Whoot Whoot two updates in just one day! Spoiled you are. -L
"We give all the babies here superhero names." Elle says pushing her red glasses further up on her nose and giving a wide smile. She clicks her pen and slips it back into the pocket of her pink scrubs with one hand and holds down the button on the intercom with the other. " Aimee its Elle, daddy is here to see 3B"
I arch my brow.
"We only give out bed names while here in hallways, we have patient privacy to protect. However inside these walls, it's a whole different subject. So what are you anyhow, Marvel or D.C.?"
"I'm sorry?" I say not following her line of questioning.
"I'm a Marvel girl myself, I give all my babies Marvel names. I have your baby. Sweet little thing, right handsome he is with all that dark hair. Reminds me a bit of Tony Stark, so I just call him Iron Man." She flashes me a winning smile that I am sure has melted more than one man into a puddle of nothing. " it was either that or I call him Hulk."
"I was always kind of a Thor fan myself." I say giving her a lopsided grin.
"You would be." She says twirling her badge around her finger. "You have that Im a God and I am able to open the passages of space and time with nothing but my hammer kind of look about you. Be glad you didn't get Vanessa, poor kid would probably be called The Green Lantern."
She leans down to tie her hot pink converse. I have to trust her judgment seeing as she has such excellent taste in footwear.
" I shudder the thought" I say rocking back and forth on my heels, my hands dug deep in my pockets.
The buzzing sound followed by a series of clicks happen before the door swings open and we step inside the dimly lit nursery. Elle gives me a quick nod of her head and ushers me inside, " That one over there is Batman, beside him is twin brother Robin." she gestures toward a pair of incubators, that remind me more of Xalfaxian sleep chambers than the life saving medical equipment they truly are. The tiny baby boys hand, no bigger than the tip of my index finger flails in the air, fighting against an unseen enemy. I am amazed and scared to death by the amount of tubing and wires that seem to come from every available orifice. He was clothed in a nappy that is two times bigger than his little bottom, and bathed in an unearthly blue light. His brother mirrored his pose and I couldn't help the small smile that crept across my lips as I gave a nod to his mum who sat between them.
"Good morning Charlotte," Elle said running a hand through her short brown hair tucking it behind her ear. " How's the boy wonder and caped crusader doing today?" she said laying a hand on first one then the other incubator before glancing up at the monitor.
Charlotte smiled broadly, " Jack put on two ounces and if we are lucky, James will be off the ventilator in a day or two. Dr. Turner says won't be long now."
My eyes burn from unshed tears at the strength of this tiny woman before me, the hell she is going through I am only just learning to deal with myself.
Charlotte reaches out her hand and I shake it, "First Rodeo huh?", she says giving me a sympathetic smile.
I nod unable to coax a greeting from my now dry mouth.
"My Jeff had the same look when he first came in here." she leans over flipping one of the portholes open on either side and threading her hand through, letting each baby wrap his little fingers around her pinkies. "They were born at 28 weeks, and everyday is a new challenge. Two steps forward and one step back. But they have a great team here, very supportive, tell you anything you want to know. Is that your little one they brought in a couple of hours ago?"
"Yeah." I say softly still amazed by the sheer size of the little red human.
Charlotte closes the incubators and wraps her green sweater a little tighter around her thin frame, she stands a foot smaller than I but she obviously packs quite the punch in that petite package as she steps forward, "We are like a tribe here, we protect and provide for our own. If there is anything that Jeff or I can do for you just ask. I mean it."
I give her a sincere smile, "Thank you."
"Not a problem." She nods before heading back and settling back into the rocker.
Elle gives me a small smile, " The one to our left is Wonder Woman. She was the smallest baby here, weighed just 1 lb 7 oz when she was born at 24 weeks. Shes a fighter. We are at 26 weeks now."
"Where's her mum and dad?" I ask as we walk over to her incubator, her skin was almost transparent you could see her heart fluttering under her ribcage, the bones so thin I feared they would shatter under my touch.
Elle gives a small sigh her smile fading, "Mum split. Couldn't take it. She was a methamphetamine addict. No prenatal care, it's a miracle she's even here with us."
"What will happen to her?" I ask, knowing what it is like to be abandoned and left to figure out a world on your own. At least I had Rose and Jackie to lean on when I was left here. My heart sank as I watched her tiny lower lip poke out before she began to cry. Her tiny vocalizations more reminiscent of a kitten mewling than the outright full squalls I was accustomed to with Sarah Jane.
"When she grows big enough to leave the hospital she will go into a children's home." Elle says putting her hand through the portholes and adjusting the leads on her chest. Elle gives it another snap before stroking the baby's cheek softly, " It is a damn shame. She may never be adopted, she's deaf."
My heart clenched at the sight of her, the injustice of it all.
"Ready to see your little guy." Elle says giving me a soft look,
I swallow hard and give Wonder Woman's incubator a pat before turning and following Elle across the room.
"Here is Iron Man." Elle says giving my shoulder a squeeze. My hands trembled and the tears flowed in earnest as I watched my son lying so small and helpless on a yellow blanket. A shock of dark brown hair spiked out up under the bandages that covered his eyes, and an IV catheter jutted out of the crown of his head. I look down at the ID card on the edge of his crib 3lbs 8oz. 19inches long, half the weight Sarah Jane was when she was born. He gives a kick or two then settles again.
" It looks worse than it really is love." Jackie says softly. My eyes dart up toward the sound of her voice. "He has your hairstyle." she says with a slight laugh.
"I didn't know you were still here." I say my voice thick with emotion.
"Where else would I be love. This is my family." She says reaching her hand over my son's incubator to stroke my cheek. I lean into her touch and take a deep breath. There is something about a Tyler woman's touch that seems to soothe my wounded soul.
"Where's Pete?" I say watching my son startle and turn toward the sound of my voice.
"Sent him home a while back. Tony has early start tomorrow. How's my Rose?" She asks trying to mask the worried tone of her voice.
"She's still unconscious." I say regretfully. "Lost a lot of blood. They um….well….they had to give her a hysterectomy."
"Oh dear Lord." Jackie says raising her hand over her mouth. "My poor baby."
"Yeah. She's still with us. It's a long story. Ill tell you more about it over breakfast okay." I say sniffing. " She's going to be okay Jackie. She squeezed my hand, her eyes fluttered when I spoke to her. She will wake up Jackie. She has to. We need her."
Jackie comes to my side of my baby's incubator, I wrap my arm around her letting her cry into my shoulder, just content to be present in the moment.
Elle makes some notations in the chart and checks the flow in his IV. "You can touch him you know. Would you like to? I promise you won't hurt him."
I give her a pained expression.
"He knows you are his daddy. He can hear you talking He is on a respirator because his lungs are still underdeveloped, we are giving him a course of antibiotics as a prophylactic measure. His sucking reflex has not developed yet, but with time that will come, so as of now he is being fed with his IV using a formulation called TPN which is a mixture of sugars, electrolytes, proteins and fats. Everything little Iron Man needs to make him grow big and strong. When its time we will have mum pump some breast milk to keep on reserve for him." Elle says unlatching the portholes on his incubator. "Go on now, he needs to know you are here for him."
I reach in a shaking hand, my thumb stroking the velvety softness of the bottom of his foot. It was then and there I knew, there would be no power on this Earth that was going to stop me from bringing him home.