Chapter 18: Concentration

Author: zeusfluff.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Blue Blood's characters. They belong to CBS. But I do own all originals. Date Started: 8/21/23. Date Finished: 8/22/23. Enjoy!

"Ok Cora, we're going to take a two-minute break. Just relax. Keep breathing."

Cora Jenson let out a sob and fell back against the pillows in the bed. She winced and looked up at Jamie with fright in her eyes.

"I can't do this Doctor Reagan. I just can't."

Jamie had pushed his stool off to the side and was reorganizing the instruments to the right of him. Removing his gloves and throwing them in the biohazardous waste bin by the door, he pulled his mask down and looked Cora in the eye.

"Yes, you can Cora. You're doing great. How are you feeling?"

Cora gave Jamie a look of confusion.

"Kind of strange actually. I can't feel anything."

Jamie became concerned.

"Can you try wiggling your toes for me?"

Cora did her best to do exactly what Jamie asked, but she wasn't sure if she had or not.

"I don't know if I did or not. I can't feel my toes because of the epidural. But I can't feel my whole body. It's like my whole body is numb. Is that normal?"

Jamie shook his head and frowned. He was ready to give the Anesthesiologist a piece of his mind.

"That's not normal. Mara, what does Cora's chart say?"

Mara grabbed Cora's chart from the end of the bed and read off the numbers to him.

"Looks like he gave her 18 milliliters."

Jamie shook his head.

"Get Doctor Carston in here Mara. We need to figure out what's going on."

Mara quickly took her gloves off and disposed of them, then went over to the phone on the wall and picked it up, dialing Doctor Carston. Jamie gave Cora reassuring words.

"Don't worry Cora. Your baby is going to be here soon, and she'll be perfectly healthy."

Cora nodded and gave half a smile. She was nervous and scared all at the same time.

"She's ok?"

Jamie let his eyes rove over to the monitors.

"Your baby's heart rate is 160. She's doing great."

Something told Jamie that the state of her paralysis wasn't from the epidural. This was something else entirely. What concerned him was if the contractions stopped completely. It was several minutes before Doctor Carston came into the room.

"What seems to be the problem, Doctor Reagan?"

Jamie locked eyes with Cora and gave her a confident smile, speaking to her.

"Ok Cora, Mara, Sandy and I are going to help put your legs back down on the bed and roll you onto your side for just a minute."

Cora nodded and watched as the three helped her onto her side. Mara and Sandy stayed right by Cora's head and wiped away sweat from her forehead. Jamie in the meantime was inspecting the placement of the epidural in Cora's lower back. Doctor Carston frowned.

"The placement is fine. There was no traumatic tap."

Jamie looked Doctor Carston in the eye.

"You might want to turn down the epidural to 5 milliliters. Her entire body is completely numb. She said she also can't move."

Doctor Carston nodded, and Sandy and Mara helped Cora sit up. Both holding onto her.

"Ok Cora, I need you to stay absolutely still for me."

Cora tried to nod her head, but she couldn't.

"Not a problem doc. I can't move."

Doctor Carston looked at Jamie as he finished up what he was doing.

"She should be feeling a little better now. As for the paralysis, it's not from the epidural. You might want to get an MRI."

Cora took in a shaky breath and looked Jamie in the eye.

"Doctor Reagan, I feel weird…"

He noticed she was having trouble catching her breath. Putting the earpieces of his stethoscope in his ears, he placed the bell up to her back and listened.

"She's fluid overloaded. She'll need 5 milligrams of Lasix. But I can't give it to her right now because of the baby."

Mara looked at Jamie as he put his stethoscope back behind his neck.

"Doctor, the baby's having a late decel."

Jamie inwardly gave a frustrated sigh. This is going downhill quick.

"Ok, we don't have time to waste, let's get her up to the OR."

Cora got wide eyed and took the oxygen mask away from her face.

"C-section?"

Jamie nodded but reassured her.

"Yes, but I won't let anything happen to you two. I promise."

Cora still looked scared as Jamie placed the oxygen mask back over her nose and mouth. He helped Mara and Sandy turn Cora onto her left side. She groaned as they rolled her out of the room and down the hallway. Jamie kept his eyes locked with hers the whole way to the OR. Only parting ways to get washed up. He was going to save Cora and that baby. After getting ready, he made his way into the OR. He went up by Cora's head and spoke to her.

"Ok Cora. I'll have your daughter out in less than a minute, ok?"

Cora gave him a tired smile. But then frowned.

"Where's my husband? Where's Jake?"

Suddenly, Cora heard a voice over an intercom system above her head.

"I'm hear babe."

Cora let out a sob and she saw that Jamie wasn't up by her head anymore.

"Why aren't you in here with me?"

In all the commotion, she started hearing a baby cry over the barrier separating her from the bottom half of her body. Jamie held the screaming little girl over the top of the sheet and smiled through his mask.

"Here's your baby girl mama!"

Cora began to sob. She could move again.

"Oh my god! Hi Sophia! You're beautiful! Jake get in here!"

Mara cut the umbilical cord and placed Sophia on Cora's chest.

"Sophia's beautiful Cora. Have you picked out a middle name?"

Cora smiled down at Sophia and traced her nose.

"Elizabeth. Can my husband Jake be with us?"

Mara shook her head and frowned behind her mask.

"He's not sterile. Everything in here has to be clean. Once we get you stitched up and settled into a room, he can come and see you."

Jamie interrupted Mara's conversation with Cora.

"Mara, I could use your help down here. There's a lot of oozing."

Mara hurried back to Jamie's side and nodded.

"Here's some more lap pads. More suction?"

Jamie nodded and concentrated. He wasn't going to let this turn into Sydney all over again.

"There you are. We've been waiting for you."

Jamie's smile widened as he saw Eddie waiting for him at the admit desk. She was radiant.

"Hey beautiful."

He pulled her into his arms and placed a gentle kiss to her lips. He could swear in 12 hours her baby bump had grown more.

"Who me?"

She gave a giggle and then kissed him again. Pulling away, he placed a light hand on her belly.

"Yes you, and you. Hi baby girl."

Jamie put an arm around Eddie's shoulders and smiled just as they started walking away, he could've sworn he heard Mara call after him.

"Doctor Reagan. Molly is asking for you."

Jamie closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I'm already signed out Mara. I'm going home with my wife and my daughter. Doctor Lancaster's on the night shift. I'm going home. Good night, Mara."

Jamie felt bad at the same time that he was leaving, but he'd already done twelve hours. He wasn't going to to do another twelve. As the couple made their way out the door and towards the parking garage, Jamie sighed kissing Eddie's forehead.

"This is why I'm glad I'm not a candy striper anymore."

When they got back to the apartment, Eddie sighed. Jamie picked up on it.

"What's wrong?"

Eddie gave Jamie a small smile.

"Nothing. Just happy that you're not on tomorrow. I'm not either so, it can be the three of us."

Jamie smiled and pulled her in for another kiss. Pulling away, he looked her in the eye.

"Do you know how much I missed the two of you today?"

Eddie smiled and placed her forehead against his.

"I think I can take a guess. Let's get something to eat I'm starving. Then maybe later we can you know, do some things…"

Jamie smirked.

"Well in that case, I could use something to eat. What do you feel like?"

Eddie put her index finger to her chin and tapped it.

"Hmm. Thai sound good? Thai it is."

Jamie wasn't going to object. He'd do anything to make his wife happy right now.

To Be Continued…

A/N: So, what'd you guys think? Let me know! I'm thinking of making this fic 30 to 40 chapters long. I have so many ideas. I'd love to hear some suggestions of ideas for the next few chapters. Anyone?