"Are you planning on keeping our child away from me for the rest of their life, or do I get to meet them?"
"You should go to the nursery. I see the nurse bejeweled you on your way in."
His glance shifts to the bracelets encircling his wrists, "Perhaps that should have been my first clue."
"You were just trying to get here."
"I can stay with you."
"I'll be asleep in seven seconds. Go to the nursery."
"Am I looking for a boy, a girl, a chimpanzee?"
"I don't want to spoil anything. Try to find the sweetest looking face, and then you'll know."
"Okay."
Outside the newborn nursery Henry manages to flag down one of the nurses. She offers him a warm smile.
"Mister McCord, I presume?"
"Yes. It is my understanding that my offspring was too eager to meet the world to be bothered to wait for me. The snow is really coming down out there. I didn't anticipate it to take so long. I was stuck in stop and go forever."
"Follow me," she leads him into the nursery.
Another staff member is swaddling baby McCord as they enter the room. She places him in Henry's waiting arms.
"Here is your son."
A tightly swaddled newborn peacefully nestles into his arms.
"I'll give you the stats," she volunteers, "Seven pounds and three ounces. Nineteen inches. He's got no hair, and no teeth. All ten fingers, and toes are present and accounted for."
"He's perfect," Henry's pearly whites expose themselves as his lips draw into a grin. He settles into a rocking chair as he scrutinizes the perfect baby. The newborn's facial features are that of the infant clone of Elizabeth McCord.
Meanwhile across the building in Elizabeth's room the secretary of state grimaces, and groans as the nurse pushes a button to initiate the automated inflation of the blood pressure cuff tethering Elizabeth to her bed. The cuff cycles between inflation, and deflation before it is able to get an accurate reading. The seasoned nurse carefully peels Elizabeth's blanket off her head.
"Rest is just around the corner, but right now I need to assess you."
"Can I bribe you?" She queries as the nurse pulls out her stethoscope.
"Ma'am we can make this quick, or we can make it difficult. My wages are the same either way."
Elizabeth reluctantly jabs the plastic control to raise the head of her bed. She shifts into a painful sitting position in order to allow the registered nurse to auscultate her vital organs. This unpleasant event is followed by thorough palpation of body parts.
"Madam…" the nurse begins.
"Jessie we flew past formalities hours ago," she responds. The secretary's knack for reading non-verbal cues is not fully rendered ineffective by her partially incapacitated state.
Jessie attempts to mask her concern by shifting her focus to her watch as if she is counting respirations. Elizabeth furrows her brow, "You already counted my respirations. Perhaps now would be the time to give me a sit-rep."
"SBAR would be more appropriate in this setting ma'am. Do you feel like your head is floating?"
Elizabeth offers a subtle shrug, "A little."
Without further conversation with Elizabeth she begins paging other personnel to the room. Elizabeth watches in horror as personnel flurries in. She desperately tries to gain understanding, but her body refuses to cooperate. Soon she succumbs the exhaustion that she feels.
It is several hours before she regains consciousness. When she finally does she finds Henry sitting at her bedside wearing a look of deep concern. She desperately yearns for her water pitcher, but she is too weak to reach it.
"Henry," she manages to squeak out.
His chin tilts towards her, and he smiles widely.
"Can I have the water pitcher?" As she becomes more alert she becomes increasingly aware of the oxygen cannula in her nose, and the multiple IV lines in her upper extremity.
"You can have anything you want," he agrees.
"Is the baby okay?"
"He's fine."
"What's with the look?"
"You have been unconscious for hours. You went into hypovolemic shock. They were concerned that your uterus ruptured."
"Oh."
"Oh? That is all you have to say about your near death experience?"
"Yes," she nods, "Also where is my baby? Beyond that, I am starving."
Henry points to the right of her bed. "I'll let the two of you get acquainted while I forage for food."