Page 33 of The Broken Beginning: Part One

The man chuckled before tapping the side of my bed so the nurse would stop at the rounded desk in the middle of the hall. I tuned out all the medical mumbo-jumbo and the rush to get a room ready for me, but I heard the last of what the doc said before he walked away.

“She was a champ! Make sure that my fees get waived when her billing is done. I shouldn’t get paid when she did all the work.” He winked at me and then he was gone.

“Michael is just the sweetest, isn’t he?” One of the nurses swooned. I’d say! He just bumped about a thousand dollars off my bill.

A nurse attempted to take my baby from me again and I was not having that. “NO! You get me and this baby those ID bracelets that they told me about when I came up here to pre-register. You don’t take my son anywhere until that’s done.”

“Sweetheart, you’re tired and it is going to take a little time to get those made. We need to make sure the baby stays safe while we wait.”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing!” I yelled at her. I was thankful for the bit of adrenaline boost too because tired was an understatement for how I felt. I could sleep for a week at this point, but not before I was certain my son would be safe.

The elevator door slid open, and my dad came bounding out. “I made it as fast as I could. Holy shit! That’s a baby! You already had the baby!” Then my father glanced around and noticed we were still in the hallway. “What the fuck is my daughter doing out in this hallway instead of in a private room?”

“Sir, we’re going to need you to calm down.” One of the nurses tried to instruct. She was saved from my father’s wrath when Dr. Michael Hastings came back around the corner.

“Hey man. We just brought your girl up from the ER and they’re getting a room ready for her.”

“Mike?” My dad asked, seeming somewhat shocked to see him there.

“Yeah man. Just got back to town a couple months ago. I was pulling a shift in the ER downstairs when your girl came in.”

“Shit. You been taking care of my girl?”

“She took care of herself. You should be proud. That’s one feisty momma bear.” Mike winked at me as he said that. “Tell you what, your girl there is exhausted and needs a minute to rest, but she won’t let the nurses take the baby to get him cleaned up and weighed in. How about you promise to go stay by his side so she can rest easy for a bit?” Mike suggested.

“You good with that, baby girl?”

I nodded, feeling ready to drop off at any moment.

“Get her some warm blankets. She’s starting to crash from the adrenaline.”

“What does that mean?” My dad asked.

“It’s not anything to worry over. She had a pretty crazy delivery down in the ER and then her fight response kicked in twice now when the nurses tried to take the baby from her. She’s just coming down off that rush.” He pointed at me. “See the shivering? We’re just going to get her warmed up and allow her to rest while the nurses take care of the baby. Her regular doctor was paged, and he’ll be in shortly to see to her.”

“Can’t you handle her?”

“Sorry, Rob. I’m needed down in the ER.” He patted my father on the shoulder. “Congratulations, Grandpa!”

My father’s face broke into the biggest smile I think I had ever seen. It was his first time being called Grandpa while there was an actual grandson for him to fawn over.

“Thanks,” he muttered before turning back to me and the nurse who had brought what looked like a clear plastic, rolling baby bassinet over.

“All right, let’s get this little fella cleaned up and weighed, shall we?”

My father followed along, never taking his eyes off my baby boy, which settled me because I knew he’d be in good hands.

“Are you her mom?” The other nurse asked Shannon.

“No, I’m her best friend’s mom. Her mom isn’t in the picture anymore.”

“I see, well you can come along if she says it’s okay. We have her room ready.”

I nodded and Shannon and Stacey followed behind me. I could hear Stacey talking to her mom. “That was wild. Did you see everything?”

“I did. Let that be a lesson to you to make sure birth control is a priority.”

That made me laugh. “Where were you nine months ago when I needed that lecture?”

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