Chapter 27: A Promise Unmade
He must have dozed off because when he woke up it was a little after eight at night. Dr. Gregory arrives in the room to check Christian's progress.
"Mr. Danes I am glad you are here. I have some bad news."
"How bad?"
"Really bad. Being on the oxygen isn't helping. His last EKG reading was still too high. The only thing that will lower his heart rate to a normal rhythm is the ventilator."
"No I can't allow that."
"Mr. Danes, if you don't do this Christian will go into cardiac arrest and will most likely die from it. You have to do this to save your son."
Luke looks down at his precious baby boy. He studies Chip's face and sees a little of himself in it. He weighed all the consequences of the decision he was going to have to make in a matter of minutes. Lorelai was very adamant that Chip not be put on a machine, but if it was the only thing that would save his life and guarantee a future with him in their lives. He had to do this.
"Put him on the machine," Luke said. "If it's going to save his life, put him on the machine."
Dr. Gregory nods and leaves the room to assemble the team to hook Chip up to the ventilator. Luke sinks into the rocking chair and in a moment his tough exterior melting away, he begins to cry heartbreaking sobs.
About two hours of being at the house nearly drove Lorelai batty. She couldn't sit there and wait for Luke to call with good or bad news. She had to be there. She calls to Rory to let her know that she was leaving before going to the car.
She walks the too familiar halls of the NICU unit to Chip's room. For a second she thinks she has the wrong room because the baby in Chip's room was hooked up to a ventilator. That couldn't be her son. Her son was on continuous oxygen supply. Checking the name on the chart she knew she had the right room. Fighting back tears and hysterics she knocks on the door to get Luke's attention.
Once they were in the hall she let out the anger she was feeling.
"What happened Luke? What happened? Why is Chip attached to that machine? Why?"
"He wasn't getting any better. His heart was still working harder than it needed to. It was the only way to bring his heart back to a normal rhythm," Luke explained. "It was the only way."
Not wanting to ask the next question on her mind but she had to know. "Did you ok this? I mean you had to for them to even do anything. Did you?"
"I had to, Lorelai. I had no other choice. It was either put him on the ventilator or watch him die. I couldn't do that. I couldn't sit here knowing there was a way to keep here with us and the girls."
"You said you would call me the second anything was happening. Why didn't you call me?"
"There wasn't time. Lorelai please. I had to do what I thought was best not just for us but for the girls and Christian too."
As they were arguing in the hall, the heart monitor in Chip's room began blaring. Luke and Lorelai stood frozen in the hall as they watched Dr. Gregory and his team of nurses and doctors rush into the room. They quickly detached the machine and began to use an air bag to hyperventilate him. Dr. Gregory had his two fingers pumping up and down on Chip's chest. To Lorelai and Luke it was like watching a scene from ER. Only this was real and there was no cut, try again if they didn't get the procedure right.
"Charge to ten! Clear!" they heard Dr. Gregory yell.
The monitor still showed no signs of heart movement. "Again!"
Still nothing. Lorelai was in hysterics in the hall. Luke had to lead her away from the room in hopes that it would calm her down. He couldn't watch the doctor's shock his son's heart back to a normal rhythm. He knew what was happening and he couldn't stop it. With his wife sobbing next to him he fell to his knees in the middle of the hallway and began to pray. Prayer was something he had given up on after his father died. But in the middle of the NICU with his own son dying in another room he began to call out to God.
"God, take the breath in my lungs and give it to Christian. I'll gladly take his place. Please God don't take our son. Please God. Please."
The time ticked by. Dr. Gregory came into the hall where Luke and Lorelai were waiting. He looked very sad and pained. Instantly Luke knew that his conversation with God had been futile. Nothing, not a word could bring back his son.
"Mr. and Mrs. Danes I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that Christian is still alive but I don't know how much more he can take. It's up to him now. There is nothing more I can do for him. I hate to tell you this but before the sun rises in the morning you need to face the truth that he could most possibly die."
A/N: Sorry to leave you at a cliffhanger like that but I don't even have it finshed yet. I have this as a script that i posted on the WB message boards and I know how it ends but you guys are seriously, seriously going to hate me when you read the end of this. Tahnk you to all of my reviewers. I hope you like this latest installment.