Promise Me Forever

Chapter Fourteen

The storm went on for a week, but it has been some time since then. Nicole and I were on a call about my next book to write. (Michelle): “You don’t even care that my husband is still in a coma? Don’t you think I have more important things to worry about, like my family?” (Nicole): “You are an author, Michelle. This is your career we are talking about. Your husband has been in a coma for ten months now. It’s time to be realistic” (Michelle): “Be realistic? It doesn’t matter how long Nick has been in a coma, Nicole. That doesn’t make it hurt any less. I will work on a story to pitch but that won’t be until my husband is awake or in the ground. GOODBYE” I end the call and take some time to relax my nerves in the jacuzzi. We hardly ever used it, but I had it fixed for the girls’ birthday party not too many weeks ago. They didn’t want to do anything like a party because they really miss their daddy.

By the time I was forty weeks pregnant, I had still not given birth yet. I was put on bed rest due to exhaustion and that was when Nick put in notice that he would be marking his student’s papers from home so he could be home to make sure I was alright. Then suddenly I really had the urge to use the bathroom and the pressure was insane. Except that when I got out of bed, my water broke. (Michelle): “NICK!” A sudden sharp pain shot through my entire body, and it made me feel weak in the knees. He came running to our room and helped me. (Michelle): “The babies… are on their… way” (Nick): “Okay. Stay with me. Alright? Hold onto me. Let’s change your dress” I had been wearing loose dresses because I didn’t want my water to break whilst wearing pants, and then have to change into different pants before going to the hospital. Nick helped me clean up and get changed. Then I held onto him and strongly as I could because my body had felt like it had gone into battle. (Michelle): “The hospital bag!” (Nick): “Baby, I have had everything we need packed in the hospital bag for weeks now and it’s in the car already. I just need you to breathe, okay? Can you do that for me? Breathe, baby” It felt like I was learning how to breathe for the first time because of how insanely difficult it was to do so. Once we got to the hospital, they put me in a wheelchair and took me to a private room. The nurses helped me onto the bed and immediately called our doctor. (Nick): “Breathe, baby. I am right here with you” (Michelle): “Ice chips” (Nick): “What do you need, my love?” (Michelle): “Ice chips, please baby” He handed me a container with some ice chips because I was getting so hot, and my throat was dry. At the same time, they turned on a fan for me to help me cool down. My body felt so confused. It needed rest because of exhaustion but it needed to work to push our girls simultaneously. The doctor arrived and checked how many centimetres I was dilated, and if there was anything to worry about. (Doctor): “Mr Johnson, your wife is only four centimetres dilated so there is nothing we can do but wait. If the pain becomes too severe, we can do an epidural but if she is fully dilated then we cannot consider that option” (Nick): “So that is all? There is nothing more we can do?” (Doctor): “Sit tight” (Michelle): “It’s been an hour. How much longer?” (Doctor): “It could be an hour, or eight, or even eighteen” (Michelle): “Eighteen? Shut the fuck up. No! No way!” (Nick): “Baby, we can do this” Then the doctor left. I didn’t know whether I wanted to cry or rip the doctor’s head off. It had only been an hour, but the pain was growing so immensely as each contraction came and went. Then I could not find a comfortable way to lay or sit on the bed anymore. It just hurt too much. (Nick): “My love, what’s wrong? Talk to me” (Michelle): “My back is killing me” (Nick): “You see how the bed can go completely flat?” (Michelle): “Yes” (Nick): “Sit up. I’ll be right there” Then he was so smart to flatten the bed and sit behind me so he could massage my back for me. While he was rubbing my back, he had the same playlist of music playing that we had at our wedding. He wanted me to think of happy moments to try and distract me from the pain. Five hours went by, and the babies had still not come yet. The intensity of the pain made me so angry that I screamed for a nurse. I would never shout at Nick, but I wanted an epidural and was not taking no for an answer. So, I kept screaming for a nurse. I was pressing that button for fifteen minutes straight. (Nurse): “Yes, ma’am? Is there anything-” (Michelle): “Doctor. NOW” (Nurse): “We are not sure where he is right now- (Michelle): “Unless you want me to sit on you until your lungs give out, I would advise you to call my doctor for the epidural” (Nurse): “Ma’am, we- (Michelle): “Call the fucking doctor or I swear to God!” (Nick): “Miss, may I accompany you as you contact the doctor? My wife is in tremendous pain and if you do nothing to help, I will report you to your superiors on your low-quality work performance and see to it personally that you lose your job. Shall we?” In that moment, I fell more in love with my husband than before. He went to watch the nurses actually contact our doctor and tell him to do the epidural. Once he had administered it, all that anger and pain slowly faded away. I had been in labour for seven hours at that point. The doctor said that I was only six centimetres dilated. (Nick): “How are you feeling?” (Michelle): “Drugged, but so much better” I felt so sleepy, but I could still feel the pressure down under. Then once I was in my thirteenth hour of labour, the doctor confirmed that I was fully dilated and needed to start pushing. It was not long before we were holding our girls in our arms. Jennifer and Jillian Johnson. The next thing I knew, I was knocked out cold.

My body was so exhausted that I absolutely passed out once everything was sorted out. They had our babies in good care, so Nick could get some rest too. (Michelle): “Remember what we did when I woke up? You walked in with McDonalds cheeseburgers and milkshakes. Our girls were fast asleep, and we had those burgers for breakfast. Or technically it was almost lunch time” We named them after his mother and grandmother. His mother’s name was Jennifer and his grandmother on his father’s side was Jillian. We just got used to calling our girls Jenny and Jill over time.