CURVES AND ALL

EMERGENCY

"SEBASTIAN!!!"

It's 2 am and I'm still drinking and chatting to my friends and cousin when I hear my sister call my name. I wonder what it is,she probably wants to know why I'm still outside at this time. I ignore her and continue with the guys.

SEBASTIAN!!

My mom comes running out to the backyard.

"Sebastian,come quick!"

I see the look in her eyes and my stomach drops,I quickly run into the house following behind her into my bedroom. There on my bedroom flooris my wife lying helplessly,my sister is trying to wake her up but she's not responding,I kneel next to her and try wake her up but she's not responding still breathing but no response. She's breathing and has a pulse but she's not waking up. I can hear Chris calling for an ambulance,he comes up to me saying something about the ambulance but I can't hear the rest. My mind is filled with thoughts of dread and worry.

"Baby wake-up. Gummi bear please wake up baby. Please"

I say a little prayer for her,when I hear my son ask my mother what's happening. I don't know what she said to him as she went into his room with him. I have her head in craddled in my arms on my lap.

"Baby wake up. Amanda wake up"

I don't know when the paramedics arrived,they put an oxygen mask on her and ask me questions. I try to answer is much as I can cause my mind is still in a daze. My sister answers some of the questions as I go and check on Jr before I leave with the paramedics,luckily he went back to sleep. Amandas family walks in as we walk out to the ambulance. They bombard me with questions,I don't know how to answer them,luckily my sister attends to them as I get into the ambulance with my wife,her parents climb in with me and the rest of the family follows the ambulance. I'm holding her hand and continue praying.

"She'll be fine son" her father says

"I *sniff* just want her to wake *sniff* up *sniff*" I'm trying so hard to hold back my tears,but it's getting harder.

We get to the hospital emergency area,we're assisted by the nurse as she takes report from the paramedics and a doctor is called in who attends to Manda as the nurse asks us about her medical history and stuff like that. Her sisters and mother answer most. The doctor examines her and transfers her to the maternity ward. So everyone now knows we're expecting,I just pray they pull through. The doctor walks out of her room. It's a different doctor ffrom the one who transferred her here from casualty

"Are you Mr Zulu?"

"Yes I am"

"I'm doctor Lema,the OBGYN on call. You're baby is doing well. Luckily the paramedics got there in time,there's was no harm caused to the baby"

"And my wife?"

"She's stable but she lost a lot of fluid and we are trying to balance her electrolytes which were lost due to all the morning sickness. We're going to have to transfuse her too. Her haemoglobin level is 5 g/dl. Her being anaemic plus the demand of the pregnancy has depleted her heamoglobin.Your wife has blood type AB and since it's a rare type we don't have it in our blood bank,we could give her the O blood but it's best she get her type to prevent any complications"

"I can donate right?"

"Yeah but.."

"I'm a blood type AB,I donate blood sometimes"

"Great we're going to have to do some tests first"

"Do whatever doctor. As long as I can go home with my wife,soon"

"Well I hope Tuesday is soon enough for you"

"Can we go see her?"

"Yes you can but she's not up yet"

I leave with the doctor heading to the blood bank. The rest of the family go in to see Manda. I get some tests done and I'm in good health. I donate blood and rest before heading to see my wife. I find the family waiting for me,they say they're goodbyes. I go into her room and she's sleeping peacefully with a drip in one of her arms. A machine showing the baby's heartbeat,it's so calming, a soundtrack of life. I sit next to her and talk to her,I hope she hears me.

"Wake up for us baby. I just need you to wake up"

30 minutes sitting in her room the doctor comes in with 3 bags of blood and ask me to sign a bllod consent form as they insert a line for the transfusion while being assisted by the nurse. After they leave I lay my head on my folded arms at the edge of her bed. I'm exhausted.

AMANDA

I wake up in an unfamiliar place,it reeks of sterility and pills. I have drips in both my arms and I can hear the sound of hoofs like I'm at a horse racecourse. There's a belt and round knob attached to my stomach and to a machine where the galloping sound came from. I'm at the hospital,why. All I remember is waking up to go to the toilet to pee and everything went blurry after standing up. Is my baby okay? A clock on the opposite wall next to the tv says it's 8 o'clock and since there's light streaming in through one of the curtains on one of the windows, on my left side is a sleeping Sebastian.

"Bastian" I rub his head

"Sebastian wake up"

He groans,he quickly jumps up as he realise where he is,I couldn't help but smile at how funny and lost he looked in those few seconds

"Gummi,you're up" he hugs me,squeezing me

"Yes,how's the baby,ogre breath"

"The baby is great. How are you feeling? I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me baby."

"What do you mean? You're always there when I need you and what happened last night is not your fault but it is mine. I kinda knew something wasn't right but I ignored it."

"It's fine baby. I'm just happy you're well"

"Where's Jr?"

"He's at home with the rest of the family. He's fine. I think mom explained to him this morning when he woke up. They should be here around 11h00"

"And how are you doing?"

"I'm good baby. Better now that you're awake. That you and my daughter are fine."

"Do you know when I can go home?"

"The doctor said maybe Tuesday"

"Tuesday! I can't stay here till Tuesday! I have two clients,important clients at that I have to make dresses for. No they have to discharge me today Sebastian"

"Are you kidding me right now Amanda! I just almost lost you and our baby and all you're worried about is stupid dresses. There's much more important things in life than,making a name for yourself. You act like the shop is more important than us sometimes. I'm going to find something to eat"

"Bash I'm sorry" he storms out before I can apologise.

He's right though. I'm in this hospital bed because I put my work before everything and everyone. I almost lost my baby because of work. I'm going to have to put my family first from now on.