After they had moved him into a room and examined him, he fell asleep. He woke up later to the sound of quiet giggles. "Shh, Lily! You'll wake him up!" "I can't help it. He's just so cute when he's sleeping." He stirred, and pretended to still be asleep. "Oh, come on, Bug. Even you have to admit that he looks so peaceful when he's sleeping." "True. I wonder if they did any tests on the baby." "Well, they have two heart monitors going, so my guess is yeah. The baby's heartbeat sounds healthy. Strong and fast." "Yeah. And the doctors said that he should be fine. He just had a temporary blockage in blood flow to the brain." "Good. What would we do without him?" Nigel opened his eyes slowly, pretending to be groggy. "Hey. You're awake! How're you feeling?" "Not good. What about you? How're you guys doing?" "We're doing okay. Thrilled that you're awake. And the doctors said that you'll be okay. You just have to take it easy for a while. They also said that the baby's doing fine." "Yeah, it is. I saw it, actually. It's so cute! They said that they'll be doing another sonogram later, and if you guys want, you can stay and watch. It's absolutely breathtaking." "Of course we'll stay. We'll stay as long as you want us to." "Okay." They talked for a while, until the nurse wheeled in Nigel's lunch.
A few hours later, after Nigel had slept a little bit, Dr. Johnson came to check on him. "Hey, Nigel. How're you feeling?" "Okay. These are my friends and coworkers, Bug and Lily. They're the ones who were with me when I passed out. Actually, they're more like my brother and sister. We're all like family at the morgue." "That's great that you're all so close. So, have you told them about…" "About the baby? Yeah, I have. They were in the bathroom with me when I was puking. Well, not Lily because she gets squeamish. But Bug was. And some of our other friends were, but they're all still at work. At least, I think they are." "Yeah, Nigel, they are. But they're going to be coming by after their shifts. They were all so worried about you and the baby." "That's sweet. So, Nigel, right now, your vitals look good, and so does your bloodwork. We want to keep checking on the baby every few hours by ultrasound, okay?" "Sure. Can they stay here?" "Of course. Did you tell them about your reaction a few hours ago?" "No, I didn't. Well, I told them that it's incredible, but other than that, no. I wanted them to feel their own emotions." "Cool. So, do you feel any different since you came in? Any dizziness, nausea, anything like that?" "Well, nausea of course, but other than that, some irregular beats, and some palpitations, no." "Okay. We'll look into the palpitations later. You ready to see your baby?" "Yeah, I am. I'll always be ready to see my baby. Other than the people at the morgue, this baby's my only family." "Wow. That's so sentimental. Okay, you'll feel some pressure on your chest, and then I'll move it down to your waist. I just want to do an echo first to see how your heart's holding up." "Okay. Bug and Lily can stay for a while, right?" "Sure. As long as you can handle." "Okay."
Dr. Johnson got the transducer from the hook on the side of the cart, and put a little gel on the end of it. He put the transducer on Nigel's chest, and smoothed the gel around for a few seconds. He settled on a place, and moved the transducer around a little to get the best visual of Nigel's heart. He watched it for a few minutes, then he turned the screen so Nigel could see it. "See, Nigel, there's the aorta, and there's the left ventricle. The sinoatrial node is somewhere in that area, and that's what caused the palpitations and irregular beats. But other than that, your heart looks fine." He took the transducer off, put a little more gel on it, and put it on Nigel's waist. He had to press around for a little bit, but he found the baby. When he did, he smiled at Nigel. "Okay, Nigel. Here's your baby." He looked at the screen, and grinned.