The Search For Something More
Chapter 31 – I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight
Thank you all for the reviews! I knew I had to get this out as soon as I could. This was probably one of the hardest chapters for me to write. There were parts I felt like crying myself lol. Some Australian readers may find something familiar in this chapter. I'll have more to say later but enjoy and please review!
PS how awesome was OTH tonight, January 25 can't come fast enough.
5 Months Later
"The red light is blinking." Haley spoke up.
"Oh wait, it's on standby." Julian stood up to fix the camera.
"Okay, it's blinking now."
"Alright, we're recording."
"Okay.' Haley replied sheepishly.
"Are you camera shy now?" Julian asked.
"A little." Haley replied as she shifted in her seat. "Why are you interviewing me again?" She was having cold feet about agreeing to do this interview.
"It's not an interview, it's a documentary about What Comes Next."
"I'm pretty boring. Remember I told you my nickname in high school was tutor girl."
"Well that was high school. The past five months have been.."
"Crazy." Haley added.
"Yeah." Julian replied, giving her a small smile. "Let's talk about what happened five months ago."
"My son?"
Julian nodded.
There was a long pause. "It's hard for me to think about it." Haley replied. "It still is." She hesitated about talking about her experience on camera but she knew she shouldn't keep all her emotions bottled up like that. If her story could help someone, then it was worth talking about it.
"How did you feel?" Julian questioned.
"What didn't I feel?" Haley replied back. "A car almost ran me over and I had a bad fall. I later find out that it caused some damage to the umbilical cord and my son wasn't getting the nutrients he needed to grow so they had to induce labor. It all happened so fast. One minute I'm being dragged into the delivery room, the next the doctor tells me my son is dead." Haley let a stray tear fall. "I was devastated. Everyone was."
"Call it, time of death.. 2:23 a.m."
"NO!" Haley cried out and Nathan held her tight. This was some sort of mistake, some ugly joke.
"Doctor, what's going on?" Nathan asked a somber Dr. Anderson came walking over to them.
"We tried our best to revive your son, but his lungs." The doctor shook his head as he tried his best to reign in his emotions. Haley only continued to cry harder into Nathan's chest.
"No.. doc.. he can't.." Haley cried out.
"Nathan, Haley, I'm so sorry." Dr. Anderson choked out, his own voice cracking. "We did everything we could but.."
"No!" NO!" Nathan cried out and started to cry alongside with Haley. Everyone else in the delivery room stood back in silence. Their hearts breaking for the young couple who seemed to have lost it all.
"This is the part of my job that I hate the most. But it seems his lungs were too fragile. We wont know until we do an autopsy. I'm sorry for your lost. The nurses are cleaning him up now. You should.. you should say your goodbyes."
Nathan and Haley just shook their heads as they cried onto each other.
Dr. Anderson took a step back and headed out of the room. He quickly walked down to the end of the hall and turned into an empty corridor. It was then that he punched the wall and let himself break.
"Did you think the doctors and the nurses did everything they can?"
"Yes." Haley nodded her head. "Over the course of my pregnancy, I got to know Dr. Anderson and his staff really well. I know they tried their hardest to save him."
"But it wasn't enough?"
Haley shook her head. "No. Like I said, the staff were devastated too. Dr. Anderson even had scrapes on his hands because he punched a wall."
"Did you feel like punching a wall?"
"Yes. I was angry and upset. If I didn't have Nathan there, I don't know what I would've done. After Dr. Anderson told us that he was dead. I just lost it and started sobbing into Nathan's arms. Nathan just held me and cried alongside with me." Haley wiped her eyes as she remembered.
"And how was it like when you got to hold your baby for the first time?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Scott."
Nathan and Haley looked up and saw one of the nurses holding the lifeless son in her arms.
Reluctantly, Haley opened her arms and held her little boy for the first time. He looked like he was sleeping but there was no rise or fall of his chest. He was small but his cheeks were chubby and had streaks of blond hair but his skin was shades or purple and red. Their hearts broke once more.
"He's so small." Haley commented. The official weigh in was 4 pounds 11 ounces. "I'm just meeting him now and now I have to say good bye." Haley looked up to Nathan but words failed him. There in front of him was his son, their son. Nathan was so supposed to protect him and love him and he failed him, failed Haley.
"Nathan, what're we going to do?" Haley pleaded to her husband. This wasn't how things were supposed to turn out for them. She needed something, anything.
"I don't know Hales." Nathan said softly, his heart breaking at the sight of his wife so torn carrying her lifeless son. "I don't know."
"I remember thinking how small he was and how lost and helpless I felt." Haley replied. "You have this image how it would be like when your first child is born but nothing could've ever prepared me for what happened. To hold him and know he wasn't coming back to life." Haley choked out.
"Did you feel that maybe this was a mistake, that your son could still be alive?" Julian asked.
"In the back of my mind yes. But at the same time, I had to be realistic. It was a good 5-10 minutes from when the doctor declared him dead and when they gave him to me. I was holding him and he skin looked purple, his was limp and he wasn't breathing." Haley wiped her eyes.
"But then you felt the baby move."
Haley nodded.
Haley stopped crying and looked up at Nathan. "Did you see that?"
"What?" Nathan wiped his teary eyes.
"He moved."
"Hales." Nathan said softly.
"No, I'm not imagining this." Haley pleaded. "You have to believe me… wait there it is."
Nathan got up in surprise. "Actually I did. His leg moved. You didn't?"
"No I didn't do that."
"I gotta tell the doctor." Nathan rushed towards the door and started looking around the hallway.
"Doctor!" Nathan rushed over to him. "The baby… he.. he moved."
"Huh?" Dr. Anderson asked.
"The baby move. Haley and I both saw it."
Without another word, the doctor and Nathan ran back in the room. While Haley was still holding him, the doctor tried to get a pulse or get a heart beat but he couldn't locate either It was then that Haley noticed Dr. Anderson's hands were covered in cuts..
"I'm sorry guys but it's just reflex. The body degrades, it can cause a response to the nervous system. It happens quite frequently unfortunately."
"But doctor." Haley was about to protest.
"Guys look, you might see a leg or hand move. It's not uncommon.. it's just reflex. I know it's hard. But please just.. take all the time you need. I'm .. I'm sorry." A visibly shaken Dr. Anderson shook his head and exited the room. He wanted to punch himself now. He shouldn't have given false hope to his patients like that.
"Doctor." Nathan ran out to the doctor.
"Look Nathan, I'm sorry. I should've known that it was just an automatic reaction."
"So there really is no chance he can still be alive."
Dr. Anderson shook his head.
"God, doc, what am I supposed to do?" Nathan leaned against the doorway.
"Just be there for your wife. She's going to need you."
Nathan nodded and wiped a few stray tears that fell.
"It was a false hope and I resigned myself to the fact that he was gone." Haley admitted dabbing her eyes with some tissue.
"And what happened next?" Julian asked.
"Acceptance." Haley said softly. "And part of that was admitting to ourselves that he was gone. And we also had to admit it to everyone else. "Our friends and family were there waiting in the hospital." Haley replied. "Nathan was the one to tell them. I know it wasn't easy for him to do."
Just then her phone beeped and she looked down and saw a text message.
"Hey Julian, can we take a break. I have to.."
"Yeah. No problem." Julian hit pause on his camera.
"So he really is gone?" Haley tore her watery eyes from her deceased son and looked up to Nathan..
"I'm afraid so baby." Nathan said softly. He tried his best to explain what the doctor had told him a minute ago. "I wish there was something I can do.. anything to take the pain away but I can't and I'm sorry Hales. I'm so sorry."
"I know." Haley leaned against him and cradled her son close to her.
Nathan cleared his throat and wiped away his own tears. "Look Hales, they told me that everyone is still here waiting. They still don't know what happened."
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. How are we supposed to tell everyone else?"
"I'll do it. I'll get Luke in here. I can't.. I can't face everyone right now." Nathan shook his head.
Haley nodded as she the tears continued to fall from her eyes.
"I'll be right back." Nathan kissed her temple and took one last glimpse of his son.
Once he was out, he leaned back against the wall and started panting. He was breathing heavily, trying to hold it together.. A nurse hesitantly came over to him to ask if he was okay and if he needed anything. He shook his head but managed to ask her to bring his brother to him.
She nodded and gave Nathan a sad smile. By now the whole wing had heard what happened. Most of the time, it was a happy occasion at the maternity ward but there were those rare occasions like tonight where your heart just breaks for the would be parents.
"Haley should be back soon." Nathan entered the room. They called this the music room but it was anything but. There was a piano in the corner and a stack of baby toys collecting dust next to it. It was left over gifts from the baby shower, toys for one year old and two year old babies that they weren't using. Nathan knew he had to clear this room out eventually but he saw the camera Julian set up across from the couch.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to you." Julian asked.
Nathan paused for a second and he closed the door and then took a seat in front of the camera. Julian reached for the camera, turning it on.
"So Haley told you what I was doing right?"
"Yeah, a documentary or something."
"Yeah." Julian nodded his head. "I'm documenting the lives of a few people who's had a major life changing event happen to them and what comes next for them. Haley described the last five months as crazy. What do you think?"
"I think that's one words I would use."
"Haley and I were talking about the night .. or early morning rather, when she gave birth. What's changed with you since then?"
"What hasn't changed?" Nathan replied. "There's so many things that are different now."
"Before Haley left, she told me that it was you who told your friends and family about your son's death."
Nathan nodded as imaged of that night came back to him.
Nathan walked down to the end of the hallway near the doors. He waited there for a minute before the nurse came back with Lucas right behind her.
Lucas looked tired but carried a big smile and two cigars in his hand. "I know we can't smoke in here but we can at least put it in our mouths to celebrate… dad." Lucas gave a friendly punch to Nathan's shoulder but Nathan's head remained down. Something definitely felt wrong but Lucas wouldn't hear of it. All of them have been through so much, he couldn't take any more bad news.
"Jake even managed to make it here. We all can't to meet him." Lucas kept his happy demeanor on.
Nathan lifted his head and Lucas nearly gasped as he saw the state his brother was in. His eyes were red and puffy, Lucas never saw him so distraught.
"He didn't make it Luke." Nathan said softly as a stray tear came falling down. One of many, he was sure.
Lucas dropped the cigars from his hands. "No." Lucas took a step back. "No!" He leaned against the opposite wall and felt sucker punched and the wind was knocked out from him.
"He was just too much in distress. They think his lungs may have not fully developed. He wasn't breathing when he came out. He didn't even make a sound." Nathan felt himself slumping against the wall.
Immediately, Lucas came to him and hugged his brother tight and pulled him back on his feet.
"He's gone Luke. He's gone." Nathan said softly.
"Shit Nate. I don't know what to say." Lucas pulled back, tears in his eyes as well.
"He was our little man." Nathan choked out. "We were supposed to teach him how to play ball in the River Court."
Lucas closed his eyes as the mental image popped up in his head and his heart broke for the life that barely even had a chance to live.
"Haley's a mess." Nathan sniffled and pulled back. "She's still in the delivery room. They're letting us hold him.. to say our goodbyes. How do I say bye, Luke? How?" Nathan pleaded.
"You just do, I guess." Lucas shook his head.
"A part of me was relieved to get out of that room." Nathan admitted. "Can you believe that? What kind of person does that make me?"
"Listen to me, Nathan, you are one of the strongest person I know."
"I'm not strong enough. Luke. I've been through a lot.. I faced every challenge and opponent head on but this. This is bigger than that.. bigger than any of us. I don't know." Nathan shook his head. "I don't know." Nathan shook his head.
"You can get through this little brother. These past few months, I've seen you do amazing things, incredible things. I know you feel helpless now but your grieving and that's okay."
"I don't," Nathan voice shook, " I don't even know what to say to Haley. I feel so lost."
"Then be lost together." Lucas replied. "Nothing I can say can make things better and I'm not going to stand here and tell you that's it going to get better because you know what, this sucks. This sucks a lot. But it is what it is little bro and if you want to be sad and angry then go ahead. You're good man Nathan Scott. You have a good heart.. literally." He playfully punched Nathan's chest. "Just follow that."
"I honestly don't know what I would've done if it wasn't for my brother." Nathan looked into the camera.
"He's a big part of your life?" Julian questioned.
"Yeah. I needed someone that night to help me get my bearings straight. To get back on track and be with Haley and be the kind of man and husband she deserved. I owe Lucas a lot… both Haley and I. It's why I named my son after him."
"Did you come up with the name?"
"We both did." Nathan replied. "We couldn't bury him with out at least giving him a name."
"That must've been hard, knowing that it was the name you were going to have to put on a tombstone."
Nathan nodded and sniffled. Even though it was five months ago, Nathan could sometimes feel like it was just yesterday. The memory from the night burned forever in his mind.
"Lucas told me I was this great guy and amazing person. I frankly thought he was full of shit but Lucas had a point. I had to be that guy.. for Haley.. for my son. The hospital staff allowed us to have these precious moments with our son so I knew we had to make the most of them no matter how hard it was going to be."
"And what did you do?"
"Say goodbye and to let our son know that his parents loved him very much."
Julian felt himself being overcome with emotion himself. He had heard of what happened of course from second hand accounts but never directly from Nathan or Haley. Their story was truly heart breaking and inspiring.
"Hales?" Nathan questioned as he saw his wife on the bed, rocking their lifeless son against her bare chest, the covers pushed up also across her chest.
"One of the articles I read said that holding the baby skin to skin help him transition from the womb to the real world. In poor countries, mothers do it all the time, especially with premature babies, it acts as an incubator."
"Hales.." Nathan's voice cracked as he approached closer.
"I know you must think I'm crazy. I know we can't do anything but I just want him to know that I love him, that even though his time here was short that he was loved."
"No, I don't think that." Nathan brushed a stray hair behind her ear. He moved around the other side of the bed and hopped in next to Haley.
"But we should probably start calling him by a proper name." Nathan replied. "You're right Hales, our son deserves to know that he was loved. If this is our first and last moments with him, then I want it matter."
Haley looked back to him and mouthed a silent, 'thank you.'
"You hear that James Lucas Scott, mommy and daddy love you." Haley recited the name that they both came up with a few weeks ago.
Nathan wrapped his arm around Haley's shoulder and brought them close to him. He put his other free hand over Haley's hand, which was over their tiny little boy.
"You're probably wondering where you got such a cool name." Nathan looked down and talked to his son. "James was your mom's idea. James was her last name and it was in honor of her dad. Now Lucas comes from your Uncle Lucas. People will call us half-brothers but don't listen to them. Your daddy and Uncle Lucas are brothers. And Scott well, that comes from me and is only given to the most handsomest boys." Nathan caressed his small cheeks.
"Now I know you're up there with your grandpa now." Haley's voice cracked. "He's going to take good care of you.." Haley could barely finish her sentence.
Nathan too fought through the pain to talk to his son. "There's a whole bunch of people outside that love you too. There's your Uncle Lucas of course and your Grandma Lydia, Grandma Karen.."
"And your Auntie Brooke and Aunt Peyton." Haley added.
"And even Uncle Jake came." Nathan added. Haley smiled at him.
"I know they would've all liked to have met you." Haley added. "Especially your Uncle Lucas and your Aunt Brooke, they would've been your godparents."
Nathan gave Haley a tight squeeze.
"And I know it looks like a mess now but you have the coolest room back home. It has all these cool toys and a crib that your Uncle Lucas and daddy couldn't figure out how to build so we hired someone." Nathan spoke to his son.
Haley couldn't help but snort. Even in the saddest of moments, Nathan always made her feel better. It was his strength she relied on and his shoulder she could lean on. She was thankful that for the rest of her life, whether it be long or short, she would always have him.
"I know you're never going to see it but we also have this nice big pool in the backyard that I know you would've loved playing in." Haley added.
"I even got a basketball hoop for it." Nathan added.
"You have a lot of basketballs too."
"Yeah because 16-17 yrears from now, you were going to lead the Ravens to a state championship." Nathan choked realized all the moments his son would never have but once again he fought through the darkness that threatened to consume him so that he could talk to his son in person instead of a tombstone. "And there's a park by the river with a basketball court that over looks the town. I knew we would've spent hours there just playing basketball.." Nathan's voice trailed as it became thick with emotions.
"Your daddy would've taught you everything about the game, how to dribble and make a free shot."
"Free throw." Nathan laughed while blinking away tears. "I know you would've loved it there buddy." Nathan said softly, looking down at his lifeless son.
It was all so much for them to take and they stayed silent for a moment. The silence was broken when they saw their son move and gasp for air.
"Was.. was that what I thought it was?" Haley asked.
"Did he just exhale?" Nathan questioned.
"Is that normal?"
"Look, he did it again." Both of them looked at each other perplexed and they waited in silence for another minute but nothing.
Nathan got up. "Let me ask the doctor."
Nathan got up and frantically searched for Dr. Anderson. He found him at the nurses station.
"Doc! He's breathing, I think."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"We saw him gasp for air.. twice. Can you check him out?"
"Nathan." Dr. Anderson gripped his shoulder. "We talked about this."
"But."
"The body is probably releasing the excess oxygen we tried pumping into him earlier."
"Oh." Nathan took a step back.
"Maybe we should take him now." Dr. Anderson said softly. This was too much for Nathan and Haley.
"No, please." Nathan shook his head. "Can we just .. .we just need time.. to say bye."
"Nathan, I understand. Look when you're ready, tell the nurses and then we can talk about what happened but for now just be with your son and these movements he's making, I'm sorry but they're just that.. just natural reactions.".
"Okay." Nathan nodded and started to head back to the room.
"He said it was just another reflex." Nathan said as he came back to bed with Haley. She knew it was too good to be true but that didn't mean a part of her wished for a miracle to happen.
"We can call them to take him away but I'm not ready."
"Neither am I." Haley added.
"There's so much I want to say to this little guy." Nathan added.
"Me too."
"He was supposed to have everything i never had." Nathan said softly. "There was this soap box race I was supposed to enter when I was four but couldn't because of basketball. I know our son would've loved racing in it." Nathan said softly. "He'd have it all." He looked down at his son. " You're going to be a baller like your dad, but I know you were going to be a genius just like your mommy."
"I'm not a genius."
"You're mom is just being modest. She's a genius and you are too."
"Well I'm still not a genius but you're daddy is right. I know that you would've been one smart kid. We probably would've enrolled you in the Openheimer School for the gifted."
Nathan gave Haley a weird look before looking back down. "You're a genius not a geek. You would go to school with a nice school program but one with actual sports."
Haley just shook her head.
"You would also have a ton of toys to play with. I know you would've been playing NBA live with your daddy and Uncle Lucas, screaming at the tv." Haley smiled at the thought but her heart also broke at the same time.
"Hales." Nathan said softly, his mouth wide open.
Haley looked down to see what he was talking about but gasped when she saw her son with his eyes open. She recognized those blue eyes anywhere, there were the same shade as her dad's but just as quickly as he opened them, it was closed.
Not wanting to leave Haley's side again, Nathan called the nurses station but once again, Dr. Anderson said it was just a reflex. Still, Nathan and Haley weren't quite sure about it. They continued to talk to their son, talking about the life he would've lived and they got a few more movements from him. Another gasp, movement of the leg and one of his arms.
On one hand, they knew what the doctor said and he was right, the baby was only making sporadic movements. They saw their baby exhale, that was few and far apart, but he wasn't actually breathing. But at the same time, they wondered if maybe there was a chance after all.
Haley read about skin to skin contact was good for the baby but that was for baby's that were alive. She read stories about pre-mature baby's close to death responding to the natural warmth of the body and the beatings of the heart. Regardless of what was going on, Haley and Nathan knew that something was up and Haley even had Nathan take off his shirt as well. The both of them surrounding their baby with their love.
"You would beg for a dog, I could already tell but I'd say no because a dog is too much work but I would be willing to give you like a gold fish or something that can be caged." Nathan continued to talk to his son.
Haley rolled her eyes at her husband and looked down at her baby boy. His movements were getting more pronounced and they both weren't sure what to make of it. It all could be reflexes but at least they would at least get that and know that they looked into their son's eyes.
"Fine your daddy has a point but you can get a bunny like the one I used to have when I was a kid. I named him bunny but I know you would come up with something more clever than that like Chester or something."
"Chester the bunny." Nathan snorted and looked down and saw that his sons' eyes were open once again.
"I guess you like that name, huh James?"
"Jamie." Haley replied. "Jamie like baby because your mommy's baby.. yes you are." Haley cooed but this time Jamie's eyes were still open and his eyes starting looking around.
"Hales, wait.. look." Nathan stuck his finger out and Jamie held onto it.
"Oh my God." Haley gasped.
"This is more than just reflexes." Haley added. She noticed that her breasts were leaking, common for new mothers. She dabbed a little milk on her finger and brought it up to his lips. When they saw him suck at it, they both had mouths wide open in shock. Nathan didn't think twice. Nathan raced outside and all the nurses were curious as to why he was standing there half naked. Dr. Anderson appeared and looked just as perplexed.
"Um.. we're ready Doctor." Nathan spoke, "for you guys to take him away but we have questions." He called Dr. Anderson over the past hour but he was reluctant to come back into the room. He just knew he had to get him in there somehow.
"Sure Nathan, but what's going on?" Dr. Anderson took in his appearance.
"Well see for yourself." Nathan opened the door to their room.
Dr. Anderson's mouth fell to the ground and he raced over to the new born baby. It was only two hours ago that he proclaimed the child dead. But now his eyes were wide open and his arms were moving slightly. The doctor took out his stethoscope and heard a heart beat, faint but it was there.
"I don't believe it." Dr. Anderson shook his head. "I don't believe it." He kept repeating.
"He's alive."
There was knock on the door and both Julian and Nathan turned to Haley who came walking in with baby in hand.
"Look who fell back asleep." Haley held Jamie close to her, the little boy fast asleep and sucking on his pacifier.
"Nathan as just telling us what happened during the course of those two hours when you were with Jamie and you thought he was dead."
Haley took a seat next to Nathan. Nathan instantly smiled at his sleeping miracle.
"What were your thoughts when he started making all these movements?"
"The doctor said these were reflexes and it made sense because he wasn't breathing nor did I feel him breath on me. We just thought we were lucky to at least see these movements or see his eyes before we had to let him go."
"And what made you decide to bring him skin to skin?"
"Well I read about that in a magazine, called Kangaroo care in Australia, and I just wanted him close to me and to know he was loved."
"We talked to him to say goodbye." Nathan added. "We talk about all the things we had hoped for our son and all the things we thought he would never do. It was our way of coming to terms with his death but he came back to us. We like to say that we enticed him to stay with all the cool things we promised him." Nathan smiled.
"Yeah, I don't know if he'll be the next president of the country but he could certainly try." Haley laughed. "I'm still warming Nathan up to get that bunny for Jamie.. when he's older of course." Haley gave a knowing smile to Nathan.
"I still owe him a soapbox derby race when he's older. Haley thinks its too dangerous."
"He could crash and lose his head or something." Haley pointed out but Nathan just laughed, as did Julian.
"Some have called it a miracle, what do you think?"
Haley and Nathan looked at each other.
"Yes, it is." Nathan replied. "He was gone, like literally gone and he came back to us."
"Thinking about how close we were to losing him, it still brings tears to my eyes. It is an absolute miracle that he is here." Haley added and Nathan nodded in agreement.
"What did the doctors have to say?"
"It's still a topic being discussed today. There is something to the skin to skin contact with the baby." Haley replied. "Some say that it was a combination of the body warmth, hearing and feeling the beating heart, and our voices that the baby responded to."
"I leave it for the doctors to question but I'm just grateful it happened." Nathan added as he wiped some drool off his son's mouth.
Julian smiled at the young family. He loved Haley dearly and letting her go was hard on him. But looking at them now, the love they have for each other and the love for their son, he couldn't help but be happy for them. They gave him hope that true love is out there and attainable for the rest of us fools. Even though Haley wasn't it for him, Julian knew he would find her one day.
"So now, after everything that's happened, what comes next?" Julian asked.
"Thinking about finishing school." Haley replied. "I was only a few credits short of graduation. I'm going to be talking to my old advisor soon and trying to see what I could do."
"And Nathan? There's talk that you'll be back on the court."
"Technically, I'm not retired but I don't know." Nathan looked down at his son and back at the camera.
"I miss the game. I'd be lying if I said I didn't but my family comes first. These last five have been amazing, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Spending time with my son and my wife, that's more happiness than any NBA title could give me."
He looked at Haley and she just smiled warmly, fighting back the tears his sweet words caused.
"Like Haley said, it's still hard to talk about how close we got to loosing Jamie, so whether I play basketball or not, whatever I do next, it will have my family's best interest at heart." Nathan smiled over to Haley and the two shared a quick kiss. Their son instantly woke up and started moving about, wanting to be in on the action. The young couple just laughed and placated their son. Julian smiled and was in awe at the young family before him. Being in the presence of such joy, happiness and love, there was nothing else to do but watch in amazement at the world Nathan and Haley created for themselves, a world of love and happiness, where the problems of the world seemed so far away.
Clay Evans appeared at the podium inside the hospital's press office. The room were full of photographers and news reporters. Word of the dramatic birth of Nathan Scott's son had spread quickly and the media were all over the story.
Clay adjusted the microphone and began to speak. "Hello everyone, thank you for being here. I have a statement from Mr. Scott. I will be taking no questions and after I am done, I will turn the microphone over to their physician, Dr. Anderson. He will also take no questions."
Clay cleared his throat and pulled out a folder. He looked down.
"My wife and I would like to extend our gratitude for everyone's support and love during this time. We would like to also thank our friends, family, as well as the staff at the hospital for all their support and love. We thought we had lost our son but a miracle truly happened and we are blessed to have him here with us. The experience has given me time to think and reflect about my life, both personally and professionally. I love my family and they come first. After everything that has happened, I would not have it in me to leave my family to attend camp and play a full season with the Seattle Sonics. I have already informed my coach as well as the management that I will not be playing professional basketball next season. I'd like to thank the Sonics organization for the utmost support and understanding with my decision. Thank you."
The camera's flashed and everyone started asking Clay questions but he didn't answer and let Dr. Anderson take the stage.
Adjusting the microphone first, the Doctor pulled out folded piece of paper and then started to speak. "At approximately 2:12 am yesterday morning James Lucas Scott was born almost four weeks premature and weighing in at 4 pounds 11 ounces. The baby appeared non responsive and was not breathing. Efforts to revive him failed and at 2:23 am, he was declared clinically dead. For the next two hours, the baby was held by his mother and subsequently by his father using a technique called "Kangaroo Care," in which the baby was placed skin to skin with the parent. What was believed to be reflexes by the infant turned out to be intentional movements. By approximately 4:23 am, the baby was awake and alert. The baby was fed and changed and is currently doing well. Both mother and child are expected to be fine. The reason why baby Jamie was brought back to life is still being investigated and doctor's all over the world are sifting through the data." Dr. Anderson put the paper down and took a deep breath before facing the crowd again.
"A lot of people will say different things about what happened. Some call it a miracle, other have already called it negligence on the hospital's part but I was personally there. I tried to resuscitate baby Jamie and failed. I even came back twenty minutes after Jamie first made movements and still, I couldn't find a pulse, a heart beat, anything. Whatever God you believe in, know that a miracle did happen. I've known Haley and Nathan for a couple of months now and they are the most dedicated, loving parents I've ever met." Dr. Anderson's voice cracked a little. "Their love brought their son back from the dead. Haley followed her instincts when she held her baby… and it just goes to show." Dr. Anderson paused before continuing.
"A mother's love trumps all the measurable science."
To Be Continued . . . . .
Like I said before, I based this on real life stuff. Last chapter was based off my niece who had to be induced early. This chapter was based on a real life story you can read on the web. Please google "Kate Ogg MSNBC" to read and watch a video of a real life couple who actually thought that their son died but using "Kangaroo care" helped bring him to life. When I watched this several months ago, I was floored and was near tears after watching the video. The fact that the baby was also named Jamie, I knew I had to use it in this story and it actually fit perfectly with what I had planned, which was why I mentioned it a couple of chapters back when Haley was reading baby magazines. My own niece also had kangaroo time as well. I hope you all enjoyed and please review!