Chapter # 2: Somethin's Not Right!
"PUSH!"
"Darrel it's too early, I can't do this baby. Please, it's too early." Laura was starting to panic; she was only 29 weeks along in her pregnancy.
"Honey everything's going to be fine, just listen to the doctor. Please Honey. I'm here don't worry you'll be fine." Desperately Darrel prayed in his mind for both his wife's and his unborn child's health. Both Curtis parents were frightened and confused, why was this happening to them?
"Mrs. Curtis please you need to push. Come on you can do it." The doctor tried to be encouraging, but Laura was still in denial. In her mind there was just no way that her baby was coming right now.
"Please Mrs. Curtis; we need you to cooperate if you want your baby to survive!" That got Laura's attention.
--- Couple hour's pass---
"AHHHHHHHH!" giving one final push Laura slumped in the bed exhausted. 'Wait, I don't hear my baby' "Darrel! The baby! Why can't I hear our baby?!" Starting to get hysterical, Laura tried to get up, but Darrel kept holding her down.
"Honey I don't know why the baby was silent, the doctors just rushed our baby out of the room. I need you to calm down, our baby looked alive when I glanced at him, he'll be okay. Oh Laura it's a boy! Can you believe it?"
Tears were flowing down the parents' faces. Both parents were praying with all their might that their son was as healthy as can be.
Getting impatient to see his son, Darrel was just about to go find out what happened to his new baby, when a doctor came into the room. He had a worried look to his face that just sent a spike of fear into the Curtis'.
"Where's my baby? How's my baby? When can I…" A hysterical Laura was interrupted by the doc.
"Your son is in the neonatal section of the hospital, for a preemie he is doing as fine as can be." The doctor paused, not really sure how to break his news to the anxious parents.
"You're not telling us something. What's wrong with our baby?!" an impatient Darrel asked.
"Your son's vocal chords, the paired bands of muscle tissue positioned over the trachea, stopped developing in the uterus."
"What does this mean for our son?" Confusion could be clearly seen on both Curtis' faces.
"Well the undeveloped vocal chords cannot come together and vibrate. When a person prepares to speak, the vocal folds come together over the trachea and vibrate due to the airflow from the lungs. This mechanism produces the sound of the voice. If the vocal folds cannot meet together to vibrate, sound will not be produced. I am sorry to say that your son will never be able to speak." Taking another pause to allow the parents to take this in the doctor continued, "You will be able to see you son in a couple hours. We are just trying to insure that there will be no further complications with his development. Other than that: Congratulations on the birth of your son." With that said, the doctor left the two stunned parents alone.
"Darrel, I need my sons. I want to see my sons." Laura was starting to get riled up again. Stepping out of his daze Darrel got up. "Alright, I'll go call Mrs. Mathew right now. The boys will be here soon, just stay calm."
"Mommy! Mommy! MOMMY!" Sodapop Curtis bounced into his mother's hospital room. He couldn't wait to see his mommy.
Darrel and little Darry followed close behind.
"Where's da baby?" was the innocent question from Soda. Laura and Darrel shared a glance, "The baby isn't feeling too well so the doctors had to place him in a special room. We'll all go see him right now; we were just waiting for you." Darrel answered his son.
Soon the small family was traveling (Laura in wheel chair) down the halls to the neonatal section of the hospital to see the brand new member.
Ponyboy Michael Curtis was born at 29 weeks on September 23, 1953. He was so small and looked so helpless. Taking one look at this child both brothers feel in love. Sodapop couldn't remember exactly why he didn't want this baby, all that mattered now was there was someone that he could look after. Little Darry looked down at his new baby brother and instantly fell in love. Both brothers silently made a vow to always protect their new baby from harm.
AN: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. Brought me so much joy! Hoped you enjoyed this chapter, please review.
