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“She’s doing very well. No issues with the delivery of the placentas. Allie and your baby girl will be back in their room momentarily.”
“That’s great, but what can you tell me about a fall Allie took a few months ago? My daughter was just telling me about it. Allie came to see you?”
“It was nothing. She was just being cautious. I did an ultrasound and everything checked out.”
I rub and hand across my jaw. “She never told me.”
“She probably didn’t want you to worry.”
I stand up and whisper. “Could the fall have caused what happened in there… with my son?”
“No, no. Of course not. More than likely, when he shifted around after his sister was delivered, he got himself wrapped up in the cord. Listen, he’s going to be fine. I’m no neonatologist, but I deliver a lot of babies, even high-risk ones, and believe me when I say what happened was frightening, but there should be no lasting damage or deficiencies because of it.”
I ask once more, louder this time so Bug can hear. “So the fall she had did not cause this?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Thank you.”
“My pleasure. You have two great kids.” He eyes Bug. “Pardon me, three.”
I nod and sit. “See there, the fall had nothing to do with what happened.”
“You both are just saying that to make me feel better.”
“Yeah, doctors don’t really do that. If he thought the fall was significant, he’d have said it.” I thumb down the hallway. “Come on, let’s see if we can get you in to see your brother and you’ll see for yourself.”
“I can see him?”
“I don’t see why not. You’re his big sister, aren’t you?”
She wipes a tear. “He’s really going to be okay?”
I stand and hold out my hand. “He really is.”
~ ~ ~
Thirty minutes later, we’re heading back to Allie’s room. I halt in the doorway, stunned to see her holding and nursing Christina. She’s smiling down at her. And she’s crying. Then she starts singing. It reminds me of the time I walked in on her in Antigua when she was singing to Mitchell. Oh, how that moment means so much more now that I know her past. It’s the same song, and I wonder if she sang it to Christopher in the short time he lived.
“Hey,” I say quietly.
She looks up and smiles. “Hey, you guys, come in.” She glances at Bug then back at me. “Everything okay?”
“Yup. Alex is crying like a champ. They have no reason to believe he won’t be out of there by this afternoon.”
She sighs as if the weight of the world has just been taken off her shoulders. Then her eyes grow super weary and I’m reminded she has barely slept, pushed out two babies, had a bad scare with one, and now she’s probably crashing. I scoop Christina up and place her in the bassinet by the bed.
“Sleep now, while you can.”
“Mmmm.” Her eyes flutter.
“Allie?”
“Mmmm?”
“How come you never told me about the fall you took?”
“Didn’t want you to be mad.”