Chapter 25
As soon as Dr. Early looked to Laura to confirm what he had said Mike knew his concern was more reality than he had been thinking during his ride in the ambulance. Once again he tried to force himself upward in an agitated state of panic only to feel four sets of hands pushing him back down.
"Mike, Mike, listen to me," Laura called out, pulling her hand free from his hand and placing both of her hands on the side of his face to hold his attention and focus.
"Are you listening to me?" Laura confirmed his full attention before continuing, with a nod of Mike's head Laura continued. "There is no comparison here, My Mom believed in home delivery; both me and my brother were delivered at home by a midwife. My Mom didn't know any better and waited way too long before she sot professional help and the small hospital there on the reservation was twenty minutes from home and then all they had staff wise was a couple of nurses a few aids and a nurse midwife. They only had four beds for overnight observation care. Once they determined she was in trouble then they had to call an ambulance and the drive to the hospital was over an hour.
"Now," Laura once again made sure she had Mike's attention, "how far is our house from here?"
"It's a, It's about, well maybe fifteen minutes during rush hour." Mike answered and then turned to Dr. Early, "would that be close enough if things, if there was trouble?"
Dr. Early started with a smile, which did more good for Mike than anything said, and then with both hands on his patient's shoulders he gave a squeeze. "Mike I don't think what happened to your wife's mother is going to happen to her. But if she were to have problems, Laura is much more medically aware than it sounds like her mother was and she'd be telling you to get her here long before there were real problems and then yes we can and would do everything possible to save your wife and both of your babies."
Mike lay back against the treatment table, still feeling rather embarrassed but able to force himself to calm down, still it took some effort on his part.
Dr. Early let go of his shoulders and placed his hands on the side of the gurney, "All right Mike, I want to check you over and make sure we're not dealing with something else first and then we'll do some talking." "Nurse, I'd like you to draw blood for a CBC and Electrolytes and let's give him 5 ml of diazepam IM. Be sure to watch his vitals closely for the next hour. Laura can I talk to you?"
John knew without a doubt that Mike was not going back to work as soon as the sedative was ordered and although he didn't really know what to say he stepped up and placed a hand over Mike's arm and stayed with him while Dr. Early led Laura into the next room.
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Laura quietly followed Dr Early into the next room and once the door was shut behind them she let out a deep sigh, both of concern and relief. When Dr. Early motioned her to a chair she remained standing and looked up at him.
"You're thinking that there is more to it than just the one memory and that he's trying to keep from upsetting me and therefore not telling you everything." Laura began, "Your about to suggest that I clear out so that he'll feel free to tell you everything without worrying about me."
Dr. Early hung his head and smirked then turning his head to the side to look at Laura, "Yeah, that's part of it."
"Well I think you're right," Laura spoke with understanding and no resentment in her voice at all. "We have been talking, and I've encouraged him to talk with his coworkers but I'm sure there are some questions he has that are going to require a doctor to answer. "I'd like to take just a moment with him and make sure he knows it's alright with me for him to tell you anything and everything."
"Just one more thing," Dr. Early stopped Laura as she turned to return to her husband's side.
"Does your OB know the circumstances of your mother's death?"
Laura took in and blew out a deep breath then leaned against the wall, "I haven't even thought about it since I've been pregnant. I've only had the one appointment with Dr. Watson so far and I had other things on my mind at the time. I was only ten when my mom died, I really don't know any real details, I guess it would be a good idea, maybe I should try and get a hold of her medical records, if they still exist."
"I think that would be a good idea." Dr. Early put his two cents worth in, "I agree with what you told your husband, that there is little to worry about, but a little precaution and a heads up never hurts anyone."
Laura turned to go back to her husband then stopped and turned back to Dr. Early, "He wasn't kidding when he said it scared the daylights out of him was he?"
"I'd have to agree with that statement in sight of things."
When Laura reentered the room she paused to listen to Johnny telling Mike about the differences in health care between the city and the reservation as Roy stood by looking helpless and slightly concerned. She noticed that Mike had pulled his feet up and had his knees bent and in the air. She also noticed that he was still nearly as pale as the white sheets he was laying on except for his blushing cheeks. He was also fidgety and repeatedly filling his cheeks with air then blowing it out.
It wasn't the easiest thing for Laura to do but she knew it was right. She walked up to him gave him a kiss, on the lips, told him she had to get back to work and to feel free to tell Dr. Early every little thing that he was worried about. Then with a squeeze of his hand she left the room telling him she'd be checking on him from time to time.
Roy and John followed her out, also telling Mike they'd be checking up on him. Now that Dr. Early was back in the room the nurse left to take the blood samples to the lab and Mike just looked at his Doctor.
"My wife is going to be alright, isn't she?"
"Well since this is her first pregnancy there isn't any other information to go on but I assure you that we'll all be keeping an eye on her, and she won't be taking any field trips out to the accident scenes with the helicopter at least until after the babies are born." Dr Early started setting the stage for an open conversation when he noticed Mike looking a little more worried.
"Is there something wrong?"
"What if this isn't Laura's first pregnancy? Does that make things better or worse?" At Dr. Early's surprised look Mike took just a moment to remember Laura giving him permission to talk about any little thing that was worrying him and let his fears spill. He told him about Jessica and the pictures he'd been shown, then he talked about promising her that she could keep this one and his fears for her if she lost even one of the babies. He was full of emotion and a few tears fell as he continued ending with asking Dr. Early how he was going to be able to tell the twins apart since they were identical.
For the most part Dr. Early just listened, surprised by some of the information Mike revealed but realizing that everything that was talked about was serious to this first time father to be. He answered each question, encouraged Mike not to dwell on what might go wrong and pointed out every little thing that had miraculously gone just perfect during the pregnancy and the babies' development so far.
Joe talked of all the things that were perfectly safe for Laura to continue doing at this point in her pregnancy and Mike was surprised by several items on the list. They both agreed that perhaps it was best if Laura stopped climbing trees for the duration but not much else was off limits including Laura's jogging or the one thing he thought was off limits for sure, Sex.
Joe even assured Mike that he would be able to tell his children apart, in a very short time their individual personalities and traits would show up and in the mean time they could always use the same identification bracelets that they used to keep the babies and their mothers together in the hospital.
When Mike finally started to settle down and his lab reports came back with normal results Joe gave Mike just a little more of the sedative and he was relocated to an observation room until Laura got off shift to take him home. He was left in his uniform and given a warmed blanket the nurse was given instructions to keep an eye on him and discontinue the IV when it was done.
Laura checked in on him frequently and so did John and Roy whenever they brought a patient in during which time he mostly rested and watched TV and when Laura was off duty she took him home.
At home Laura's choice of sedative was a long complete massage and as she rubbed every hint of stress from every muscle in his body the two talked. Mostly Mike repeated how stupid he felt and how embarrassed he was but he did have to admit the things Joe Early had told him had helped a lot.
Mike wasn't really surprised when Captain Stanley stopped by to visit with him about an hour after Laura had left for work.
Mike invited him out on the back patio to share some lemonade while the two of them talked.
"I tell you Cap, I really feel stupid," Mike repeated again. "I was just polishing the engine and thinking about some of the things we needed to do to get ready for the babies. I mean nothing that needed to happen tomorrow, I didn't really think I was stressed or particularly worried, I mean we still have at least six months or more.
"I was just thinking about what kind of toys to be watching for, remembering that they needed to be big enough that they couldn't choke on them yet still small enough for them to hold and then I got to thinking that we probably should talk about getting a different car, something more family friendly. Then I remembered that Laura's car was special to her because her dad built it from spare parts for her mom, then I remembered Laura telling me that her mother never drove it because she was too big to get behind the wheel since she was pregnant with twins and that she died in child birth. I remember connecting the twin's part and then the next thing I remember I'm lying on the floor at the station and you and Gage are holding me down."
Hank smiled and continued to remain as calm and as calming as possible as he listened to Mike explain his side of the story.
"Laura told me that you spent quite a long time talking with Dr. Early. It sounds to me like maybe remembering about her mother was more of a Straw that broke the camel's back."
Mike sat back and sighed, "I don't know, maybe your right, but the strange thing is I don't remember even thinking about some of the things I talked to Dr. Early about before yesterday. I know I was concerned about the pregnancy being labeled high risk and all, but I don't remember really worrying about it until it just all came out like it was all life or death stuff. I mean nothing except remembering about Laura's mother was really important. But they did decide to get copies of Laura's mother's medical records just in case there is something hereditary or anything like that to check for."
"Well that's good, I'm also glad to hear that you haven't been holding back on me." Hank talked with a smile, his concern for his engineer keeping him from laughing; something he knew would not be received well. "Have you thought of anything else you want to know about since yesterday?"
Mike gave his captain a sheepish grin and Hank knew he'd hit at least one nail on the head.
"As a matter of fact, I was thinking just this morning," Mike began, "I know there is a program set up for coverage so that you can leave the station if your wife goes into labor, I mean I remember being on standby for both McNally and Jackson the last month of their wives pregnancies but I'm not sure what I need to do to set that up. I know that with Laura needing a c-section that we'll be scheduling her delivery date but it would be good to have coverage if she happens to go into labor or her water breaks of something like that and they have to do things as an emergency."
"Yes your right there is a program, and I'm sure both McNally and Jackson would be very willing to return the favor. We usually don't set that up until somewhere around the seventh month of pregnancy, unless there are problems, I remember when I was an engineer, being on standby for one of my friends for the last half of the pregnancy because she kept threatening premature labor."
"I kind of hope that doesn't happen with Laura, but it's nice to know there's a plan if it does." Mike seemed comforted with the information his captain had given him. Like most of the things on his list it was nothing urgent but it was good to know how things worked.
Then Mike looked at the ground for a moment, "Do I have to go to the department psychologist before I can come back to work?"
Hank hesitated to answer for a moment then let out a breath and spoke, "It was labeled as a panic attack by the doctor, it is a standard requirement in those conditions."
Mike looked up at his Captain and nodded his head, he wasn't surprised, and in truth he wanted to check in with the guy, not because he was worried about losing his mind but because he didn't want anything like that to happen again.
"I'm going with Laura to her appointment with her doctor in the morning, I'll set up an appointment in the afternoon, if all goes well I'll be back next shift." Mike paused then looked at his captain and smirked, "I wonder what I'll think of to worry about by the time I get there."
"Well I'm hoping that you're running out of things to worry about," Hank shared his smirk. "I would like you to check in with me at the start of every shift for a while though. Just so I can give you a chance to talk about what ever might be on your mind before it grows into something big. I just might be able to help since I've been through this a couple of times myself."
"Thanks Cap, I really appreciate this."
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At the doctors the next morning Mike was comforted by the fact that Laura's doctor was a woman, he felt that she would understand any of Laura's feelings better than a man would.
Dr. Watson had been called by Dr. Early and she spent extra time talking with Mike and allowing him to ask any question he had. She disagreed with Dr. Early and felt that Laura could continue to climb trees for at least another month or so as long as there were no complications. Then she invited Mike in to see the ultrasound, something he learned would be done every month and more often once the babies were closer to their due date.
"When we labeled Laura's pregnancy as high risk that wasn't really how we feel. There just isn't a category called watch extra close. Under the circumstances we want to keep a close eye on the way these little ones develop." She talked as she prepared Laura for the ultrasound, and Laura knowing Mike needed to hear everything that was being explained just remained silent as the doctor talked. As she proceeded with the ultrasound Dr. Watson pointed out the things they would be watching and that the most important thing would be making sure the babies continue to grow at close to the same rate.
Before they left the office Mike was given the assignment to check Laura's blood pressure at least once a week and Laura agreed to let him have that responsibility.
Mike then went to his appointment with the department psychologists and once again declared that he felt like a fool. The two men talked about what had happened, what Mike had learned to ease his fears and a few tricks to keep him from blacking out again and Mike was given his clearance to return to work.