Page 67 of The MC's Surprise
The room ground to a halt, everyone looking at me like I had two heads. I didn’t give a shit, narrowing my eyes on the little huddle nearby. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re scaring her. What the hell is going on?”
The doc, who I still thought was too damn old to be doing shit like this, moved to the foot of the bed to speak with us.
“As I said before, the baby is in a breech position.”
“And what does that mean?” I demanded. I was being a little bit of a dick, but Sierra looked terrified and I didn't like it.
“It means the baby isn’t head down, like it sould be,” Mel explained. “Most babies turn head down by week 34.”
I raised my eyebrows, waiting for more. “Okay? So?”
She pressed her lips together and sighed. “So, it means we either need to get the baby to turn or we need to do a c-section.”
“Hell no,” I argued, glaring at the room. “You aren’t cutting into her. Can’t she just have it normally?”
Sierra had a death grip on my hand and she looked close to tears. I sat on the edge of the bed, wrapping my arm around her shoulders, while Noelle took up the other side, rubbing Sierra’s arm gently.
“Actually, I’m unwilling to do an ECV on Sierra,” the doctor interrupted. “With the placement of her placenta, the risk is too great.”
It looked like he hadn’t thought to tell that to Mel, because she looked just as surprised as the rest of us. She grabbed the chart from the doctor’s hand without even a by your leave, flipping through it. I knew the minute her shoulders slumped that we weren’t going to get a choice in all this.
“He’s right, Sierra. An ECV, where Doctor O’Malley would turn the baby manually, is too dangerous with how your placenta is placed. A c-section is the safest option.”
Sierra whimpered and sank in on herself, eyes wide and terrified. I hugged her tighter, feeling helpless. “There’s no other option?”
“I’m afraid not,” the doctor said. “I’ll be calling Doctor Wilder. She’ll assist me. Nurse Lawson, please call down to anesthesiology. We’ll also need an OR. I’ll give you all a few minutes to take it all in.”
He nodded at us and left the room, still giving orders to the nurses as they followed him out. The room, which had been loud with all the activity, went quiet until Sierra burst into tears.
“Shh, it’s going to be okay, baby,” Noelle soothed, petting her hair.
Sierra shook her head, her eyes squeezed shut like she wanted to hide from the world. I understood the urge. Like if I shut my eyes, when I opened them again, it’d all be over.
“I don’t want to do it!” she cried. “I’ve never had surgery before! I can’t–” she sobbed, curling around her belly protectively. My heart broke watching her fall apart. I hatedmyself for putting her through all this. I couldn’t help but feel like it was all my fault.
Noelle shushed and soothed as best she could, while I sat there, staring off into space, trying to figure out some way to fix this. What the hell did I do to fix this?
“Let’s take a walk, son,” Sierra’s dad mumbled. “Give her a minute.”
I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to leave her side for even a second. But he didn’t give me much of an option, using a strong grip on my shoulder to pull me away. I passed Sierra off to her mom, feeling my heart try to rip into shreds as she cried and clung to her. Noelle wasn’t much better. She had silent tears streaming down her cheeks, even while she tried to soothe her daughter. Facing down a gun would be easier than this.
Sierra’s dad basically frog-marched me out of the room and a little way down the hall. Once we were out of earshot, I broke. A ball of spikes formed in my throat and my vision blurred. I wanted to go for a ride, clear my head, but I couldn’t. I needed to be here for Sierra. There was nothing I could do.
Mr. Martin pulled me into a hug, which surprised me. It also snapped the last of my resolve. I choked on tears, leaning into him like a lifeline. My dad had died when I was still a kid. I couldn’t even remember what it felt like when he hugged me. I didn't even realize how much I needed him until Mr. Martin stepped in to comfort me.
“What the fuck do I do?” I choked out.
He sighed, patting my back. “You be there. That’s all you can do. All any of us can do right now. Ain’t none of us a doctor or a magician. We gotta let the medical professionals handle the hard part now.”
He said that, but his grip tightened a little, like he was hurting at the thought of not being able to help Sierra too. He just wasn’t vocal about it. I needed to follow his lead. I couldn’tfall apart now. Not when Sierra needed me. If I wanted to be a good old man to her, a good father to my kid, I had to pull myself together and support her.
Drawing in a slow, shaky breath, I straightened and rubbed my hands over my face. When I felt a little more in control, I nodded at Mr. Martin.
“Thank you. I needed a minute.”
He chuckled lightly, bobbing his head in agreement. “I know.”
Huffing out a laugh, I turned toward Sierra’s room again with him matching my stride. “Yeah? How?”
