Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and the feedback. This is longer than I usually post but I didn't want to keep y'all in suspense in regard to Scarlett's health.
Chapter Forty-Three
After the first of the year, Dr. Harrison told Rhett if she went into labor now it would be early but not a disaster. Every day was important to the life of the child. Rhett didn't care about the child he just cared about Scarlett living another day. He would not ever consider the possibility that she was going to die. The closer it got to the optimum date the happier Scarlett and Rhett got.
Rhett and Scarlett celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary with cake and a special meal.
Rhett with fake cheerfulness said, "We didn't make it this long last time. So, we are doing great."
"If it is a boy, I want to call him Alexander Gerald. I can't call him Gerald since Careen stole that name." Scarlett said it with a smile in her voice. Rhett knew Scarlett was proud of Careen for becoming more assertive. At least most of the time. Occasionally she was frustrated when Careen didn't do what she wanted her to do.
"That is fine with me," With a mischievous smile Rhett said, "If it is a girl, we can call her Emma Nicole."
Scarlett laughed and said, "Nicole Emma."
"Let's talk about that later."
"If you survive until our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, I want to renew our vows and have a big celebration."
Rhett agreed.
With a mischievous smile Scarlett said, "Maybe we should renew our vows at fifteen years. Afterall you haven't lived the healthiest life in the past."
Rhett pretended to be offended and Scarlett laughed. Rhett laughed with her.
They talked about that celebration and everything they would do. Rhett talked about them going on an around the world trip. They talked about their plans for their children. They talked about going back to Paris. They talked about their future until Scarlett's eyes began to droop and Rhett put her to bed. They were both thinking the same thing, 'I hope we can make those dreams come true.'
The day before the surgery Wade snuck into his mother's room after supper before he took his bath. He knew the next day the doctor was going to cut the baby out of his mother. He had overheard Papa and Aunt Melanie talking about it. He could tell by their expressions that they were both worried about his Mama.
When Scarlett saw him, she saw the worried expression on his face. She said, "Come lay down beside me. Tell me what is bothering you."
Wade laid next to his mother but he couldn't get the horrible words out of his mouth. Scarlett looked at her ten-year-old son who was old beyond his years. This boy beside her needed to hear the truth not a bunch of platitudes. She said, "I'm very sick. It has something to do with my being with child. Not that it is the baby's fault. The doctor is going to cut me open, take out the baby, sew me back up, and I will be as good as new."
"What will I do if I lose you?"
She said, "If I should die then Papa and Aunt Melly will take care of you."
"I don't want them. I want you."
"I know but we don't always get what we want. I didn't want your father to die but he did. I didn't want my mother to die but she did. We didn't want Uncle Ashley to die but he did. You have to promise me that if I'm not here you have to be the best big brother you can be to Bonnie and to this baby. It is nobody's fault that I am sick but especially not the baby's. Promise me."
Wade laid there and didn't answer his mother. He didn't want to promise that.
"Wade, promise me."
"I promise you."
"Now lay here with me and I will sing to you." Scarlett sang to her ten-year-old son who was old beyond his years a lullaby like she had when he was three years old. Her son cuddled into her and fell asleep.
When Rhett came looking for him Scarlett motioned him away. Rhett nodded his head. Later that night Rhett carried Wade to his bed. Rhett took off his shoes but didn't bother to undress him. Later that night Wade came and got in the bed with them.
The day arrived for the surgery and luckily Scarlett had not already gone into labor. Dr. Harrison had chosen January fifteenth as the baby's birthday. Rhett, Mammy, and Melly were in the room when the surgery was performed. Elizabeth was done the hall taking care of the children. Melly was helping with the surgery but Rhett and Mammy were just there. Dr. Harrison had tried to get Rhett to wait down the hall in the nursery but Rhett absolutely refused. The doctor had taken one look at Mammy's face and said, "Let's get started."
Rhett was standing where he couldn't see what the doctor was doing. He could not handle that. He could barely handle being in the room when someone was cutting his wife open but he couldn't wait done the hall either. He had to know what was going on the entire time.
Dr. Harrison had made his nurse and Melly wash their hands and his nurse had washed Scarlett's tummy. He explained to the room at large, "There is a new theory in regard to infection and germs." He was talking as he was operating. He continued, "A French scientist, Pasteur, has disproven the theory of 'spontaneous generation.' In order to prevent introducing germs into the situation one must always wash one's hands to destroy the germs." Rhett was listening but he wasn't sure he like the doctor talking while he was operating on his wife. He wanted the doctor to concentrate on his wife but maybe that was the way Dr. Harrison remained focused.
Dr. Harrison continued, "Therefore before anyone touches Mrs. Butler's incision, they must wash their hands thoroughly. After the surgery is over that will be the greatest risk to Mrs. Butler, infection. I am going to just clip her fallopian tubes instead of remove her ovaries. That leaves everything in tact which would be better for Mrs. Butler. Rhett nodded although the doctor wasn't looking at him. All Rhett cared about at that moment was that his child was being taken out of Scarlett's womb and the doctor was going to fix it so Scarlett would never get pregnant again. He didn't really care how it happened. He didn't really care about the child. All he cared about was Scarlett living.
Mammy said, "One of the other midwife's told me about washing my hands years ago."
The doctor replied, "Not surprising. People with practical experience learn these things faster than us educated people."
After another twenty minutes Dr. Harrison took the baby out of his mother's womb and placed him in his father's arms. Rhett wrapped him up in the receiving blanket that Mammy had given him. The doctor looked at the baby then leaned in closer to the child's mouth and nose. The doctor put his hand on the baby's chest and shook him. They heard a gasp from the baby. Dr. Harrison watch the baby then shook his chest again.
The doctor looked at Rhett and said, "You have to make sure he keeps breathing. Shake his chest. No! You might shake him too hard," He turned to Mammy and said, "Shake the baby's chest every few minutes to make sure he keeps breathing. If he starts to turn blue call me,"
Rhett held his son while every other minute Mammy gently shook his chest. He wasn't turning blue. Rhett was so scared. Just five minutes ago he had thought he didn't care about the child but now he desperately wanted the child to live. Finally, after what seemed like hours the doctor was back and he took the child.
Dr. Harrison held the boy to his shoulder. Melly joined their little group. Neither Rhett nor Melly realized that they had reached for each other or that they were holding hands or that their hands were tightly clasped. Dr. Harrison handed the child to Rhett. It was at that point that Rhett and Melanie realized they had been holding hands. They both immediately dropped the other's hand and were slightly embarrassed. Rhett took the child and Melly moved away from him.
Rhett didn't care that the child was a mess. Suddenly he was in love again. His son was a beautiful boy who looked just like him except for his blue eyes. He had inherited his grandfather's blue eyes also. Mammy had moved over to looked after Miss Scarlett. As Mammy was covering her up, she said, "My little lamb not going to like that scar. It's way too big." Everyone in the room laughed. Nonetheless Rhett knew Mammy was right. Scarlett wasn't going to like having a scar on her tummy.
Mammy came over and took the baby and said, "Come on Mr. Butler. It's time for your first bath.
Rhett stood by the bed stroking Scarlett's arm. He knew she couldn't feel it. He was doing it for himself. He had to touch her. He had to be in contact with her. He watched the doctor pack up his equipment. He watched the doctor clean up. He was waiting for the doctor to give him instructions on the care of his wife.
Dr. Harrison said, "The surgery went well. The next two weeks will be crucial. If infection does not set in then she will be out of the woods but we will not know for at least two weeks. Be sure everyone washes their hands that touches her. I will continue to come by and see her every day to look for signs of infection. There are several signs but if the incision has a pus discharge or she runs a fever send a servant for me right away. She is going to be in a lot of pain over the next several weeks. I have left you with a bottle of laudanum or she may prefer a glass of brandy. Is she nursing the baby?" When Rhett shook his head, "Good then we don't have to worry about the baby getting any laudanum. I will see you tomorrow."
Rhett said, "How long do you want her to stay in bed?"
"At least two weeks. I know that will be difficult for I know Mrs. Butler is not a woman that will do well with having to stay in bed. I believe it was a small miracle we got her to stay in bed these last four months. No relations for six weeks more."
"Miss Melly would you see the doctor out. I need to talk to Mammy."
Rhett walked over to the old woman and said, "Scarlett is going to be alright. She will be back on her feet in no time giving us both hell." Rhett could tell Mammy was crying. Rhett patted her on her back until the woman had gotten ahold of herself.
Finally, she said, "We better rest now because she will be in a really bad mood for the next several weeks until the doctor releases her to get out of the bed especially if she is in pain."
Rhett laughed, "You are right. A really bad mood. Mammy send a servant to let her sister Suellen know Scarlett and the baby are well. Ask my mother to send a telegram to Tara telling them Scarlett and the baby boy are well also. My mother can send a telegram to anyone else she thinks will be concerned."
Mammy placed his clean swaddled son in his arms and said, "I will tell her then I will get Dilcey to fix some sandwiches." Mammy hurriedly left leaving him alone with his wife and his new born son.
Rhett sat in the rocking chair and thanked God that Scarlett and Alex made it through the surgery. He thanked God that they would never go through this again. He knew he was in for a rough two weeks. He would continue to pray that an infection didn't set in. The twist may be that the baby survives but Scarlett doesn't. If it happened it would destroy him but he would have to carry on. He would have to raise their children which included Wade. He smiled. He probably would marry Melly. He would need her help too much to not marry her. He smiled because he was sure Scarlett had made Melanie promise she would marry him. He would use that against sweet, trusting Melanie to get her to the altar.
He rocked the child and just held him tight. He listened to the baby breathe. Such a simple thing but so important.
He dosed off. He heard a soft voice calling him. It was a loving voice. It was the voice of his wife. He slowly opened his eyes and looked into the most beautiful green eyes in the world and said, "Yes my love."
"Bring my child to me and tell me what did we have?"
Rhett got up and handed her the baby. He said, "It is a boy."
She said, "Lay down with me before the chloroform wears off and I become not nice."
Rhett laid down next to his wife and took her in his arms. He said, "Do you still want to call him Alexander Gerald."
"Yes, Alexander for your grandfather the pirate."
Rhett smiled and said, "Thank you. I'm so happy y'all are alive."
"Me too."
Mammy came back into the room thirty minutes later. She put the food on the table but she didn't speak. All the inhabitants of the room were asleep. She gently took the baby from his mother. Mammy smiled as Miss Scarlett rolled over into Mr. Rhett. Mammy took the baby down the hall to the nursery. She showed Elizabeth and the children then put him in his bassinet. Both of Alex's siblings and his cousin were indifferent to the new baby. Mammy looked at their faces and said, "Your mother is fine." A smile broke out on everyone's face and the children went back to playing.
Elizabeth stood there for a long while looking at the child lying in his basinet. With the baby's eyes closed he looked just like Rhett did over forty-three years ago. She was grateful that the baby and Scarlett were alive. She hoped Scarlett made a full recovery for she didn't think her son would be able to handled it if she died.
As Melly laid in her bed that night she thought, 'Yes the best days are days that babies are born.' As she laid there, she wished Ashley could have been here for this happy day. He was always so fond of Scarlett. She wished she could have another child but she couldn't because she didn't even have a husband. She did have a loving, happy family that she was a big part of and she was happy. She didn't know what she would have done if Scarlett and Rhett hadn't rescued her from living with Aunt PittyPat, India, Suellen and Frank. She thought, 'They were just old maids.' and she giggled. She thought, 'Two them were bitter old maids' and she giggled again. She thought, 'The other two of them were stupid' and she giggled again. She smiled even bigger when she thought, 'I'm getting as mean spirited as Scarlett and I don't care.' She laughed out loud at that. She thought, 'Scarlett will let me hold Alex as much as I want. It is Rhett that will be stingy with allowing me baby time.' She laughed and laughed.
The next morning as Scarlett laid in her bed, she felt Rhett's erection pressed up against her and she smiled. Rhett was asleep but as she stirred to get in a more comfortable position, she felt him pull her closer. She turned and looked at him and he was looking at her. He whispered, "The next six weeks are going to kill me."
She giggled and said, "Me too."
He closed his eyes and pulled her closer. It may be sweet torture but it was also pretty close to heaven.
An hour later Rhett heard his wife calling him. "Rhett! Rhett!"
"What, my love?"
"I need some laudanum"
Thus, began Rhett's next two weeks. Moments of sheer bliss to moments of sheer misery and everything in between. Moments of happiness when Rhett helped her to the privy for the first time to moments of annoyance when he had to help her several times in the middle of the night. Moments of joy when Rhett watched Scarlett be excited over their son to moments of irritation when Scarlett wouldn't give him their son back.
After two weeks Scarlett was finally released from the bed. She had been fortunate and no infection had set in.
Author's Notes: In the late 19th century the way to get someone to start breathing again was to shake them. It worked a good amount of the time but not as well as CPR.
From 1860 to 1863 Louis Pasteur did experiments that disproved the theory of 'spontaneous generation' of germs. He published a paper in eighteen sixty-four recounting his experiments and showing proof of the germ theory. Pasteur is most famous for creating a way to pasteurize milk and wine to keep the germs out.
