myself. If Noor, could stay focused while in active labor, I willed myself to focus too. "I just need to call a friend first. Then I'll be ready."

Time was of the essence, both for my wife and child as well as the fetus in front of me, and there was only one person who I could trust to help me find someone to be with Noor.