Chapter 25

The group of firemen and their wives were holed up in a surgical waiting room. The Stanley teenagers were watching the DeSoto's children at the home station; they were getting in practice to babysit.

John was stretched out on the padded bench against the wall. His arm over his eyes but he was neither still nor calm.

As Elise was being rolled into surgery, Dr. Brackett stepped up to John's side and unceremoniously handed him a small cup with a pill in it and a glass of water. Roy and Cap worked together to get him to move the pill to his mouth and a good slap on the back from Chet assured that he swallowed it.

Hank sat on a chair across the small room from John watching him and listening to his mumbling. The pill was just to calm him down not put him out, but Mike had managed to get him to lie down and rest until someone came with news. Both Mike and Marco were sitting next to him to keep him company while Chet ran for some refreshments. He had been advised not to get coffee because that might counteract the sedative John had been given.

Hank draped his arm around his wife's shoulders as she sat next to him. He encouraged her to rest her head on his shoulder as he looked at her swelling belly and shook his head in wonder at all that was happening to their extended family. John was certainly responding to the news differently than he had, but then the circumstances were also very different.

It was about an hour after they had sequestered themselves in the room that Hank noticed Dr. Bracket and another doctor coming toward the door. Sitting up strait in his chair he gave John a quick glance to see he was somewhat calmly sipping on a soda, he then looked back to see Dr. Brackett stop the other doctor for a quick word before he opened the door and let the other doctor enter before him as he followed.

Once the door opened Hank watched John jerk his head up, hand his soda off to Chet and launch himself to his feet in one smooth motion. Chet was quick to rise at his side and Hank noticed the supportive hand in the middle of John's back and knew the stocky firefighter would catch him if he should fall.

"I just checked by surgery, they have the bones aligned and the plates are attached. They were just starting to close up the incision when I checked." Dr Brackett spoke before John could ask his question. "They'll put the cast on after that and then move her to recovery. Everything is looking fine."

John and everyone else in the room let out a sigh of relief as John gave a nod in recognition of what had been said.

"John, I'd like you to meet Dr. Anderton we've brought him in to consult in your wife's case."

John reached out and shook the man's hand. "What do you specialize in?"

"I'm in obstetrics," the man said quickly and everyone in the room noticed how John wavered and his knees seemed to weaken as Mike and Marco stepped closer in case they were needed.

"Why don't we have a seat, I'd like to talk to you about some things and Dr. Brackett here says you have some questions for me. We can find a consultation room where it's more private."

"NO, no that's okay," John spoke as Mike and Chet helped him to sit down. "These are all friends, good friends, they can hear what you have to say, it will save me from having to tell them everything later." "First of all Doc, I wan'na know is how is it that she's been pregnant for all this time and no one knew. It's not like she's never seen a doctor, she's in two or three times a month for something or other, and I've been told today that she's had multiple pregnancy tests and that all of them have came back negative. Dam 'it I'm a paramedic, you'd think I'd have suspected something, the way that baby was moving earlier you'd think I would have noticed something, It's not like we don't, well it's not like we have separate bedrooms or anything. We are definitely very married."

"I'm afraid the answer to your question is that I don't know." Dr. Anderton started, "there are recorded incidents where this has happened, cases where women have been brought in with severe cramps and delivered having no previous knowledge they were pregnant. In most cases there have been no tests run, but there are a few isolated cases where the woman had seen a doctor. Why your wife didn't register positive is indeed a mystery, we've run three more tests since we've confirmed without a doubt that she is pregnant and only one, a test we normally only use if we suspect problems came up positive."

The panic rushed back into John's face at the doctor's last statement and Roy moved closer with the paper bag in his hand.

"What kind of problems doc?"

"Well at this point we don't see any, everything looks fine so far, the sonogram images show what appears to be a fetus at about twenty to twenty six weeks of gestation and well formed. Of course I'm sure you understand we're going to want to do more testing once your wife is out of surgery and has had a chance to recover just a little."

"Twenty six weeks that works out to what?" John questioned trying to do the math in his head, "Six months!"

"Yes we suspect she is between four and a half and six months along, it is kind of hard to pin things down any closer than that using a sonogram at this point. Dr. Brackett said that there was a particular night in question and we do have the date of a last menstrual cycle, using that information that would put your wife at around five and a half months."

"How did things go on this long? Why didn't she say something to me? How could I have not noticed?" John was asking questions in rapid fire speech not giving anyone a chance to answer as he ran his hands through his hair in exasperation. Roy offered the paper bag as he pulled the chair he was sitting in closer to his partner to offer more support. John shook his head no and started to control his breathing a little better.

"John," Dr. Brackett spoke up, "As far as the movement you felt today, even your wife said she hadn't felt it before. She said she first noticed something while she was being evaluated after the accident. The baby must have responded to the increased adrenalin in your wife's system at the time."

"That does fit with other recorded instances we have of other women who have had false negative Pregnancy tests."

"Could this be caused by the meds she's taking?" John questioned, "What about all the meds she's taking, could they have caused some kind of birth defect? What about her heart, they said she was a high risk of some serious complications if she were to get pregnant? What about her seizures?" John was growing anxious again, Chet and Mike each put a hand on his back while Roy reached out and placed a hand on John's chest in an effort to calm him down.

"To answer your questions, could the medications have caused the false negative test results, possibly, we are currently looking into that, but as for right now we don't know for sure. As far as the medications go, the good news is that she's not now nor has she been on any medications that are known to cause birth defects. The bad news is that very few of the medications that she is currently taking or has taken during the estimated time of gestation have ever been tested in a pregnancy. Like I told you earlier there is no sign at this time that there are any birth defects. We will do more testing in that regard in the next few weeks. As far as her heart goes, I have spent some time talking to Elise's Cardiologist and there is some concern, the pregnancy will place an added strain on the heart and she is going to have to be watched very carefully. Although we haven't been monitoring the pregnancy so far, because we didn't know there was one of course, your wife has been monitored very carefully and to this point there have been none of the complications that we would have been watching for all along."

John let out a sigh but there was no sign of relief on his face as his friends continued to watch him closely.

"There is also some cause for concern with the brain injury she sustained and the recent surgery she's had. There was an aneurism repaired as well as some other damage to blood vessels in the brain. We're going to want to be extra vigilant with her blood pressure for the rest of the pregnancy, as long as that stays within acceptable parameters me and the other doctors involved with your wife's care think we will get through this without further complications. It may however be necessary for your wife to spend a good portion of the rest of her pregnancy on strict bed rest."

John took in and let out a long slow breath before nodding his head in acknowledgment of what had been said.

"Now let's talk about the labor and delivery aspect," Dr. Anderton continued. "It is in the opinion of all of the Doctors working with your wife at this time, and I concur, that it would be best if the child was taken prior to full term and by cesarean section." Dr. Anderton paused to let the shocked and traumatized look on John's face work itself out. "The strain of Labor and delivery on her heart and the risk of her blood pressure going up during that time are just not risks we feel are wise to take in your wife's case. There is also the unpredictability of her seizures and no telling what they could add to the mix."

The room filled with silence as everyone watched John process the information he had been given. Both Hank and Roy were quick to realize that John's situation and circumstances were very different than their own.

While John was being filled in, Hank had been doing some figuring. Elise was about four weeks behind Emily and JoAnne but with them planning to take the baby early they could all be at the hospital at the same time. The thought came to him that, just maybe, he'd better give headquarters a heads up incase half of the crew were to miss the same shift.

"Slow it down partner; you don't want to go out on us again." Roy counseled his partner, bringing Hank's focus back on John.

"You really have this all planned out," John commented after a moment of thought and controlled breathing. "Does that mean we're really going to have a baby?"

There wasn't a person in that room that didn't realize this was a genuine question, most had to smile at the confused father to be but none more than the two doctors.

"At this stage of development it would be not only unwise but cruel and inhumane to terminate the pregnancy now, not to mention against the laws of this land." Dr. Anderton answered and a new look of shock engulfed John's face.

"no, no we couldn't do that to Elise, not now, she'd never agree to it anyway," John was more mumbling to himself at this point.

"Slow it down partner," Roy counseled again as he rubbed John's chest to give him something else to focus on. John looked up at Roy and Roy locked eyes with him, coaching him in his breathing and going through the motions with him.

When John's color returned to normal, or at least close to normal, he broke eye contact with Roy and looked around the room at everyone else. There were smiles on every face, some smiles of humor, others smiles of hope, John took in another breath and held it for a moment before blowing it out very slowly.

"Wow," John spoke with obvious dismay, "Looks like I'm going to be a father," then a moment latter, "Wow, I'm going to be a father. I'm really going to be a father."

The smiles in the room turned to several giggles as they watched John accept his role.

As John was finishing letting his news settle in, JoAnne needed to get up and stretch. As she rubbed her aching back Emily chose to join her.

Dr. Anderton looked at the two women and then turned a puzzled look to Dr. Brackett, while somewhat discreetly pointing to the two women.

"It looks to me like they had a sleepover at the fire station." Dr. Brackett repeated his earlier statement.

Now Hank had been caught off guard the first time this was said, but as he thought about it, that was one rumor he didn't want getting around and now he had thought of a reply.

"No docs. Not a sleepover. Just individual parties in response to a very romantic renewing of vows ceremony that had us all feeling grateful for our spouses and as much in love as the couple we had been there to support."

"I guess love must have been in the air that night, I've just learned through the grape vine that half a dozen of the nurses that were in attendance at the ceremony are expecting also." Brackett revealed new information.