Seven months gestation
Maria was almost finished completing her monthly reports when she felt something wet. She stood up and was about to head to the ladies' room when she felt liquid running down her legs. She looked down and saw blood on the floor splashing on her shoes. "Perez, get in my office NOW!" she yelled to the desk officer. She came into the sergeant's office and saw her boss paralyzed with fear. "Get me a bus forthwith." Perez used her radio to call for the bus while putting her boss back in her chair. She used the other chair in the room to prop up Maria's feet. Then, using the radio she called for the most senior patrol person to get back to the house forthwith. Next, using the phone on the desk she called the precinct lieutenant. Sirens could be heard in the background and Perez went back out front to guide the EMS team to her boss.
The paramedics assessed the situation and loaded Maria onto the stretcher and wheeled her out. Perez grabbed Maria's bag and rode with her boss to the hospital. On the ride the Emergency Room was advised to contact the OB-GYN on duty. Maria's vitals were taken and an IV started. Perez held her hand and asked who she should call for Maria. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and found the number she wanted. She started the call then handed the phone to Perez.
"Hello? Who is this, please?"
"Hello, my name is Linda Perez, I'm the desk officer at the 3-7 precinct. I work under Sergeant Baez and at the moment, we're on our way to St. Timothy and St. James' ER. She's bleeding badly. She wanted you to know."
"I'll meet you there, please stay with her until I arrive. My name is Danny Reagan. I'm on my way." He turned on lights and sirens and floored the gas pedal in his vehicle. The ride seemed to take forever but he arrived just as the ambulance pulled into the ambulance bay. He ran up to the vehicle and searched for his partner; she was no longer conscious. The officer climbed out after the stretcher was removed and ran alongside as the patient was moved into the Trauma Bay. Danny followed the stretcher but was stopped before he could follow them inside. Officer Perez approached him. "Excuse me, are you Danny?"
"Yes, what's going on?"
"About 10 minutes ago the sergeant called for me to come to her office and I found her bleeding. I called for the bus, my senior patrol officer, and the house lieutenant. EMS assessed the situation and literally scooped and ran. While we were on route, she was with me but just as we turned the corner she passed out. Here's her bag with her ID and other personal effects. Why don't you go to the desk and get them started on the paperwork? I'll stay right here, I promise." Danny looked at Maria and then turned toward the intake desk. He sat with the clerk giving her all the information he knew. He found Maria's cell phone and was able to find the contact information for her mother and passed that along as well. He called Carmen and told her where her daughter was and asked if she wanted a ride to the hospital and she welcomed the offer. Danny then asked Officer Perez to send an RMP from the precinct to pick up Ms. Baez at her home address and bring her to St. Timothy and St. James'. Then, Officer Perez could return her to her precinct. His tasks completed Danny wandered back over to where Maria was receiving treatment. Maria seemed to be waking up and the frenetic activity seemed to be abating. Praying silently, Danny asked his brother, Joe, to please do whatever he could to help Maria keep her baby. Finally, an older woman left the patient's side and noticed Danny standing by the door along with Officer Perez.
"Is one of you Officer Perez?" asked the woman.
"That would be me, ma'am. How's my sergeant and her baby?"
"All I can tell you right now is that she's asking for you." She turned to Danny. "You must be the father of her baby, Danny, right?"
"Yes, ma'am, that would be correct. May I ask who you are and how is Maria doing, is there anything I can do? But, more importantly, can you answer my question about the baby – is the baby alright? I haven't been to the last three appointments with her OB, but I think she's about 24 weeks now and while a baby born at 24 weeks can survive, many do not. Is that what we're about to face? I need to know so I can help her with whatever the future holds. We both want this baby…" Danny was unable to speak while trying to stop the tears from flowing.
"My name is Doctor Cooper, Joanne Cooper. I'm part of the OB group that Maria has been seeing for her pregnancy. Danny, please stop worrying. Right now, everything seems to be just fine. There are a few things that might have happened but right now, I can't say for sure why she was bleeding. And, while the amount of blood loss seemed to be massive, her lab results say she hasn't lost much at all. We can't say that for the baby as I wouldn't try to get a sample from the baby but the physical signs we can measure show no obvious signs of distress. The heart rate and fetal movement are exactly what we expect at this time of the pregnancy. Maria is going to be admitted for observation and will probably be here for several days. We don't want a repeat of this event. When she is discharged, she may need to be on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy. Now, Officer, if you would please go in and reassure your boss that everything is under control."
"Ma'am, I called Maria's mother and she's enroute. Should we let Maria know?" asked Danny.
"Yes, at times like this, it may be the best that we can do for her. Officer, you can let her know about that as well. When the officer is finished you may go in. I'll be back to talk to both of you before she goes upstairs." The doctor headed off to complete her documentation and place orders for admission including vital signs, blood work and hourly assessments.
Danny watched the officer go inside and talk to her boss. Maria seemed to be back to normal and Danny was beginning to believe this was another nightmare in his life. Just then, Ms. Baez came up to Danny followed by a patrol officer. Danny gave her a brief update including that right now, everything seemed to be fine. Carmen was relieved and gave him a hug. Officer Perez noticed that her ride had arrived and said her goodbyes and left the room. Danny thanked her again, Carmen gave her a hug and promised to bring something to the precinct soon. Danny watched the officers walk away and then opened the door for Carmen and followed her into the space where Maria was resting.
"Mami, I'm sorry to scare you, but I'm so glad to see you." She held her hands out to her mother and her mother reached out to hug her daughter. Maria began sobbing and started telling her mother what had happened but did so in Spanish. Danny stood politely to the side and waited for them to finish. Maria looked over and saw Danny giving them time and space. She held out her hand to him and he moved to her side and took her hand in his. He smiled at her but didn't say anything. "Danny, I know I haven't made things easy between us lately but right now, there's no one else I want by my side. I'm so scared that I'm going to lose this baby."
"I will always do whatever you want. We both want this baby so much; I haven't helped much lately but that changes now. When you are discharged, I will be moving in to take care of you. The doctor said you may be on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy, so I'll be there for you all day and all night. It took the two of us and our love for each other to create this miracle and we will do whatever needs to be done, won't we?"
"I was wrong to push you away, I'm sorry but I…" Danny gently put his finger on Maria's lips.
"We both screwed up big time. Recriminations won't help. We need to move past what we did to each other and focus on our child. I know I'll probably drive you crazy, but I will do whatever needs to be done for you and our child. My cooking is nothing like yours but maybe your mom could help?"
Just then, a nurse walked into the room. "Excuse me but I'm looking for Danny Reagan?"
"That would be me, how can I help you?"
"I have a phone call for you, it sounded urgent. If you step over here to this phone you can take your call here." She picked up the handset and pressed one of the flashing lights. She handed the handset to Danny and stepped away.
"Reagan," he said into the phone.
"Jamie heard something on the radio, something about a sergeant bleeding out, on the way to St. Timothy and St. James. Is it…?"
"Yeah, Dad, it was Maria but I'm with her and her mother is here as well. The bleeding seems to have stopped all by itself and she's alert and talking. The doctor is kind of puzzled so Maria will be admitted so they can monitor the baby. And the baby seems to be fine, so far. Dad, I've never been so scared. I'm going to stay here tonight." He listened for a few moments and then said goodnight to his father and hung up the phone.
Maria was beginning to tire so her mother said good night and Danny arranged for her to get a ride home. Danny promised to call in the morning with an update and walked her out to her ride. He returned to Maria, but she was sleeping. He pulled up a chair to wait for Maria to be admitted. Finally, the doctor returned. She motioned to Danny to step away from Maria. "I've spent the last hour going over all of Maria's results from tonight as well as the results from each visit. I'm kind of stumped as to what happened tonight so we're admitting her as we had planned. She will be monitored as will the baby and if anything changes, I'll be called. I'm on call tonight so I'll be staying here and maybe get an hour or so of sleep. Tomorrow, we're going to do a complete workup to see if we can find the source of the bleeding. We really don't like to do internal examinations on women in the last trimester, but we'll talk about the reasons for and reasons against before going that far. Someone will be here shortly to take Maria upstairs. A chair that folds flat will be put in the room for you. Do you have any questions?"
Danny thought for a moment and decided she had answered everything. Just then, patient transport arrived. Danny gathered up Maria's items and brought them with him. Even though it seemed to take forever, they were settled in a matter of minutes. Maria woke briefly during the transfer but was able to go back to sleep just as quickly. He slipped his shoes off and tried to sleep but tossed and turned for thirty minutes. Maria woke up, needing to use the bathroom so Danny pressed the call button. A nurse came in with a bedpan, not what Maria wanted but decided it would be easier than disconnecting all the wires connected to the machines in the room. Once she was finished, she moved over to one side of the mattress. "Danny, come and climb into bed with me. We'll both sleep better."
"Are you sure? They brought in this lovely…"
"And with the noise and the way you're moving around on it I'll never get back to sleep. Please?"
Danny stood up and brought his pillow and blanket with him. "If they yell at me, I'm gonna tell them it was your idea." He figured out how to lower the side rail and bring it back up. He laid down and Maria cuddled into his side as she had done since they started sharing a bed months ago. He put his hand on her abdomen and somehow the baby knew Daddy was near and it was time to sleep. He whispered to his child, "Good night, my child. It's time to let your mother rest." He gently rubbed her abdomen. "I can't wait to meet you and hold you. We're going to have a great time watching you grow up." He pulled the blanket up to cover Maria and keep her warm. As he lay down, he kissed her forehead briefly, "Good night, my love, sleep well," and he lay back and quickly fell asleep. Nurses came and went checking on their patient, but she slept the rest of the night.
