How to Save a Life
In the still of the night and the darkness of the master bedroom of exhausted married surgeons, Dr. Chris McKenzie's phone started to vibrate and glow next to the bedside. Groaning in annoyance, he turned to his night table, trying not to disturb his wife, and answered his phone.
Half asleep, he brought the phone to his ear. "Hello?" He croaked, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.
Alex still lay across his chest sound asleep. He wanted to keep it that way for as long as he could. She was three months pregnant and he wanted her to rest as much as possible.
"Mmmhmm…okay…I'll be there…Thanks…" He said into the receiver.
Chris slid his phone back on the night stand and exhaled deeply, not wanting to get up. Then his beeper went off. The panic of his pager going off caused Alex to stir, her heart racing, mind freezing, fingers going numb. As a surgeon one was invested in their work, there were lives in their hands.
"You or me?" Alex mumbled into his chest.
"Mine," He said, regretful that it woke her up. Though it was her job to wake up to the sound, it was just unfortunate that their schedules as doctors never completely lined up.
"A heart is coming in for my patient. I have to get to the hospital."
"You want me to scrub in?"
"No, you can stay here and sleep for the both of us." He said, placing a kiss on her forehead.
"The three of us." She corrected him.
"The three of us." He repeated as he placed his large hand on the small bump of her stomach.
He took a deep breath and exhaled as he slipped away from her and out from under the comfortable covers. The cool air hit him in his gray tank and boxer shorts. He reached for his scrubs that were thrown over the accent chair in the corner of their room. Alex propped herself up, teal spaghetti strap pajama shirt coming into view, as she watched her husband get dressed.
"Have I told you how the blue of those scrubs really bring out your eyes?"
Chris started to laugh. "Why Dr. Reid-McKenzie, are you trying to seduce me?"
A grin formed on her lips, "Maybe."
Chris let out another groan as he inched his way back to the bed, crawled over the covers and pinned his wife under his weight. He bent down and kissed her hard, but softened it at the very end letting his lips linger just above hers.
"I'll reserve the on-call room later."
"You better."
He kissed her quickly once more saying, "I love you," before moving off of her and the bed, walking toward the doorway with his messenger bag on his shoulder.
"Chris."
He turned to face her but knowing how imperative it was for him to leave. Time was always tight with them.
"Go save some lives." She instructed.
He nodded and heard her whisper she loved him as she fell back to sleep on his pillow. He captured the image of the peaceful moment and kept it close within him. He would need it to cling to as he headed into surgery and did what his job called for him to do, he was going to save a life.
Being married to a surgeon was sometimes a very difficult venture—especially, when both surgeons were excellent at what they did. It seemed like their names were constantly on the board and they were always missing each other by a matter of seconds or minutes, one coming out of surgery while the other was going in. However, there would be those occurrences when both would have some free time. If they were lucky enough to get it, they took full advantage.
As Alex finished signing her signature to discharge her patient, Chris slid up behind her and handed his chart off to the nurse at the station.
"How did your surgery go?" she asked as she turned her head over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of her husband's post surgery high.
"It went well. Patient is stable." His hands seemed to have a mind of their own as they gravitated toward her waist. "How are you doing?"
"My patient is going home today." She smiled.
He took a step closer to her and spoke low, asking, "Are you free right now?"
Her eyes fluttered and her voice softened. "I just might be, doctor. How about you?"
His eyes shined as he replied, "I seem to be free, as well."
She bit her bottom lip. "Well, what do you know?"
Chris smiled as his wife and playfully slapped his hand on the counter of the nurses' station. Lifting that same hand up, he fanned his fingers out to signal her. He then whispered, "On-call room. 3rd floor. In five."
She chuckled as he walked off. Her face then grew serious as she checked her watch. She handed her chart off quickly and scurried down the opposite way he went. She made it to the elevator and hit the button for the third floor. She tapped her foot incessantly as it seemed to be taking forever to get to her intended destination. When the doors opened she quickly headed out, making sure to get out of the way of the other doctors entering. She maneuvered down hallways and stopped when she saw her husband in his dark blue scrubs waiting in front of the door to the on-call room. When he looked up at her, mischievous smiles formed on their lips.
She hurried to him and he grabbed her hand as he used his other to turn the knob to enter the room. It was dark and Alex giggled as they stumbled in. Their lips were magnetized and found each other instantly as their hands went to the drawstring of the other's scrub pants. Chris lifted her top over her head revealing her black bra covering her perfect chest. His eyes then diverted to her stomach, with the other mound he was becoming increasingly fond of. He knelt down before her and placed his lips above her belly button, kissing the skin there and hoping it somehow penetrated inside. He then brought his hands to the top of her pants and pulled them down to her feet. Alex placed her hands on his shoulders to balance herself as she stepped out of them. He slid the material across the floor and stood back up so he could kiss her sweet lips again. Her hands went to the hem of his scrub top and lifted it up. He helped her as he lifted his arms and took the edges and peeled it off. Throwing it on the ground with her scrubs, he placed his hands on her hips and guided her to the bottom bunk. They tumbled down with light chuckles as they resumed kissing and caressing.
"Mmm," she moaned as the lower portion of his anatomy brushed against hers.
"Alex," he whispered as he sucked at her pulse point and left wet kisses down to the crook of her neck.
Her hands were shoved in his dark hair, her nails just on the tip of scraping his scalp because of the euphoria she was drowning in.
In an instant all pleasure making moves came to a halt as a beeper started going off. Chris quickly reached for his that was still attached to the scrub bottoms he hadn't gotten off yet. With a sigh of relief he saw that it was a negative for him.
"Not me," he said.
Alex reached down and pulled up the items that had been tossed on the floor. She retrieved her beeper and looked at the screen, determining that it must be her, only to find strangely it wasn't hers that had gone off either.
Confused, she turned to her husband and said, "It's not mine either."
"Then who-" Chris began to ask until the top bunk squeaked and a low voice cut him off saying, "It's mine."
The chief of surgery rolled off the top bunk and Alex gasped and scrambled to pull the sheet over her partially exposed chest as he climbed down.
"Chief." Chris nodded in acknowledgment.
"Mmhmm." The chief said grumpily. He headed for the door and mumbled, "When did the on-call rooms in my hospital turn into booty call rooms?"
When the door shut, Chris quickly went over and locked it. He looked back over to his wife who was clearly still mortified since she had not exited from the sheet she'd thrown over her face.
"Alex, it could have been worse." he said as he climbed back on the bed.
She pulled the sheet down and challenged him, "Oh yeah, how?"
"He could have asked to join in."
"Oh my god, Chris!" she exclaimed in surprise as he laughed out loud, pulling the sheet down further. She started laughing too, continuing until his teeth were ripping at the material of her bra, nipping then using his tongue to soothe her uncovered skin.
"All hail the booty call room." she moaned as she used her feet to kick off his scrub bottoms.
Alex hugged her white coat as she shoved her hands in her pockets. She needed some air after her head had been stuck inside a toilet bowl for ten minutes, though the weather wasn't the most pleasant with the misty rain falling. Outside the entrance of the hospital she found some peace. While there was immense joy in being pregnant there was also the feeling of immense nausea. Boy, she couldn't wait until the baby was big enough to start kicking her bladder.
Closing her eyes, she let her head roll back, her face getting wet as she did so. In contrast to her initial reaction, it was actually quite refreshing. She inhaled the night air and willed her stomach to stop churning. Mind over matter.
"Renee said she saw you running for the bathroom before." She heard Chris's voice say from behind her. "You okay?"
She smiled and turned to face him and saw that he had a can of ginger ale in his hand. "I am now. Is that for me?" She asked, pointing to his hand.
"Yes." He said, extending it to her. "Thought you might need it."
She took it from him and popped the tab, bringing it up to her lips and sipping it slowly. "Thank you. You're always taking care of me."
He shuffled up to her and placed his large hands on her shoulders. "Well, I'm your husband."
"And I'm your wife."
"We are married." He smirked.
"Wait, we're married?" She chuckled as her ginger laced lips brushed against his.
"That's what they tell me." He said as he kissed her. "And, you should probably know, we're having a baby."
"Oh, that fact didn't slip my mind. My stomach reminds me about seven times a day."
"You poor thing." He said kissing the tip of her nose.
She nodded her head and said, "Then there's the fact my mind is just overloading on the baby. Everything I see just reminds me of babies." In the midst of thinking about all the sights that crammed her baby crowded mind, the distant sound of a baby crying filled her ears. "God, I'm even hearing a baby now," she groaned as she buried her head into his shoulder.
Chris lifted his head up and listened. He heard faint cries that seemed to be coming from the alley next to the hospital.
"I hear it, too."
"What?" She said, jerking her head up.
"Come on." He said as he led her down the alley. They stopped in the middle of the alley and listened closely, the wails becoming louder.
"Chris!" Alex called out as she ran to a stack of crates propped up against the dumpster.
Sitting beside the crates, all bundled up in a blanket in a carrier, was a baby that looked like it was only days old. Alex reached and gently brought the baby out, cradling it in her arms and trying to shield it from the rain.
"You can bring the baby to the hospital, but you leave it next to it?" She said, shaking her head. Chris whipped off his stethoscope and immediately put the ear tips in to listen as he moved the diaphragm over the baby's chest. As he listened to the baby's chest he noticed the blood flow through the valves seemed abnormal.
"What is it?" She asked, seeing the grimace forming on his face as he kept listening.
"I hear a murmur."
Alex held the infant tighter as both doctors rushed to the entrance of the ER.
"Someone page Kroeger and order a cardiac CT." Chris called out as they rushed through the doors.
Two ER nurses ran up to them and took the baby, putting it on a pediatric stretcher. Alex instructed the front desk to call the police and social services. Dr. Laura Kroeger, a pediatric surgeon, with a specialty in neonatal surgery, came rushing through the curtain and immediately started taking the vitals of the baby.
"Dr. McKenzie, what happened?"
"Newborn female found in the alley next to the hospital. I checked her heart and found a murmur and ordered a cardiac CT."
"Alright, let's get this baby upstairs." Dr. Kroeger said as she gripped the sides of the bed and the team started wheeling it through the ER to the elevators.
Alex chose to stay back at the desk as she watched her husband follow along. Holding that baby in her arms and hearing Chris say that there was something wrong with her had made her stomach turn in a much different way than the morning sickness. The child wasn't even hers, but it hit her all the same. She gave a small smile to the nurse at the desk and told her to page her when someone came in about the baby.
She slowly made her way to the other set of elevators and took it up a few floors to the doctors' lounge. She just sat there for a while until the police came to take her statement. They were waiting around until social services came where more decisions would be made once the baby came out of surgery. Alex retreated back to the lounge where she rested on the couch, staring at the ceiling blankly. She counted the tiles and was about to count them again when her husband's face, his head still covered in a surgical cap, came into view.
"How's the baby?" She asked.
"She had a defect in the heart's atrial ventricular canal. She had to undergo open-heart surgery to close a hole between the chambers of the heart and correct a valve problem."
"She's going to be okay?"
He nodded as he lifted up her legs and sat down on the couch, putting her legs on his lap. "I gave my statement to the police."
"Me, too. A while ago. I've just been in here ever since." Concerned, Chris brushed his hand against Alex's arm, but she continued to stare at the ceiling. All she said was, "I don't even know if this even counts as a Safe Haven law."
He sighed, "I don't know either."
Alex could feel the tears flowing out of her eyes. She couldn't even fight them anymore. She had been holding back, but her emotional strength had been lax when it came to children. She placed her hands on her stomach and asked, "Who would do that? Who would abandon their baby? Who Chris?"
Chris shifted under her body, putting his arms underneath her and lifted her up so he could hold her. She cried into his shoulder about the baby and posed the question over and over as he rubbed her back and whispered that he didn't know. He wished he did, that he had all the answers for her. But this ran much deeper. He knew it wasn't just about the tiny infant they had found, but for their own, the fear and love for their unborn child.
He held her, comforted her, and told her everything was going to be okay. She held him, took in his words, and prayed that he would be right.
Chris wiped his brow as he used his strength to tighten the bolt with his adjustable wrench. He needed to make sure everything was right, that everything was secure. He turned the page of the instruction manual and began working on the final set. Once he was done attaching the final beams, he shook the structure to make sure it was steady.
He had to be precise and methodical in his construction. He took pride in his accomplishment. He looked around the room and his heart swelled three sizes. It was a surprise. One that he didn't think he was going to pull off. Well, he hadn't completely pulled it off yet. The room was about seventy-five percent done. All that was needed were those special touches and many of them couldn't be done until they had gotten more information. So, maybe he had been a bit preemptive, but maybe it was so he could pull this off. Maybe.
Satisfied with the progress that had been made, Chris exited the room. He closed and locked the door behind him just as Alex was coming up the stairs.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
With his back against the door, the handle jamming into the lower vertebrate of his spine, he shrugged and said, "I was…I was just cleaning."
"Cleaning?" She asked, skeptical.
"Yup, and since you're home how about I take you out?"
She began to smile, but still eyed the door behind him. It was an extra room that they had been using as an office/storage space. She had thoughts about making it the nursery, even clipping out designs for it, but she had only brought it up once to Chris. She was very curious as to what he had been doing in there. Maybe he didn't want to give up the space and didn't know how to tell her. Maybe he was hiding something. She lightly shook her head. Pregnancy hormones were making her crazy. Yet…
"Are you hiding something?" She blurted out.
"No." He said automatically.
"Then why do you look so tense? Why are you blocking the door?"
He shifted to the side only the tiniest bit.
"I'm not."
"Move, Chris." She said, trying to shove him out of the way. He moved and cringed when she turned the handle and it wouldn't open.
"Okay, this isn't pregnancy hormone paranoia anymore. Why is it locked?"
"Top secret."
"Chris…" she growled, and not in the way he liked.
"It's a surprise."
She glared at him. Clearly Alex was in no mood for surprises. And she wasn't—not after the day of surgery she'd had.
"Alright, fine, but you need to know that it's not finished yet."
She took a step back and Chris fetched the key from his pocket. He turned it, heard the click, and opened the door ajar.
"Again, this was supposed to be…"
"Open it." She ordered and after a beat she added, "Please."
Chris took a breath and pushed the door away from him. As it swung open Alex's eyes widened and she gasped at what was before her. The room was a neutral tan color, with walnut stained furniture- a crib, a changing table, and rocking chair- all set up in the room. The crib already had neutral bedding that matched the walls and the curtains that were laying across the changing table, waiting to be put up. It was just as she imagined. There were still some things to be done, like getting the bookshelf she wanted and buying pictures for the wall, plus stuffed animals and toys. There was time for that. For the moment she just took in what was there. She then pursed her lips and willed the moisture in her eyes away to no avail.
"You did this?" she asked in almost a whisper.
He had started furnishing and decorating the room just like the clippings she had been saving. Things she told him must have stuck somewhere in his mind and he pursued in creating the room she was dreaming up.
"How did you...?" she trailed off, still in complete disbelief as she let her hand glide across the arm of the rocking chair that was next to the doorway.
"I might have snuck a peek at that folder you've been keeping and sent some photos of them to Carol. She knew exactly where to order things and had them shipped here."
Realization dawned on her, noticing their recycling had increased in the last several weeks. "Hence, the boxes in the garage."
"You saw those?"
She nodded, "Mmhmm."
Trying to keep the bouncing on his feet to a minimum, he anxiously asked, "What do you think so far? I know the designs you were looking at were unisex, so…"
She touched his arm and let her hand glide down to his. She guided him to the rocking chair. He sat down and she gingerly sat on his lap.
"It's amazing. I can't…Honestly, how do you exist? How are you even real?" She asked, cupping his face in her hands.
"Something divine and smart, I guess. And, I better be real or you better just cancel everything because I don't know how you'd survive without me." He grinned.
"I really don't know how I would," she breathed. "My childhood wasn't the most normal and I feel like I've been fighting uphill for so long. I never seemed to have luck. There were times, in the back of my mind, I thought I was cursed. But then you came along and you were the one I needed all along."
He brought his hand up and pushed some hair from the side of her face, back behind her ear.
"I could say the same thing. I'd been fighting, too. Hell, I was in a combat zone." He and Alex both let out a little chuckle. "But, then I got this opportunity, out of the blue, and I met you. Fighting my feelings for you was the hardest battle."
She nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean."
"I'm glad the feelings won." He said and gave her a kiss.
Alex pulled back slowly and placed her hands on his chest. "I'm sorry. I got a little crazy about the door before."
"I was being sneaky; I'd be a little offended if you hadn't."
Alex chuckled again and gripped his chin in her hand.
"I hope the baby has your stupid face."
"I was going to say the same thing, but about you."
They both smiled at each other and kissed sweetly again. Alex then let her head fall on Chris' shoulder. The chair gently kept rocking as they breathed out sighs of content in their baby's room.
Alex was putting the finishing touches on the setting for the dining table when the doorbell rang. Excitedly, she skipped off to answer it and readied herself for the person who was on the other side. When she opened it up her cousin David, otherwise known by his last name Whitney to her family and his police department, was standing there, a bottle of sparkling cider in his hand.
"Whitney!" she exclaimed, her arms wide to embrace him.
"Lexie!" he said as he held her.
"How many times have I told you not to call me that?" she grumbled as she smacked his back and pulled away from him.
"Never. Like negative times." He said with a cheeky grin.
"You're horrible!"
"And you're pregnant! Look at you!"
Alex looked down at her stomach that had grown increasingly bigger within the last few weeks. She smiled brightly as she looked up at him.
"Yes, I am!"
"And I get to meet the guy who knocked you up tonight?"
"The man, meaning my husband? Yes, you will finally get to meet him tonight." She moved out of the way and asked him in, guiding him to the dining room. "Very nice," he said, placing the bottle on the table and admiring how Alex had decorated it.
She obviously had dedicated time in putting out a nice light blue tablecloth and her good white plates. All for him? He felt a bit bashful at the thought, but the two were very close. It was always special when they were together.
"Thank you."
"I'm sorry that we've haven't been able to get together before. I've missed my favorite cousin."
"Yeah, you also missed Thanksgiving." She said with a roll of her eyes.
"I bet that was lively."
"Like you don't even know." She laughed.
The front door then opened to Chris calling out, "Babe, I'm sorry I'm late! My surgery ran later than anticipated." He then walked toward the dining room where he saw the man he recognized from the family photos Alex had shown him standing by the table.
"You must be Whitney." He said, extending his hand.
"And you must be Chris. I've heard a lot about you." Whitney said, shaking his hand.
"Likewise. Please, have a seat." Chris then walked over to his wife and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Excuse me for a moment while I go change."
He quickly ran up the stairs with Alex and Whitney both watching him.
"Looks good coming and going, huh?" He teased Alex, bumping her shoulder with his.
She shook her head as she looked up at her cousin. "He has a couple brothers if you're interested."
/
"Are you hoping the baby is a boy or a girl?" Whitney asked as they dug into the apple pie. "Because either way, despite what your brothers say, Alex, I'm going to be the fun uncle."
She put down her fork and took a moment to think. "I've thought about it, of course, but, to be perfectly honest, it doesn't matter."
"What about you, Chris?"
"As long as the baby is healthy I'm going to love it the same." He said then took a sip of milk.
"Thought of any names?"
Alex smiled, "We've discussed a few."
"You're not going to be one of those couples with the cutesy food names, are you?"
"Well, if it's a girl I can't say that I'd object to Maple." Chris looked at Alex out of the corner of his eye, waiting for her reaction.
"Our child, Maple McKenzie?" She exclaimed.
"I think it has a nice ring to it." Whitney shrugged. "The kid has Canadian roots."
Alex glared at him and turned to her husband. "You have no idea what you just started."
Whitney nodded emphatically and ate more pie. "It's true."
/
The three of them laughed as they sat in the living room.
"I can't believe you did that." Chris said to his wife.
"I was a teenager!" She defended.
"I wasn't any better." Whitney said.
She snorted, "And you became the law enforcer."
"Back then that wouldn't have been my first career choice, but after the incident…" He started to say and then stopped when he saw Alex's face turn white.
"What incident?" Chris asked, concerned that he was missing such an important detail from his widest life.
Alex took a deep breath and then began. "When I was seventeen Whitney had come to visit, and with my brothers around it was crazy and fun, so when they were hopping in the car to go for a joyride I wanted to be one of the boys, so I hopped in, too." She looked at Whitney's eyes and then to Chris. "It was fun for a while. Nate was driving, it started to rain, we stopped at an intersection and we started to cross it. Another car, speeding, rammed right into us. It ran the stop sign, screeched, and hit the back side of the car. The impact crushed the rear end. I was in the back seat with Whitney."
Whitney then chimed in, "I was okay, but Alex was unconscious. Scariest sight in my life. I was able to get out, but Alex was in a tight space. Nate and Robbie were panicking and I smelled the gas leaking. I just…I just got right back in there and checked her pulse and she opened her eyes and…" He smiled at her, "we joked about how we should have stopped at that Tim Horton's we saw because we could've avoided this. I helped her move and I carried her out. I told everyone to get back and the car went up in flames. We were in shock. In shock from everything. The cops and ambulance got to the scene, along with the fire department, and I watched everyone go to work."
"I remember what it felt with the paramedics and at the hospital." She said thoughtfully.
"I changed that day. We both did."
She gave a solemn smile, "We grew up even more."
"And now you have something growing inside of you." He gestured to her bump.
Chris pulled Alex close to him, haunted by the thought that he could have lost her, even if it had been such a long time ago.
"I hope we'll be seeing more of you now that you're permanently in the area." Chris said.
"Absolutely. Whatever you guys need, I'm only a phone call away."
"I will hold you to that." Alex said pointedly.
Chris nodded emphatically. "You have no idea what you started."
Chris leaned against the bar of the cart as Alex glanced at the shelves. After all the things they had been through, being patient seemed to fall by the wayside. So, they were out and buying baby supplies. Chris was having his fun, tossing random things into the cart, but Alex would glare at him as they "weren't on the check-list." He would nod and say, "sorry," then when she wasn't looking, throw something else in and wait for her to find it. It made their shopping far more amusing.
As he pushed the cart down the aisle with the stuffed animals, he smiled as one in particular caught his eye. There, sitting on the shelf among its comrades, was a purple and gray fuzzy monkey. A slush monkey it was called. Extending his arm he plucked the slush monkey up and held it in front of him. It was cute. He wanted it. So, he threw it into the cart.
Alex turned around and asked, "What are you doing?"
Chris pointed at the animal and said, "Monkey!"
Alex picked up the stuffed animal and put it back on the shelf. "I don't think so."
Chris pulled it back off the shelf and hugged it to his chest. "Monkey."
Alex sighed. "I don't want the monkey." She walked across the aisle and picked up a stuffed panda. "I want Yo-yo Panda"
"Yo-yo Panda is dumb. I want a Slush Monkey. Look at it," he said as he made it dance in the air.
Her face scrunched up in dismay. "It looks scary."
"It looks awesome." He countered.
"Panda, Chris."
"Monkey, Alex."
"Panda."
"Monkey."
She placed her hands on her hips. "I'm pregnant and I say panda."
He stood toe to toe with her. "I'm the one who got you pregnant, so I say monkey."
"Or you could just get both," the quiet, blonde floor associate said as she stocked the Slosh Springbok animals next to the monkey.
There should have been party streamers and confetti that rained down with a trumpet playing loudly in the background as everyone cheered and hoisted the employee up on their shoulders, but instead the parents looked at each other and nodded gleefully. Pregnancy seemed to take the logic out of some situations, but the couple always seemed to find their way back—with a little help.
They walked into the examining room both knowing what to expect, however the fear of impending parenthood had them stricken.
As Alex put on the gown and placed the paper over her, she and Chris eyed every sign, tool, and pamphlet in the room. Each had their own set of questions for the doctor, Dr. Laura Kroeger. They knew the doctor very well, having her consult in many cases. She was one of the best, which didn't stop them from bombarding her when she first stepped into the room.
"Whoa! Whoa! Ever hear that doctors make the worst patients?"
The couple shrunk back, but Laura understood. She had seen it in so many parents before, and with doctors it just intensified it that much more.
With the cold goo all applied, the ultrasound wand was placed on Alex's belly, Chris watching the monitor intensely. When Dr. Kroeger found the baby, the silence of the room became drowned with the sound of the baby's heartbeat.
"There you are, monkey." Chris whispered.
"Very good," said the doctor.
Alex diverted her eyes away from the screen.
"Everything okay, Alex?" Laura asked.
"I'm not sure if I want to know if it's a boy or girl."
"I want to know," Chris said as he watched the screen. He smiled when he realized what the sex of the baby was.
"It'll make choosing a name a whole lot easier." He said.
Alex sighed knowing that was true and not knowing the sex would probably force her to have Chris tell her in a few days regardless. Moving her head up she cast her eyes on the monitor. A giant smile formed on her face. She turned to Chris and said, "We're having a girl."
"We're having a girl." He confirmed and squeezed her hand.
Alex lied in bed with her feet propped up as she watched the television. Standing in the OR for many hours had started to take its toll on her feet and ankles—not that she liked to admit it. She didn't want differential treatment because she was pregnant (for the most part). She was still a surgeon and she could still perform at one hundred percent. She looked at her ailing ankles and grimaced. She could power through it now, just like all surgeons did when they stood for hours declining food and bathroom breaks. She just wasn't looking forward to the day when she wouldn't be able to do it anymore—not that she couldn't get used to watching TV and eating junk food. Popping another cookie in her mouth she leaned back and got comfortable.
Chris trudged up the stairs, desperate to get to his wife. He dropped his bag once he reached the bedroom and peeled off the top of his scrubs. He then pushed down his pants, kicked them off, and crawled into bed next to Alex, kissing her on the cheek.
"Hi, honey." She said, sticking another cookie in her mouth.
"What are you watching?"
"Doctor Who."
"Hey, that was the nickname my father gave me through med school and residency."
She snorted as she chewed the cookie then stopped to ponder if he was telling the truth. She looked at him sideways and all he did was nod to confirm her suspicion. She picked up the remote and said, "Maybe, I'll just change the channel."
She flipped through the stations and stopped when she saw a familiar show she enjoyed in her younger years. She made it just in time for a new episode to start as the theme song began with, "Show me that smile again…"
Chris reached over and grabbed a cookie out of the bag. As he bit into it he uttered, "My family show would be Disgrace Pains."
"I thought we agreed that was a good thing now?"
"I meant this family." He said as he put his hand on her stomach which made her laugh, "With our little disgracette in there."
"So sweet."
She shifted her back against the pillow and headboard as she felt Chris's arm wrap around her shoulders. As she watched the episode unfold she told him, "I met that actor once."
"At a Tim Horton's?" He joked.
She scoffed. "No! It was at a Leafs vs. Canucks hockey game."
He laughed as he enjoyed another cookie.
"It was the best day of my life." She confessed with a sigh.
"As opposed to the day you met me? Married me? Found out you were having a child with me?"
"It was like meeting Canadian royalty, honey." She said, rubbing his leg.
Chris snatched away the Oreos package. "No more Oreos for you."
"Good I was done with them anyway."
"Craving something else?"
She gave him sad eyes, always feeling bad when her cravings couldn't be met with ingredients already in the house.
"Tacos."
"Okay." He said as he started to move from his position in bed.
"Where are you going?"
His expression was one of disbelief since he thought it was obvious. "To get tacos."
"No! If you go then I'll want to go and I can't move because of these stupid fat ankles and I just want you here!"
Chris reached over to his bedside table and started playing with his tablet. "Then we solve it another way. There has to be a place that delivers tacos."
"Oh, and maybe donuts! There should be donut delivery. If there isn't, we should invent it."
Chris laughed as he scrolled through the search page.
Alex's eyes lit up and she exclaimed, "Oh! Wait! I know who delivers."
"Yeah? Who?"
Alex plucked up her phone and went through her contacts. She grinned when she tapped the name that she wanted.
"Whitney, can you do me and the baby a favor?"
Unable to sleep while Chris was working an extra shift at the hospital, Alex left the bedroom and held her stomach as she walked to the nursery. She opened the door and smiled as she looked at the finished room. She carefully sat in the rocking chair and picked up that stupid slush monkey that Chris had made them get. She hugged it close as she picked up a scrapbook that would soon be started once the baby was born. After flipping through its pages she placed the book back but still held the monkey. It was stupid. It made her think of Chris. She closed her eyes and held it tightly with one arm with her other hand on her baby bump.
It had been a hard day. A bus crash had sent trauma victims to the hospital, inundating the OR. Victims of all ages with dedicated surgeons working endlessly to save them. Some of them were fortunate. The wounds they sustained were manageable and they were stable in their condition. However, there were those that couldn't be saved from the start or who made it into surgery but complications sealed their fate. No matter how dedicated the surgeon, there was no chance. They did everything they could.
That's what they kept telling themselves.
That's what he kept telling himself.
He let the steaming water from the shower head wash over him, to wash away the pain, to wash away the day. He stood still as it cascaded down his body. The heat helped loosen his tense muscles.
He suddenly felt arms wrap around him from the back, the feeling of a bump hitting his spine. He let his hands cover hers, holding her in place. Like the water, the comforting feeling of love washing over him and cascading from his head, over his heart, down to his toes.
Alex kissed his shoulder and let her head rest against him.
They just stood there, in that moment in time, and had each other.
Chris walked into the pub The Cloverleaf after Whitney had called him and asked him to come out for a drink after his shift. Alex was busy with his sister who was visiting, so he figured there would be no harm in getting to know her cousin a little more. They hadn't spent too much time together since their dinner and he knew that Whitney was still scoping him out. He didn't mind that either because he liked knowing that there was someone else close by that cared so much about Alex.
Beyond the tables at the entrance and the bar, Whitney sat in a booth in the corner and waved him over. The pendant light hanging over the table was dim with a basketball game playing on the screen on the wall behind him.
"Hey, man." He extended his hand out for Chris to shake. Chris nodded and shook his hand before sitting in the booth. The waitress came over and they ordered two beers before settling on the cracked vinyl of the booth seats in an awkward silence.
"So, how was work? Save lives?"
"Yeah, it was a good day. How about you? Take criminals off the street?"
"Had a few calls, but nothing special."
"Alex worries about you."
"You can tell her I didn't go to the police academy just to live out my Steve Guttenberg dream."
Chris raised an eyebrow at the statement.
/
Going into the second round of drinks Whitney started to get more personal. "So, when you first met Alex, was it love at first sight?"
"That's quite the question." Chris tried to deflect.
Whitney pointed at him, "You so did! Right then and there."
Chris took a sip from the beer bottle and placed it back on the table. "Yeah, I did. How could I not?"
"That must have been really complicated." Whitney remarked.
He had met Alex's former fiancé only a couple times when they had been dating. He had been away the year Charlie had gone into his coma. He couldn't imagine the emotional roller coaster Alex and Chris felt during that time.
Chris sighed, "Beyond complicated."
"So, how did you deal with it?"
"We were friends. Any feelings that I thought I had I pushed way down because the situation was just so…"
"Complicated?" Whitney filled in.
"Yeah." He took another drink. "I was there for her, tried to be there for her while she went through everything. Then we were at a wedding and with the atmosphere around us I kissed her and I immediately regretted it. And...soon after that Charlie woke up."
"Whoa. This is like a dramatic series unfolding. I would so watch this."
Chris rolled his eyes at the reaction. "Anyway, I wasn't going to be that guy. I wasn't going to make it awkward for her while she took care of Charlie. I was expendable and it just so happened that I got a call for Doctors Without Borders, so I left."
"Did she ask you to stay?"
"She did, but I couldn't," he shook his head. "It would have hurt too much."
"Damn." Whitney bit into some pretzels. He was invested in this story even though he knew the ending. "Then what happened?"
"I was told I was going to Africa, specifically the country of Chad, and there wasn't one day or night I didn't think about her, wondering what she was doing."
"You waited." He offered.
"I would have waited forever."
Whitney leaned on his elbow and hand as he commented, "Forever is a long time."
"She's worth it."
"Damn." He lifted his head and slammed his hand on the table. "More! Finish!"
"Alright, cool it, Thor," he laughed. "I confessed that to my sister who then coincidentally was admitted to a hospital that Alex was working at. My dreams about her suddenly showing up turned into a reality because one day she was there, right in front of me. When I knew all the complications were out of the way I vowed to myself to never let her go."
"That's one hell of a story, man."
"Kind of surprising that Alex didn't tell you all this."
He smiled. "She did. I just wanted your version."
Chris scoffed and took another drink.
"Do you ever wish for things to have gone differently?"
"Sometimes I think about what might have happened had I met Alex first."
"You think things would be different?"
"Maybe. Maybe I would have found happiness sooner than I did, maybe things still could have been complicated, but then I think about everything we went through and we went through it for a reason, you know? I wouldn't trade anything if it means being at this point in my life." He then smiled brightly, "We're married and I'm going to be a dad. I wouldn't trade that. Not for anything."
/
"Alex has been mum about the name you guys chose. Come on, tell me." Whitney whined, the drinks getting to his head.
"Genevieve." Chris drunkenly confessed.
Whitney laughed, "Gen McKen!"
"Shhh," Chris waved his hands in the air, "you can't tell Alex that one, yet. I'm planning on dropping that one in the delivery room."
Whitney motioned to zip his lips. "Mouth is sealed." He played with the bottle in front of him and then asked, "What are the plans after the baby comes?"
"Alex and I are going to take some time off, her more so than me."
"You don't seem excited about that. Jealous?"
"I'm not jealous. She deserves the time off she gets. I'm lucky that I can take time, too."
"But…" he dragged out.
"I'm going to go back to work and I'm going to miss them like crazy."
"Awww…"
Chris then revealed, "I've actually been toying with the idea of leaving the hospital, maybe going into private practice so my hours can be more flexible."
Whitney's eyes widened at the statement. "Really? Does Alex know?"
"Like I said, I've been toying with it."
"That's a big decision to be toying with. Why would you leave the hospital? The two of you are like the super couple there."
Chris let his head hang low before he slowly pulled it back up. "Personal issues."
"Nothing's personal when you've got alcohol, dude." Whitney said, waving his drink in front of Chris.
"I don't want to end up like my dad." Chris shook his head, trying to rid the thoughts and feelings that narrowing creeped in every so often. "I don't want to be at the hospital all the time while my kid thinks that being a doctor is more important than being with her. We're taught that the patient comes first, but how can that be when I have my family?"
Whitney sympathized with him. "If you already think that way then you're not going to be like him."
"Alex and I talked about work and she said she's going to scale back her hours and I feel guilty about that because she's amazing at what she does," he sighed, "and she thinks the same way that I do."
"She's not going to be like her mother was growing up." Whitney said. Growing up with Alex and her brothers and seeing the state of his aunt at times, he knew the toll it had taken on his extended family. Alex had endured a lot during those years. He knew for a fact that the strength Alex held was more than he had within himself. She was tough, she would be able to handle motherhood with flying colors. He was glad she had Chris to lighten the load for her. Well, he realized they lightened the load for each other.
"I already assured her of that then she assured me of the same thing." He shrugged, "It just lingers."
Whitney nodded and took another swig of his beer. "You guys will figure it out. You'll be the best parents. That kid is going to feel so much love."
Chris smiled thinking about that. He then reached for his wallet and pulled out a copy of the ultrasound he had been carrying around. He handed it to Whitney.
"That's the most recent one."
Whitney squinted and turned his head sideways. "Is she sucking her thumb?"
Chris laughed. "Yeah, she is."
"Dude, this baby is going to be the best baby in the world."
"She is." He agreed.
The waitress came by and placed two more bottles on the table. Whitney picked one up and held it in the air.
"To the best baby in that world."
Chris followed suit and hit his bottle against Whitney's. "To the best baby in the world. My little slush monkey."
"We're the slush monkeys tonight."
"Touché."
On the cusp of her ninth month of pregnancy, Alex was officially off the surgery board, which meant she was home in bed resting. Home in bed and to not be forever in boredom, she was keeping a private blog about her pregnancy that her family and friends were aware of. Her mother had become more technologically savvy and she was constantly commenting on the things Alex posted. Most recently was the photo she posted of her, Chris, and her nine month bump. Out of the comments she expected the one her mother left had her giggling.
"My mom left another message on one of my posts!" She called out to her husband who was in the bathroom.
Chris finished brushing his teeth and wiped his mouth before exiting.
"What did she say?"
Alex stared at the top of his head, or what was lacking as of a month prior.
"She wrote, 'I told Chris not to cut his beautiful hair. How could you let this happen?'"
Chris rubbed his hand against the crew cut style he had gotten for his head.
"After being in a fog and everything that happened at that dinner, that is what she remembers?"
Alex shrugged, "She liked your hair."
"I had this haircut abroad for a little while if you remember."
Alex placed her hand on her chest. "I'm not the one saying this." Chris sat on the bed next to her and rubbed the top of his head. "It grew really nicely before, though."
"I like it this way."
"I know you do." Her eyes then shifted back to the computer screen. "Just let it grow back so after the baby is born it's got that sexy look it had before and I can ravish you."
"Deal."
She slipped in without being noticed, which she was amazed at since she thought she looked as big as the Titanic or the iceberg that it crashed into. She was waddling as she walked and she hated it. The confidence she usually had as she walked the halls was diminished because of it. Though, she wasn't supposed to be walking the hospital halls. She was supposed to be at home, resting and nestling in the bed, but she missed work. She missed the excitement of the OR, her hands missing the cutting of surgery. She envied her husband. She envied him and hated him. Also, she loved him and missed him. But she mostly just hated that he was still performing surgeries and she couldn't.
"Alex? Are you okay? Did something happen?" Chris asked, panic stricken.
She cringed at his voice and slowly turned to see his terrified face, well terrified until he saw she was clearly okay, which it then morphed to disapproving.
"I can't stay at the house and there's no one around. I missed this place."
He sighed as he walked over to her and pulled her into a hug.
"I know. I miss having you here, too. Seeing your face across the OR, after surgery or at any time in this place were the best parts of my day. Now it's getting home."
She breathed in his scent and held him tight.
"Are we going to be able to have it all, Chris? To have our family, be with our daughter, and still have this place?"
Chris closed his eyes to her words, the same questions he had been asking himself for some time. They would make it work. He believed that.
"We can have it all, Alex. I promised you that didn't I?"
"Yes, you did. Among other things."
He grinned as the memory of that particular night unfolded in his mind.
"It's going to be okay?"
He nodded and kissed her forehead. "It's going to be okay."
She let the spoon hang from her lips, the last remnants of chocolate chip mint on her tongue. She looked at the carton and pouted. It was empty, but she was also pouting because over the past week she had been having Braxton Hicks contractions, every time thinking it was finally time to have the baby. Now, she was overdue and she started to feel that the baby was never going to come out. It was only a couple days, but she was desperate to get her child out of her body—yesterday.
"Hey, look who came for a visit." Chris said as he walked back into the bedroom after leaving to go answer the door.
She looked at the entryway, expecting to see the person who had arrived, instead one of the slush monkeys she had seen at the store, this one a blue and green color with purple sunglasses, peeked over the door frame. It shook in the air as a squeaky voice said, "Hi-ya, Alex. I hear my friend Genevieve is going to be coming real soon."
"Not soon enough." She grumbled.
The stuffed animal dropped out of sight and Whitney came into view. "She'll be here. You just wait."
"I don't want to wait."
He suppressed a grin. "I'm trying really hard not to finish that with the rest of the Dawson's Creek theme."
He waved the monkey at her and she gave him the stink eye. "Why do you have that ridiculous thing?"
He and the monkey looked at each other then back at Alex. "I like it. I call him Pierre. He has sunglasses. He plays volleyball and eats croissants."
She played with the spoon in the carton and was reminded she didn't have any more ice cream. "Does he have ice cream?"
"No."
"Then get it out of here," she grunted.
Whitney crept up with the animal and asked, "What if Pierre gets you ice cream?"
Alex liked the sound of this idea. "Yeah?"
The monkey nodded with the help of Whitney's hand.
She shrugged, "Then maybe he can stay."
"Alright, Pierre and I are going to get you your ice cream, but it's not going to come until after my shift is over. Plus, I can't guarantee that Pierre won't eat it before we get back!" The squeaky voice then returned, "Oui, oui!"
The monkey waved goodbye and Alex couldn't help but laugh as they left. Chris had kept silent the whole time he was in the doorway. He looked at her amused and she playfully glared at him. She placed her hand on her belly and her lips pouted once again.
"You know, I couldn't help being mesmerized by that spoon on those pouty lips before."
She bit her lip and turned to him. "Yeah?"
He nodded and slowly moved closer to the bed. "And while I was watching that I started to think about getting two birds with one stone."
Her eyes lit up when she realized what he meant, both totally on the same page.
"There's no concrete proof that this method actually works." She said as he got on the bed next to her, his arm stretching out and his hand going under her shirt.
He slowly nodded, "It can be our own little study."
"Mixing business with pleasure?"
"Exactly." He said and captured her lips with his.
She breathed deeply as his hand caressed her skin. She closed her eyes tightly and focused on the feeling. She was in tune to her body. All that it wanted and yearned for. That was when she felt it. Her eyes sprung open and she gasped.
"Chris!"
"Alex." He said as he began kissing her neck. He then stopped when he felt the same thing that she felt.
"My water broke."
He quickly turned and moved from her, not wanting to harm her, even though he knew that he wouldn't.
"Your water broke." He repeated.
He stared like a deer in headlights. He was a doctor, yet the overwhelming reaction of the baby coming halted him. He was in shock. The baby was coming.
"Chris!"
He shook his head and sprung into action. They had a whole plan and he was going to make sure they followed it perfectly. He gently got Alex out of the bed and got her bag. He helped her get down the stairs and she waited as he triple checked that they had had everything. Just as they were about to exit the house Alex turned to him worried.
"What? What is it?"
"We have to leave a note for Whitney!"
Chris ran for the office, hastily writing a note and he taped it to the front door. He walked with Alex to the car and helped her get in, before throwing their things in the backseat and getting into the driver's seat.
When he started the car Alex squeezed his hand. She smiled at him and he smiled back.
"Now drive quickly but not so you'll get into an accident." She said, feeling a contraction.
"Yes, Dr. Reid-McKenzie."
/
As the hours went by the contractions became stronger. Alex had seen women in labor before, but on the doctor's side of things. Now she was in the position of the patient. All those screams, those moans, the anger, and impatience were all understandable. The books could only teach so much. Going through it was a whole other ordeal. She had been using her breathing exercises to manage the labor pain even though she did take the pain medication. She's trying to focus on objects and Chris was giving her the support she needed. Her breaths were coming out quicker, like blowing out a candle, as the contractions lasted longer.
"Alright, Alex. You are fully dilated. It's time to get ready to push." Dr. Kroeger said as looked at the cervix.
She waited for the doctor's further instruction when Laura told her to and she prepared herself. This was it.
Chris kissed the side of her head and whispered, "You can do this. I'm right here." She grabbed his hand and held it tight. She took a breath, held it, then pushed long and strong. After the first push she sank into Chris and rested before being told to push again. With each instructed push she could feel the baby coming out more and more, making her cry out more and more. She was panting harder, Chris wiping the sweat from her forehead. With one final push they heard the cry of their newborn.
It was the most exhilarating sound. Alex smiled as she saw the baby for the first time. She could feel tears coming down from her eyes. She looked up behind her to Chris and saw that he too was losing his battle as tears streamed down his cheek as he looked at their daughter.
They did it.
/
The proud parents laid in the hospital bed together as Alex held their baby, bundled in a pink blanket.
"She's so beautiful." Chris said in awe, unable to take his eyes off of her.
"The most beautiful baby in the whole world."
"No doubt."
She shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe that we made her. A part of you and me mixed together in this little creature."
He bent his head down and gave her a kiss on top of her head. "You were amazing."
She sighed, "Didn't feel like it."
"My strong wife was incredible and no one, not even her, can tell me differently."
She smiled at him and leaned in for a kiss. Genny cooed beneath them. It was a nice quiet moment, just them, something they would always be able to hold onto. A nice quiet family moment. That was until Chris's beeper started going off.
Chris groaned. "Not now. Of all days."
Getting out of the hospital bed, he walked over to the chair and picked it out of the bag. Just as he checked it an intern came bursting into the room, heaving for breath.
"I'm so sorry to interrupt this. I know you just had a baby and you probably were spending time with the—"
"Spit it out." Chris said, annoyed.
"Right. I'm sorry. We got a call about a trauma coming in, a gunshot wound to the chest. Dr. Davis is already in surgery and can't be pulled out. We knew you were here and…"
Chris looked regretfully at Alex, but she nodded in understanding.
"We'll be right here. Go save a life."
He turned to the intern and said, "Go make sure we have everything ready."
The intern nodded eagerly and ran right back out of the room. Chris walked over to the bed and kissed his wife then gave a small peck on Genny's head before rushing out of the room.
"Daddy is going to save a life. Yes, he is." She told their daughter.
/
Chris rushed through the hospital, having quickly changed into scrubs, a gown over his clothes, a stethoscope around his neck, as he made it down to the bay and waited for the ambulance to arrive. When it finally did he was ready for whatever was in that rig. The doors opened and the first EMT jumped out with the chart that had been written up.
"Off-duty cop shot in the chest in a standoff with a male at a convenience store."
"And the man who shot him?"
"In another ambulance with a shoulder injury that prevented him from shooting anyone else. This guy shot him after getting hit. Had to pry this from his hands. Controlled the bleeding until we got there, though."
The EMT pulled out a stuffed animal from the rig as the other EMT pulled out the patient. Chris's eyes bugged out of his sockets as he got a good look at the toy, the blue and green fur was saturated with blood. He held his breath as he got a look at the victim and already knew who it was before his eyes fell on the face.
"Oh my god." It was Whitney.
"Dr. McKenzie? Do you know him? If you know him…"
"I'm fine. I need that gurney, stat!"
Shaking every personal thought away he transformed himself into the unattached doctor, focusing on everything that needed to be done to save the patient.
They rushed into the ER, transferring him onto hospital gurney. There were two IVs attached to him that the EMTs had put in him in the field. Chris immediately started conducting the ABCs, checking the airway, breathing, and circulation. He was barely breathing. Chris called out for scissors and started cutting through the remainder of clothes on him. In a myriad of movements, blood was drawn and Whitney was hooked up to monitors as Chris continued examining him and centralizing his attention to the wound. Listening to Whitney's lungs again he called for an intubation set and placed the tube in his mouth, so he could get the oxygen he needed.
"Dr. McKenzie, his pressure is dropping."
"Let's get him to CT, now!" He ordered. "Make sure that OR is ready!"
They practically flew down the hallway. Time was tight. He wasn't going to lose this patient. He couldn't. He had to save a life.
/
After several hours of treatment in the OR, Chris cleaned himself up and slowly traveled back to the maternity ward to find his wife. When he made it to the room he took a deep breath and walked in.
"Hey, how did it go?" She asked.
She could see from his face that the surgery had taken a toll on him and that didn't settle well with her. There was something else. It was gnawing at her stomach. Ever since that intern had come in and plucked her husband from the room she had been feeling something deep inside of her that something was wrong. Then he said four words that she didn't want to hear.
"We need to talk."
Alex looked out the window to the overcast sky. The weather hadn't been the best the past few days. Tiny rays of sun tried to break through the clouds and she was hoping that it would finally be the day that it happened. She looked down at her hands. She was clutching the monkey her daughter loved so much, the one she had been crying for since it had been left in the car. She walked to the room where her daughter was. She turned the corner and went inside, looking thoughtfully at the man who was handling her.
Whitney adjusted how he was holding the baby not to aggravate his incision site. He was cleared to be able to hold the seven and half pound baby and was feeling stronger every day. He looked down to the sweet little chubby face of the sleeping child. He started to sing, "Shot through the heart and you're to blame. You give love a bad name."
"What are you singing to my daughter?" Alex asked as she walked over to them, extending the monkey out and shaking it in front of her daughter. "And how did you get her to stop crying?"
"Because I'm the awesome uncle." He replied.
She rolled her eyes and sat down in the chair next to his hospital bed.
"Are you ready to get out of here today?"
He sighed, "Like you don't even know." He was getting sick of the hospital environment. He couldn't wait to break free.
"I have your room all set up." She announced.
"Alex, you don't have to do this." Whitney was resistant to staying with the new family. He didn't want to be a burden. He figured he could take care of himself as he reminded her, "I have my own apartment."
"David Michael Whitney you were just shot! You're going to stay with us while you recover. And that's final." She commanded.
"Uh oh, she's said my full name. That's not good. Remember that." He said to the baby.
"Stop that!"
"That doesn't sound good." Chris said as he walked in. "And you need to be careful."
"I know, Doc."
He held up the packet of papers in his hand. "I have your discharge all ready to go."
"Are you also going to convince me to stay with you?"
Chris shrugged, "It would make it more convenient for me."
Whitney laughed gently. "Well, if that's the only reason."
"You're family. We want to make sure you'll be okay."
"You have a new baby at home." He argued.
"So then we'll have two." Alex added.
"Ha ha ha." He thought for a moment, "Can Pierre come, too?"
Chris wore a somber expression, "About Pierre..."
Whitney gasped, "No."
"We tried everything but..."
Whitney became more dramatic and loudly sniffed back.
"Oh, for the love of..." Alex began and rolled her eyes. "They couldn't get the blood out. I'll buy you a new one."
Whitney smiled, "Okay. Thanks, Mom."
"I'll go put these papers through and you can help him get ready." He said to Alex, then added, "before you change your mind." He then walked over and kissed his baby girl on the head as she slept.
"She's sleeping." He was surprised and turned to his wife. "How did that happen?"
"Whitney is singing obscene songs that are going to traumatize her."
"Good to know." He then mouthed to Alex 'Make him stop'. She nodded and smirked at Whitney as Chris left the room.
"Let's get you ready to go home then."
"You're going to force me into this aren't you?"
"You bet your ass I am."
Whitney became serious for a moment. "You do know this isn't your fault, right?"
"I know." She nodded.
"Good." He looked down at the baby and said, "It's not yours either." Then he started to sing, "Straight through my heart, a single bullet, you shot me, I still can't believe it."
"Oh my god, Whitney. I swear." She said taking her baby from him and throwing the monkey at him. It was at that precise moment Genny woke up and started crying. Alex tried to quiet her down her own way, but Whitney stood up slowly next to her and with his fingers signaled to give the baby back to him. She gently placed her in his arms and he cradled her close.
He opened his mouth and sang, "And that's when you shot through my heart. Well, you had me right from the start. A critical shot to the heart…"
Alex rolled her eyes and went to grab Genny, but to her surprise the baby quieted down. Her cousin was a baby whisperer. Maybe there were a few more reasons for his stay than just his recovery, but if he was going to keep this up he was going to need to pick from a new song selection. Preferably, without lyrics about being shot.
Whitney lied in bed reading his book. It had been two weeks since his release and he didn't mind recovering at his cousin's house. It felt nice having doctors around and he got to spend every day with Genny, which he loved. A knock on the door frame alerted him to someone else's presence. He looked up and saw Chris looking in on him, holding Genny against his chest, the sound of his heartbeat keeping her calm.
"How are you feeling?"
He closed his book and replied, "Really good. The fatigue is a lot better and I've mastered the stairs."
"That's good."
"The department called. I have a nice desk job waiting for me when my doctor clears me for duty."
"That's going to be a little while." He reminded him.
"I know, I know."
Chris swayed back and forth as he held his daughter, keeping her soothed and content. Whitney watched him carefully, his invisible heart strings being pulled. He looked down at his shirt, where his incision site would be, and looked back up at them.
"I don't know if I really thanked you…for saving my life."
Chris nodded and thought back to the first night he met Whitney and the story that was shared. He looked at the ceiling, thinking of his wife sleeping in their bed right at that moment, and looked down at his beautiful daughter.
With his eyes cast on Whitney again he said, "You saved mine first," and then walked out.
Genny was down for the night, hopefully going to sleep through a full night, but down nonetheless. Alex positioned herself on the bed, shaking her head so her hair fell down over her shoulders perfectly. After weeks of waiting she was finally all healed up and cleared to resume intimate relations with her husband. They were finally alone in the house for the night. She anxiously waited for him to get out of the shower. When she heard the water shut off she readied herself further. When he opened the door she bit her bottom lip when she saw him standing there in just a towel, water dripping down his perfect chest.
His eyes raked over her body that was only partially covered by black lace. His hand went to where he had tucked the towel, pulling that piece out and letting it fall to the floor. The eyes that were on his chest dropped lower. He made his way over to the bed and he reached the end, he climbed on top, inching closer to her and working his way until he was above her. He let her back fall onto the mattress, his body glistening and dripping over her. She reached up and grabbed his face, planting her lips harshly on his. It had been too long. It had been way too long.
He responded quickly, his hand grabbing her thigh and lifting it until wrapped over his hip and dangled over his backside. His other hand toyed with the material of her sheer camisole, pulling the down over her shoulder and letting fall as more of her skin was exposed. He kissed down the side of her neck to her chest and worked the other strap down. She ran her fingers through the wet hair that had grown back. "That's what I'm talking about," she said as she fisted it to keep his head in place.
She moaned and tried to muffle the sound of her voice but the sensations she was feeling and the anticipation of what her husband was going to do to her next were too much. It had been weeks. It had been weeks of torture and trying to compensate. This... this was where all the waiting was supposed to culminate in a night of passion where her husband ravished the body that had been busy healing.
She opened her mouth to cry out when the cries of another overshadowed hers.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." She groaned. She was supposed to be moaning, not groaning!
Chris stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. He knew he was waiting for her to tell him to either stop or to continue.
"The books say to let her cry it out."
He nodded and placed his mouth on hers, his hands roaming over her body, pulling at the material she had on, desperate to get it off of her. They both tried to shut out the crying of their baby, but then the guilt set in. Were they being selfish parents? Their baby was crying and they were trying to make love while it happened. They were horrible parents, weren't they?
They broke the kiss simultaneously and Alex panted, "Eff what the book says."
Chris rolled off of her as she scrambled out of the bed, grabbing her robe off the chair as she left. He sighed and climbed out, walking over to the chest of drawers and pulling out his pajama pants, putting them on and pulling them up over his hips. He walked out of the room and into the nursery. Alex had already Gen out of the crib.
"Come on, Gen McKen. You couldn't give us one night?" She cooed as she rocked the baby back and forth.
"You want to bring her in?"
"The book wasn't too keen on that either."
"Eff the book." He said with a grin.
She smiled back and they walked together back into their bedroom. They carefully sat on the bed and placed her between them. As soon as Genny hit the mattress she was fast asleep again.
"Of course."
"Now you sleep, my little slush monkey." Chris said as his hair stroked the little dark hairs on her head.
"Chris…"
"She loves it." He assured her.
Alex slumped against the pillows, knowing that it was true. Genny always had a little giggle when Chris called her a slush monkey or when he waved the monkey they bought in front of her.
"Is this how it's going to be from now on?" She asked. "We try to get our groove back and at the most inopportune moment she's going to start wailing?"
"Maybe," he said, "but…" his hand reached over their child and grabbed his wife's, "I'm sure we can rectify that somehow."
"The on-call room or an office isn't that romantic." She countered.
"Any place with you is romantic."
She chuckled at that, her body yearning for the intimate needs more than the romantic ones. They both leaned in at the same time and kissed each other as passionately as they could without waking the baby.
With their lips parting, Alex whispered, "I love you."
"I love you, too."
They looked down at their daughter and kept her nestled between them. While it wasn't the passionate night that had been intended, they still got to express their love for each other and gaze at the being that their love had formed. A life that they cherished and reminded them every day that even when time was tight that time together was time well spent. On the hardest days they had each other, had their family. The lesson saved them over and over again.
As doctors, they anticipated the day their daughter would ask them about their jobs. The ultimate question would be, "How do you save a life?" Their answer? It's not always doctors and operating rooms. Anybody can save a life, someone in need. You learn, you listen, you hope, and most importantly, with those around you-you love.