Chapter 57
Six weeks later
Robin got off the stool and walked around the lab, trying to relieve just a little of the pain and pressure in her back. She had not had this much trouble with Emma's pregnancy, more proof that Josh was going to be just like his dad. She finally gave up and walked down the hall to her office. She laid down on the couch and tried her breathing exercises but they didn't help alleviate the pain. "Come on buddy, lighten up on me."
Robin got back up and finally did the one thing she was dreading. Pulling out her phone, she called Patrick. "Hey, I'm in my office and my back is killing me – can we go home?"
Patrick walked in the door as she was asking the question. "Great timing – I was just going to suggest we head out of here." They both hung up their phones as he walked over and helped her sit up. "Maybe I can give you a massage and help ease that pain a little bit."
Robin gave him a weak smile. "That would be wonderful." She leaned on him as she got off the couch. She was no sooner standing up than she doubled back over in pain and screamed.
Patrick put his arms around her and was about to help her back on the couch when he noticed a small pool of blood where she had been sitting. Robin continued to scream in pain, loud enough that Tom came bursting through the door. "Robin?"
"Get a gurney and call Dr. Nord, I think she has placental abruption." Tom ran out the door yelling orders. Less than a minute later he was back with an orderly and a gurney. Patrick quickly picked Robin up and set her on the gurney as they ran out of the office and to labor and delivery.
"Robin, we need to get you into the OR now." Dr. Nord met up with the gurney as soon as they got to labor and delivery. He noted the blood coming from between Robin's legs and her obvious distress. They moved quickly down the hall and Patrick saw the surgical team running to the OR. Suddenly the gurney with his wife on it slipped out of his hands and into the room.
Patrick attempted to follow but was held back by Dr. Nord. "Patrick – you cannot come in there with us."
"That's my wife and son!" Patrick tried to push forward but found himself being held back by Tom.
"If this was a normal c-section you could be in there but I cannot have any distractions in there." Epiphany came running down the hall. "Epiphany is scrubbing in and the anesthesiologist is putting Robin under right now."
Tom put his arm around Patrick's shoulder and pulled him away from the door. "We will be right outside Patrick. Is there anyone you want me to call?"
Patrick pulled away and watched as Dr. Nord headed into the OR, followed by Epiphany. "Mac and Robin's parents." He leaned against the wall and slid down it. "They're going to be okay, right?"
"Robin is a strong woman. She has survived too much to leave you now and Josh," Tom sat down next to Patrick, "Josh is part you and part Robin, two of the strongest and most stubborn individuals I have ever met. Neither one of them is giving up without a fight."
"We have worked so hard to be happy again, to be a family again, that the thought of losing it…" The tears fell down his cheeks. "Emma! Emma needs to know that her brother is coming."
"Is she at school?" Patrick nodded. "Then let's call Mac and get your little girl here so that she can be here to welcome Josh into the family."
"Her BP is dropping doctor." Epiphany was watching Robin's vitals closely as Dr. Nord performed the emergency c-section. "We need to get the baby out now."
"We also need to make sure we keep his exposure to a minimum." Dr. Nord understood why Epiphany was worried but he needed to do what was best for both Robin and her baby. A few minutes later, he successfully extracted Joshua from his mother's womb. Everyone in the room felt a sense of relief when he let out a healthy yell. "Clean him up while I close Robin up."
The room suddenly filled with noise as the machines hooked up to Robin began screaming like crazy. Epiphany looked at Dr. Nord. "She crashing!"
"She's bleeding out – everyone clamps and suction now!" He nodded to the nurse holding Josh. "Get him out of here."
The nurse rushed Josh out of the room as the rest of the team worked frantically to save his mom.
"Patrick!" Mac ran down the hall and straight to Robin's husband. "How is she?"
"I don't know." Patrick hugged Mac tightly. "They took her into the OR 15 minutes ago and I haven't heard anything yet."
"What happened?"
Patrick tried to speak but the words just wouldn't come so Tom stepped in. "She had a placental abruption – the placenta started separating from the womb."
"So they are doing the c-section and she will be fine – right?" Mac was trying to convince himself that it would be alright.
"The doctor is doing everything he can. Hopefully they caught it while it was still a partial abruption and not a full one but we won't know anything until…" Tom was interrupted by the nurse walking in with a baby boy in her arms.
"Dr. Drake – would you like to meet your son?" The nurse set the blanket clad, minutes old newborn baby boy in Patrick's arms.
Patrick couldn't stop the tears when he saw his little boy in his arms. "He's beautiful, he's perfect." He looked at the nurse. "And Robin?"
The nurse looked away. "Dr. Nord is still working on her. Why don't you come with me and help me get your son cleaned up? Normally we don't do that but since you are a doctor here I thought you might want to help."
The three men watched the nurse carefully. Tom finally spoke. "Nurse Tyson – is Robin okay?"
"Sir, I really can't say anything. I was sent out with the baby to get him cleaned up, draw his blood and get his shots. If Dr. Drake doesn't want to come with me, I understand but I do need to do my job."
Patrick kissed Josh's forehead and then reluctantly handed him back to the nurse. "I appreciate the offer but I will see him after you do what you need to do. I know he is doing well so take care of him while I wait for word on my wife."
He leaned down and gave John one last kiss. "Mommy and I will see you soon buddy."
The nurse left and the three men began pacing the waiting room – the nurse's refusal to comment on Robin's condition had spoken volumes. Something had gone wrong. Minutes after Nurse Tyson left, Dr. Nord and Epiphany made an appearance. Patrick noticed them first and ran over to them. "How is she?"
"Let's sit down." Dr. Nord gestured to a couch but Patrick didn't even move.
"No, I want to know what is going on with my wife."
"Robin suffered a full abruption of the placenta. We were able to get the baby out and he appears to be perfectly healthy. Unfortunately, Robin began to bleed out."
Mac put his arm around Patrick's shoulder. "Is she…"
"No, but she isn't out of the woods yet. She lost a lot of blood and started going into shock. We lost her for a few minutes but she fought her way back. We are monitoring her closely because she could develop DIC due to the abruption."
Patrick and Mac both felt a sad sense of déjà vu – Robin had developed DIC following Emma's birth and they had almost lost her. "Did you need to do a hysterectomy?"
"No. We are getting ready to move Robin to ICU and she will go into full isolation. I feel it is best considering her medical history." Dr. Nord was erring on the side of caution; Robin's HIV status made this a precarious situation.
"Is she in a coma?" Patrick stared Dr. Nord straight in the eyes, begging the doctor to give him some good news.
"It's too soon to tell. We have to wait for the anesthesia to wear off before we can make that determination." Dr. Nord put his hand on Patrick's shoulder. "Patrick – I will do everything in my power to make sure Robin comes home to you and your children. Why don't you go spend a little time with your son while we get Robin moved to her room? I'll come see you in the nursery in a little while."
Dr. Nord left the men and headed back to the OR. Patrick rubbed his eyes and looked at Mac. "Robin will kill me when she wakes up if I haven't properly introduced you to your nephew. Let's go spend a little time with the newest member of the family."
Mac looked at Patrick. He knew Patrick was right and he also knew that this would pass the time while waiting for an update on Robin in a productive way. "Let's go."