The Secret Life Of The American Teenager [SEASON 6] Together Forever

Episode 47: before the dawn part 1

'I opened my eyes very carefully. They burned.
It felt like they were closed forever. And who knows, maybe they were.

I had to get used to the bright light all around me. As i opened my eyes. I tried to speak or open my mouth. But i couldn't. My lips were very dry and they hurted when i moved my lips.

I lied there, feeling paralyzed. I couldn't move. Couldn't speak. But i could blink. As my eyes got used to the awful bad light in the room. I tried to look to my left and right. There was no one here.

The only sound i could hear was the heart monitor right beside me. It was beeping and beeping. A never ending sound of beeps driving me crazy.
I had no idea what had happened. I felt numb.
My body felt weak.
It felt like a tear or a thousand knives gathering its way into my lower back. It was a pain i had never felt before. Almost feeling like... like contractions.

And then i remembered. I was taken away for an emergency c-section. But, where's everyone. Where is my baby?

[3 HOURS EARLIER]

Doctor Worthly silently continued the procedure of bringing this baby into the world. Ricky was as nervous as ever. He couldn't stop worrying. Or thinking about the worst possible thing that could happen.
He looked at Amy. She looked so pale and sick. She really looked like someone who just had died instead of joyfully bringing a baby into the world.

A couple of nurses were ready to take the baby with them as soon as she was born.

Another doctor was constantly checking the monitors to see if anything changed.

There were so many people in that room, so many. But no one they knew. No one they ever met.

Because of the doctors in New York, Amy didn't know she already had Eclampsia. She thought she had Preeclampsia... it probably showed up in her first trimester of her pregnancy. So how could he trust another doctor with the fragile lives of Amy and his baby?...

'how can i?'

It almost seemed like Doctor Worthly knew what Ricky was thinking. "So far, so good." He said.

Ricky felt relieved. But it felt like this would take forever. Even though they started a couple of minutes ago. He just wanted to get this over with. To hold his baby. To reunite with Amy.

"I know you're nervous." Doctor Worthly suddenly said.

"What do you mean?"

"I can tell by the way you're standing there. You don't need to put a mask on Mr. Underwood. I've been in your position multiple times. I know what you're going through." Doctor Worthly responded back.

"I actually never witnessed the birth of a child... my child before. This is the first time ever. And this isn't how i imagined it to be. This doesn't feel like a happy thing."

"It is a happy thing. I understand why you feel this way. But we are the 21st century. Things are different. We can save lives now. We have all it takes to save a life." He sighed. "A couple of 100 years ago, 3/4 mothers died during childbirth. I think we've come a long way since then."

Ricky laughed. "And that's supposed to make me feel better."

"At least i gave you something to laugh about, haven't i."
It was the first time Doctor Worthly seemed like an ordinary guy. Not just a doctor. In abnormal circumstances he acted normal.

"Did you know that during the 1900's, general anesthesia was common in hospitals. All most women remember is going to the hospital, then waking up and being told whether the baby was a boy or girl.
Separation of mothers and babies was considered necessary for sterility, so babies were kept in a nursery until they were sent home." Doctor Worthly said with enthusiasm.

Ricky knew what this doctor was trying to do. Some reversed psychology thing. But this wasn't working. How could he just have a normal talk when Amy lied there, as lifeless as she's ever been.

"How long do you think this will take?" Ricky asked, nervous.

"It depends." Doctor Worthly sighed. "We have to be careful. Everything -BUT also nothing can go wrong."

Ricky swallowed carefully.
"Is there still a 50/50 % change one of them can die?"

Doctor Worthly looked up. He looked into Ricky's watery and sad looking eyes.

He nodded.
"Yes."

~
They don't know you can't leave me
They don't hear you singing to me

- Even In Death
by Evanescence