The Night I Was Saved

Chapter Three

The ride to the hospital passed me by completely. I was sitting on the stretcher, the baby clutched against my chest, making sure she stayed warm. I hadn't moved the entire ride because I was scared that she would wake up.

I kept looking at her. Every few minutes, I moved my finger over her cheek, nose, or hand to see if she moved. I don't know why,
but I just needed to know she was still breathing.

The nurse that was waiting in the ambulance, reassured me that newborn babies usually lay very still. She explained that labor is just as intense and hard for the baby as it is for the mother, and therefore babies, outside of their feeding which happens every three hours, tend to sleep a lot the first twenty-four hours after their birth.

After a twenty-minute ride through London, we arrived at St. Thomas's Hospital. I was brought straight to the ER, where the baby was taken away from me because she needed to be examined.

I'm now sitting in the waiting room. They promised to call me back as soon as they are done. I've been waiting for about forty-five minutes now, and anxiety is getting to me more and more.

What the fuck is taking so long? The guy back in that apartment said she was fine.

While I waited, I called Dwight and my supervisor. I discovered that Dwight is in the same hospital as me, waiting for news on the mother of the baby, Josephine. He knows that she is having surgery at this moment, but that's about it.

My supervisor agreed to schedule me out for the rest of the night after I'd told him the entire story. He did advise me to not get in too deep, and although I acknowledge his advice, I think it came too late.

I'm already in too deep. The moment I held that little girl and saw the fear in her mother's eyes, I was in too deep.

While I was waiting, I also texted Mercy, who is working in the maternity ward in St. James' as part of her internship. She's in her first year of medical school since she wants to be a gynecologist.

I asked if she was working, and when I got a text back with the confirmation that she was, I asked her if she had time. Once she'll have her break, she'll come and find me.

I need to share what I just went through with someone, and since Mercy and I are very close, I know she'll be there for me.

I'm just seconds scrolling through my phone to pass time when a nurse calls my name. When I look up, she beckons me over. "You can come back in now."

I follow her through the white hall. It seems quiet, but I know it's calm before the storm. It's almost four in the morning, and since half of London is going out right now, it's just a matter of minutes before the ER will slowly fill up.

When we arrive at a room near the end, she opens the door for me en lets me enter first. My eyes scan the room, and in just a second I see her, and a sigh of relief leaves my throat.

"She is doing okay," the nurse says from behind me, no doubt having heard how relieved I am. "She's just above the minimum weight and she is holding her temperature steady, so she doesn't have to lay in an incubator. We think she came well before her due date, considering her weight and length, so we need to keep a close eye on her for now to see if she keeps this up. We've washed her and gave her some clothes."

I nod my head and walk to the see-through crib, where the little girl is wrapped in a white blanket. She is now wearing a pink with white cap, and her eyes are closed while she is sucking on two of her fingers. The sight brings a small smile to my face. That little gesture is so familiar already, it is like I know her.

"Her mother was brought in thirty minutes before us." I turn around so I'm facing the nurse again. "Do you have any news about her?"

She shakes her head. "No, I'm sorry. I've been here with her the entire time."