The Search For Something More
Chapter 30 - The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most
Hope you had a happy thanksgiving and thank you to those who reviewed. A lot more focus will be on the baby because Haley is getting further along. In dealing with the pregnancy, I was able to draw up on real life experiences. I don't want to give up too much but with that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review!
PS Keep Bleeding, The sequel for Thicker than Blood is also out so please check that out!
"Do you want something to eat?"
Haley shook her head.
"A drink?" Nathan asked.
Haley shook her head again. Nathan put the last of her things away and then sat down on their bed next her. They just arrived back from the hospital but both were too preoccupied with their own thoughts that neither noticed how quiet the other one was.
"Hey you okay?" Nathan asked as he saw Haley looking down, fiddling with her hands, a tale tell sign that something was definitely up.
Haley sighed and shook her head.
"What is it?" Nathan asked as he tucked away a stray piece of hair behind her ears. "Are you worried about the baby?" He said softly. There was a quiet understanding and concern they both shared about the safety of their baby.
"Well now I am." Haley replied and Nathan grimaced.
Haley had been trying really hard to stay positive and focus in on the good things in her life like her family and especially Nathan. Lately though, it's been getting harder and harder. Haley took a deep breath and looked up. "I called the lab again. That horrible nightmare I told you about, I still couldn't shake this feeling that something was wrong so I called the lab to make sure you were okay."
"But they told you Lucas has HCM." Nathan answered for her.
"You knew?" Haley looked up in surprise.
"I ran into Lucas earlier in the hospital before we left. He came to see a cardiologist, that's when he told me that he lied to me.. to all of us." Nathan replied. "All this time, I was too busy trying to figure out a way to tell you that I didn't even notice that something was up." Nathan shook his head.
"I should call him. He could use our support."
"He's fine Haley. He's the one that lied to us."
"I'm sure he has his reasons, he's sick.. he.."
"He LIED." Nathan pointed out. "And I'm tired of it. I'm tired of all of it. If Lucas wants to kill himself then so be it." Nathan got up and tried his best to reign in his anger. It was best if he left the room, he didn't want Haley to see him like this. He started heading for the door but Haley kept calling his name.
"Nathan!.. Nathan… Nathan would you please come back here. Don't make me get up!" Haley warned and Nathan stopped dead in his tracks. Nathan couldn't focus on his broken family, his dad, his brother. He had his own family that he was building that he needed to put first.
"I'm.. I'm sorry." Nathan went back to her side. "I don't mean to shut you out but I'm just not in a good mood right now and I don't want to upset you or anything."
"What's upsetting me is that you won't talk to me? So come here." Haley took his hand in hers. Nathan leaned in and gave her a tender kiss on the lips.
"I love you." He said softly.
"I love you, too." Haley replied back. "Now, I'm going to kill Lucas when I see him for lying to us but I'm still worried about him. Now what's going on with you?"
"I went to see Dan." Nathan said softly.
"Oh." Haley replied. "I guess it didn't go well." She quickly added.
Nathan shook his head.
"Oh Nathan, I'm sorry for making you see him."
"Haley, it's okay. In a way, it was good. Maybe now I can finally start moving on from him."
"What do you mean?"
Nathan paused for a second, debating whether or not to tell Haley the truth or hide it from her. It was always such a tough choice given what happened recently with the baby. But he couldn't go back to old habits. They were married now.
"Before I tell you what happened, I want you to know that I love you. That I've always loved you and even though all this bad stuff happened between us, in a way I wouldn't change it because it brought us here… it gave us a son."
"Okay." Haley squeezed his hand.
"It's just, even though a lot of crap happened to us, there's some good that came out of it and now that we're married and starting our family, it's only going to get better."
"I know." Haley smiled at him but she was really worried now about what happened with Dan. "What did Dan say to you?"
"Dan lied to me about Duke, Hales. He told me they didn't want me and convinced me to go to Maryland just so we wouldn't be together."
Haley's jaw dropped and it took her a good ten seconds before she replied. "Are you serious?" She finally answered.
Nathan nodded his head.
In a way, Haley wasn't surprised. Leave up to Dan to stoop this low. Haley closed her eyes as images of the past few years flooded her mind. All the lonely nights, the boxes of tissues spent. The memories seemed overwhelming at time but Haley opened her eyes and she saw Nathan's deep blue orbs staring back at her, his eyes filled with nothing but love and concern. She did something Nathan didn't expect her to do.
She laughed.
Nathan looked at her curiously as she continued to laugh, even harder now.
"Hales, you okay?"
"All this time.. it was him.. it was Dan all along.." Haley calmed herself down and wiped some stray tears from her face.
"I didn't know this was so funny." Nathan replied. Her hormones must be acting up again.
"I have to laugh Nathan.. I mean, it's just so funny when you think about how he wasted five years of our lives but look at where we are. We're together.. despite him, despite everything.." Haley laughed a little bit. "I spent the past five years dwelling on the past, I can't do it anymore. I won't." Haley gripped Nathan's hands tighter.
"I won't either." Nathan pressed his forehead against Haley's.
"We have more important things to worry about and Dan Scott won't be one of them any more." Haley replied as she rubbed her belly. She had hoped that there would be some sort of reconciliation between Nathan and Dan. Her own dad died too soon and even though there was no bad blood there, she always regretted not spending more time with him or getting to know him better. But Dan had hurt Nathan, had hurt them too much. "I know it's wrong to say this but if you don't ever want to see your father again, I'll totally support you."
"Thank you." Nathan leaned in and kissed her forehead. "I told him I was done with him. The mess he put us through about college, about Renee. I'm done."
Haley hugged him back and rested her head on the crook of his neck. They stayed in that position for a good minute before Haley let out a small yawn.
"Are you tired?"
"A little."
"You should rest." Nathan ran his hand up and down her back. Haley her head and then looked up at him.
"Stay with me."
Nathan lied down and pulled Haley close to him. She rested her head back on his chest and started to draw random patterns on his stomach. They laid together in silence but after fifteen minutes Nathan was surprised that Haley was still awake.
"Hey, I thought you were tired."
"Can't sleep." She replied still drawing circles on Nathan's shirt.
"What's on your mind?" Nathan asked.
"How firm your stomach is." Haley pressed her hand against Nathan's abs. Nathan couldn't help but chuckle but then he inwardly gasped as he felt Haley's hand slip under his shirt and started rubbing his taunt skin.
"Is my being girl frisky?"
"Crazy frisky." Haley sat up and kissed Nathan on the cheeks but just as quickly, she rested her head back on his chest. "But the doctor told me to refrain from s-e-x." It amazed her sometimes her mood would swing, from being extremely happy to sad. She was sometimes all over the place but Nathan, to his credit, took it all in stride.
"You can say sex in front of the baby Hales." Nathan chuckled and she instantly smacked his stomach.
"Nathan!" She scolded.
"What?" Nathan replied innocently. "I mean how do you think we became parents in the first place."
"Alcohol." Haley replied bluntly.
"I can't talk about s-e-x but your talking to our son about drinking." He smirked. Haley glared at him for a second.
"You're lucky you're so damn hot." Haley playfully smacked his cheeks.
"Is that why you married me? For my good looks." Nathan feigned hurt.
Haley chuckled and nodded her head. "You just reminded me of something."
"What, how hot a I am."
"And how cocky you are." She answered right back, "but actually.. you know what, never mind."
"What?"
"Nothing." Haley shook her head.
"Hales, what is it?"
"Ok fine, can you go in the closet, there's a blue plastic bin underneath where my coats are, dig inside and you'll find a small purple box."
"Ok." Nathan eyed her curiously before getting up and heading into their spacious walk in closet. He found the purple box a minute later and returned it to Haley.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Look for yourself." Haley opened the lid. Nathan was curious and when he peaked inside, he was surprised to find, well himself. There were some pictures of him and Haley from high school but the others were newspaper clippings and pages ripped from magazines, most of it was from his days in Maryland, there was a few from his first year on the Sonics. Nathan was speechless.
"I was hurt Nathan, but I was still proud of you, every day." Haley replied. "Well every day until after I started dating Julian, then I sort of had to stop cuz it would look weird to my boyfriend that I was collecting pictures of my ex-boyfriend.. plus it was just too hard sometimes, which is why I stopped all together and why I didn't know you were quote un-quote dating Alex DuPree a few months back." Haley held up air quotations. Nathan looked back at her with a small scowl. Haley shut her mouth. Her hormones were getting the best of her and coupled that with her ramblings, she sometimes got too carried away.
"Anyways," Haley tried to lighten the mood, "these are my favorite ones." Haley went to the bottom of the box.
"All these pictures are of me shirtless."
"Yeah." Haley sighed contently. "These pictures helped get me through some lonely night."
"Really?" Nathan raised an eyebrow. And Haley just blushed and turned a shade of red.
"Well, you don't need the pictures." He gathered everything back up on the box and dropped it down on the floor by their bed.
"Why is that?" Haley asked.
"Cuz you have me, Mrs. Scott."
"I do have you Mr. Scott." Haley replied while putting her arms around his neck. Haley pulled him close to her and they started to kiss. Haley found her hands roaming through his back and eventually to the hem of his shirt. She tugged at it, indicating she wanted it off. Nathan pulled back and replied with her request. As soon as his shirt was off, Haley licked her lips and ran her hands down his chest and onto his abs. The feel of her hands on his body sent his temperature rising and he leaned down and captured her lips once more. Nathan could feel himself losing himself in Haley but as much as they both wanted it, they couldn't.
"Baby, we have to stop." Nathan muttered against her lips. "The doctor said we shouldn't."
"I know." Haley pouted and pulled back. "This sucks."
Nathan let out a small groan. "Don't use the word suck right now."
Haley couldn't help but laugh. They were married for a week now and despite being pregnant, they haven't officially consummated the marriage.
"You know." Haley looked up with a mischievous smile and started to trace a finger down his bare chest. "The doctor said, I couldn't, he didn't say, you couldn't."
"What're you getting at?" Nathan asked.
"Well, there's no need for both of us to be suffering." Haley ran her finger down his chest. "I can't do it, but you can."
"You want me to go out and have, you know."
"Yeah, with yourself." Haley smirked and Nathan's eyes went wide.
"It is how I learned to dribble with both hands." He smirked back.
"Or I can help." Haley slipped her hand underneath Nathan's jeans, eliciting a gasp from Nathan.
He looked back at her with mischievous eyes. "I could use the help."
. . . . .
A few hours later, Nathan awoke and found Haley still sleeping soundly in his arms. He looked down and noticed he was still naked and smirked. Haley was right, there was no point in both of them suffering. Haley also admitted that not sleeping with him was "suffering" certainty helped boost his ego. He was more than happy to let her have her way with him but unfortunately, Nathan couldn't return the favor. But it was still nice that the two of them were able to just be together for a little while without thinking about everything else. Even though Haley didn't get hers, she seemed to have enjoyed herself very much.
Nathan glanced at the alarm clock by his nightstand noticed that most of the day had gone by. Nathan stomach growled and if he was hungry, he could only imagine how Haley would feel once she wakes up. As best as he could, he slid his body away from her, careful not to wake her. He was determined to give Haley a proper dinner, none of this hospital food she'd been eating for the past week. Nathan managed to pry himself away and reached down to the floor to grab his boxers and his jeans. Not bothering to put on a shirt, Nathan made his way downstairs and headed straight for the kitchen. He took out some pots and pans and laid them out on the stove and was about to open the refrigerator door when he heard a knock on the door.
Nathan opened the door and was surprised to see Lucas there. Both brothers stared at each other for a moment but then Lucas started to notice the various marks on Nathan's chest and stomach.
"If you're just going to check me out, I got a box full of pictures you can have." Nathan replied.
Lucas looked at him confused for a second and shook his head. He was temporarily blinded by all the hickey marks Haley no doubt had left on Nathan. He shuddered at the thought but he pushed them out his mind. He focused on why he came here in the first place and he barged right pass Nathan.
"Sure come on in." Nathan replied sarcastically as he closed the door.
"Where's Haley?" Lucas looked around.
"Upstairs sleeping, what're you doing here Lucas?"
Lucas turned back to Nathan. "Fuck you Nathan!" Lucas pointed his finger at him but kept the volume of his voice in check. He didn't want Haley to hear this.
"Really, this should be interesting." Nathan crossed his arms.
"You have the nerve to get mad at me for something that doesn't even concern you. You of all people!" Lucas glared at him. He knew Nathan wouldn't like the news of his HCM but he didn't think that Nathan would get mad about it. "I tell one little white lie and suddenly I'm the bad guy. Geez, Nathan after all the stunts you pulled, I can't believe you can't cut me some slack especially after everything I've done for you."
"First off, it wasn't a little white lie, it was a big fucken lie." Nathan replied and started heading towards the kitchen, Lucas followed suit. "Second of all, it does concern me. If you suddenly collapsed one, you don't think it would affect me." Nathan started playing around with the pots and pan.
Lucas looked at him as if he was crazy. "I can't believe I'm hearing this. It's all about you and what you want. I can't believe you're this selfish, wait I actually I do."
"That's right. I'm supposed to be the screw up, not you!" Nathan pointed to his brother. "You're supposed to be the good one. I'm the bad one and I'm the one that has to go to you for help cuz between the baby and Dan… I can't.. I can't do this but I have to be strong for Haley and the baby," Nathan continued to ramble on "and I need my big brother to turn to because I'm scared Luke!" Nathan finally admitted, his frustration and anger boiling to the surface. "The doctor said that Haley was supposed to spend one night at the hospital, that turned into seven!" Nathan's voice cracked at the end. "And even though we haven't talked about it, I know she's just as scared as I am but she's the one depending on me and I'm left with no one cuz I sure as hell can't go to you because you have HCM and you have your own shit to deal with and it's just too much.. I can't... I can't do it." Nathan slammed his fist on the counter and put his head down.
Both brothers stood there in silence for a moment. Lucas listened to see if Haley had woken up but he didn't hear any movement. He turned back to his brother and shook his head and let out a small chuckle. "You're an idiot, Nate."
Nathan looked up at him.
"I have HCM. I'm not dying you fool."
"But you still have HCM though." Nathan said softly.
"But I'm not an athlete, at least not the one I used to be in high school. I'm on medication now and I could still live an active and long life."
Nathan nodded.
"You know, here I am the one with a heart condition and yet I'm the one trying to make you feel better." Lucas replied with a small smirk.
"It's part of my charm." Nathan shrugged. "Look, I'm sorry I flipped out on you early. I have no right to be mad at you, you caught me at a bad time. It's always one thing after the other and it's just easier to be angry with you."
"I could tell. I mean you just came from seeing Dan."
Nathan nodded. "He came out clean about the whole Renee mess. After his heart started giving out, he hired her to watch over us in some pathetic attempt to get back into our lives. But Renee two timed him by sharing the info with Rachel and well you know what happened next."
Lucas wasn't surprised. After what he found out when he talked to Rachel, he figured as much. "He's unbelievable."
"Oh get it's better." Nathan added. "He also lied to me about Duke not wanting me."
"Huh?" Lucas squinted at him.
"Duke wanted me but Dan lied to me so that I could go to Maryland instead. He played me this whole time, making me believe that breaking up with Haley was the right thing to do."
"Holy shit." Lucas muttered. "I .. I don't think he'd go that low. I mean.. wow."
"Tell me about it."
"Does Haley know?"
Nathan nodded.
"Shit, how'd she take it?"
"Pretty well actually. I think with everything's that's happened, there's no point in trying to understand it or get mad about it. You can only move on, we have more important things to worry about."
"Like the baby." Lucas added.
"Yep."
"Look Nate, what you said about dealing with it all. You can always come to me, HCM or not. But you got to give yourself some slack. You're doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing. I'm proud of you for that." Nathan gave a small smile. "In fact, I think you're doing pretty well all on your own. I mean based off all the hickeys you have on your chest and stomach." Lucas teased. Nathan shifted uncomfortably for a second and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Yeah, using sex as a tool of distraction, I'm sure that's going to make me husband of the year." Nathan said sarcastically.
"Probably not but being there like you have been will. You're doing fine Nathan, believe that. Haley's lucky to have you."
"Thanks Luke." Nathan gave a small smile. "We're good right?"
"Yeah. We're good." Lucas extended his hand the two bumped fist.
"I was going to start on dinner. You should stay. I know Haley would like to see you. But I have to warn you. She knows about your HCM. She'll probably want to hug you and kill you at the same time."
"Great." Lucas replied sarcastically.
"But I mean you're okay right? You take your meds and your good?"
"Basically. But I don't know if you're cooking is good for my health though."
Nathan chuckled. "I can cook.. sort of. Besides, now that you're here, you can help out."
"So the invitation to stay was so that I could make dinner."
Nathan smirked. "Basically."
He went over to the fridge and opened the doors up. He suddenly realized that it's been a while since he or Haley went grocery shopping. Nathan closed the door and turned back to Lucas who was texting on his phone.
"Don't worry, I'm already texting my mom that I'm going to pick up some food from the café."
"Good call."
. . . . .. .
"Mr. and Mrs. Scott. The doctor is ready to see you now." The secretary called out and Nathan and Haley stood up.
"You guys go ahead, call me when you're done. I'll bring the car to the front."
"Thanks Luke." Haley replied. "But don't forget to pick up your medication from the pharmacy."
"Yes mom, I will." Lucas teased. Haley gave him a small scowl before taking Nathan's hand and heading towards the examining room.
Lucas watched them go inside before heading out himself to go to the pharmacy the hospital had. It had been a few days since Haley returned home and when Lucas admitted to Nathan he had HCM. When Lucas told his mom, Karen, like Haley, also had his mom had mixed reactions. She was certainly mad about lying but at the same time, extremely worried for Lucas' health.
But so far, it wasn't that bad. Like he told Nathan, Lucas wasn't the athlete he once was. He wasn't training for a team or trying to go pro and only played ball for fun. The heart medication slowed down his heart rate but he was still able to play sports like basketball, he just won't be as fast as he used to be. Other than taking two pills a day, it was business as usual for him. Finding out about HCM did make him think things over. He focused more on his writing, which was a good thing considering that his editor was getting on his case.
After grabbing a refill of his prescription, he was going to head back and see if Nathan and Haley were finished but he stopped when he slowed down when he passed through the rehabilitation section. From the glass windows, he could see Dan getting off a treadmill. Last he heard, Dan was doing well but after his heart attack, he needed some physical therapy. Lucas wrestled with going to see him or not but at the end, if Nathan could do it, so could he.
Dan made it back to his hospital room and took a seat on his bed. The session today was a little bit more rigorous.
"I thought they'd send you home by now." Lucas called out from the hallway.
Dan was surprised to see Lucas there but glad he was here nonetheless. "The doctors said that I could go home but there'd be no one to take care of me."
"Well you only have yourself to blame for being alone."
"I deserve that."
"You deserve worse."
"I deserve that too." It was then that Dan glanced at the bag in Lucas' hand in noticed the prescription on it.
"What's that?"
"About the only thing you ever gave me, a heart disease. Thanks Dan." Lucas replied bluntly.
"I thought you and Nathan were good?"
"Nathan is. I'm not so lucky."
"I'm sorry Lucas for this and so much more."
"I don't want your apology Dan."
"Then why are you here?"
"To tell you I'm done too." Lucas shook his head.
"So Nathan told you."
"Of course he told me. I can't believe you did that."
"It's something I'm not proud of. I was wrong. I know that now." Dan looked down.
"I used to be jealous of Nathan, the life he had, the seemingly perfect father but it was all a lie. I thought you chose Nathan and Deb over me and my mom but you actually did us a favor."
"I've made mistakes. I know that. All I can do is try to make up for it."
"You want to make it up to us, then leave us alone Dan." Lucas stated. "When you said you were dying, there was a part of me that wanted to get to know you, to see who you really were for myself. I started to think you weren't a monster but you fooled me again."
"Lucas, wait."
"Prove to me that you're a decent human being and maybe, just maybe there's a chance for you. You have a second chance at life Dan, I hope you do something with it." Lucas shook his head and headed out.
. . . . .
One Week Later
"Is everything okay?" Haley asked as Dr. Anderson stared intently at the sonogram machine. She and Nathan shared a worried look before looking back at the doctor. He had been awfully quiet for the past few minutes. Ever since the accident nearly three weeks ago, the doctor ordered that Haley come in weekly for her visits instead of her usual monthly visit. It seemed that Nathan and Haley were a permanent fixture at Dr. Anderson's office.
The doctor sighed and shook his head.
"Doc, what's going on?" Nathan asked as he gripped his wife's hand harder.
The doctor scooted his chair to the computer and started clicking on some buttons.
"This is a graph of your baby's growth, beginning with his first sonogram." The doctor pointed to the computer screen. "As you can see, your baby was progressing quite normally."
"Until the accident." Haley interrupted and the doctor nodded his head.
"The baby was in distress which is why we've been monitoring the baby very closely." The doctor zoomed into the graph, "This shows your baby's growth over the past couple of weeks. You can see the trend of your baby growing, it slowed down a little right before, which is not uncommon but after the accident it basically flat lines."
"So you mean, our baby is not growing?" Haley was one step from panicking.
"Unfortunately, that seems to be the case. The baby is not getting enough nutrients it needs. I suspected as much from your last appointments but I needed to see if the baby had grew this week. I didn't want to concern you two unless I had to. I know you two have been through enough."
"And now, what do we do now?" Haley asked very concerned.
"The next step is to induce labor."
"Labor? Already?" Nathan replied.
The doctor nodded his head.
"Haley is close to 36 weeks. 37 weeks is considered full term. Ideally we want the baby to stay in there longer but if he's not growing, we need to get him. I'm going to schedule you to come in the day after tomorrow. If I see the slightest hint of growth, I will hold off for as long as I could. But I want you guys to be prepared and pack accordingly."
"But.. but it's too soon." Haley replied.
"But the baby can still be okay right?" Nathan asked nervously.
"The sonogram only tells part of the picture. We won't know for sure until the baby arrives. For all you know, the baby will be fine, underweight but fine." The doctor replied. "But with any premature births, there are risks. Certain organs may not be fully developed like his lungs or his vascular system. But I don't want you guys to focus on that. The best thing both of you can do is rest and be positive. We have a great and dedicated team here." The doctor spoke to them for a few more minutes, answering some of their questions before exiting and giving them some privacy.
"I haven't finished decorating the baby's room." Haley replied. "There's still a ton of gifts from the baby shower that I didn't even go through." Haley had tears streaming down her face.
"Hales.."
"I thought we'd have more time. It's too soon. It's too soon." Haley cried harder. "Our boy's not ready, I'm.. I'm not ready."
"Shhh! Baby." Nathan held her tight. "It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay." He kept repeating into her ear, hoping his words would ring true.
Nathan and Haley promptly came back to the hospital the following day at 8:00 am sharp. Just as Dr. Anderson expected, there was no change. Before Haley and Nathan knew it, they were whisked away to a private room and Haley was given medication to get her dilated. By midnight, Haley was 4 centimeters along and the doctor broke Haley's water. The contractions were getting closer and closer together and it didn't take long for Haley to request the epidural as the pain increased.
"Do you want more ice cubes?" Nathan asked.
"I'm fine." Haley replied and laid her head back. So far, it wasn't as bad as she expected. She was more hungry than anything since she wasn't allowed to eat. For the most part, her and Nathan just hung out but unfortunately Haley couldn't see any other visitors. As the "coach" Nathan was the only one allowed to be with Haley. Nathan would go out every now and then and give them an update of what was going on.
"Is everyone still here?"
Nathan nodded. "They don't want to leave."
"God bless them but they do know that this could take a while." The doctor had already told them that this would most likely be a 24 hour event.
"Yeah, it's fine." Nathan kissed the top of her forehead and brushed her hair. "I gave up on trying to get Lucas to leave hours ago."
"Well maybe you should rest, it's almost one in the morning." Haley replied.
"I'm tired but there's no way I could fall asleep, how about you? How's the pain?"
"Better now that they stuck that big needle in me."
"Look Hales, you're doing a great job." Nathan squeezed her hand. He never knew love until he met Haley and today he witnessed strength on a whole new level.
"You too." Haley squeezed back.
"I just sit here." Nathan laughed back.
"You know what I mean. You've been great through out all this. I don't know how I could do this with out you."
"There's no where else I'd rather be." Nathan kissed her forehead.
"I don't know what's worse, the waiting or seeing what happens when the baby is here.. I just want him here already and safe and healthy." Haley replied.
"I know babe. But our boy's strong. He has you for a mom."
Haley nodded her head and smiled but suddenly her face grimaced.
"What is it?"
"Aww.. it.. it just hurts."
Nathan immediately got up. "Let me get a nurse."
For the next hour, Haley's contractions got closer and closer together. Despite the epidural, Haley still felt some pain.
Dr. Anderson came back to Haley's room to inspect her. He lifted Haley's gown and saw that the baby was crowning.
"Okay Haley, this is it, we need you to start pushing." Dr. Anderson announced as a team of nurses surrounded him.
Haley nodded and looked at Nathan for support. Nathan squeezed her hand tight and Haley closed her eyes and started to push.
"AHH!"
"That's it Haley, keep going." Dr. Anderson spoke up.
"You're doing so good baby. We're almost there." Nathan said softly into her ear as Haley gripped his hand tight.
"AHH!" Haley cried out and for the next few minutes, she pushed. She pushed with everything she had.
"Okay, he's here!" The doctor announced. "It's a boy." The doctor quickly swaddled him in linen and brought him over to an examining table.
"You did so good baby. We have a son." Nathan kissed Haley's forehead.
"And you're a dad." Haley cried out and rubbed Nathan's cheeks. "I want to meet him." Haley sniffled.
It was then that Nathan and Haley turned back to the doctor and nurses and noticed that they were all huddled around the baby but they couldn't make out what was going on. And what was worst was that the only sounds that could be heard were from the medical equipment and the staff in the room.
"Dr. Anderson?" Nathan called out. He stood up. Something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong.
"He's not breathing!" Dr. Anderson called out and another doctor came rushing in.
For the next ten minutes, Nathan and Haley held onto each other as the doctors and nurses frantically worked on their new born son. They both had tears streaming down their faces as they clutched into each other for support. Neither of them making a sound as they prayed for some good news.
Finally the activity stopped and everyone stood still. Dr. Anderson took a step back and removed his cap. He reluctantly stepped back from the baby and removed his gloves. He glanced up at the clock and turned to one of the nurses.
"Call it, time of death.. 2:23 a.m."
To Be Continued . . . . .
This story is definitely not over and you will definitely want to read the next chapter!