As soon as the Morphine took hold, Annie's pain stopped. After talking about it for a few minutes it was decided that a C section was the best way to keep the baby safe. Albert could already see from the ultrasound the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. At 3:21 in the morning Baby Marie Nicole Nielson made her entrance into the world.
"She was very tiny at birth," Nick said empathetically.
"Yes," Chris replied, "3 ½ pounds."
"It's a girl," Albert said smiling.
"I want to hold her," Annie insisted.
"I wish I could let you do that but it's not safe," Albert said, "We have to get her into an incubator right away. We have to close you up. The smallest germ could kill her right now."
"By the time Marie was 3 months she was already six pounds," Nick commented, "But she had developed Pneumonia, and her lungs were destroyed."
"She's going to need a double lung transplant," Albert told Annie and Chris.
"Okay," Chris said squeezing Annie's hand, "So what's the next step?"
"Well, she's already on the list at the top," Albert said, "So we have to wait until a match comes along for her."
It took 3 weeks. One rainy Midnight they found out a little boy about Marie's age was in a bad accident. Chris was the Doctor that worked on the little boy.
"I remember him," Chris said softly, "Zack Matthew. He was the reason that Marie got the transplant."
Nick tilted his head to the side.
"Is it possible," Nick asked, "That you didn't try as hard to save the little boy→ I mean, how was Marie's age and had her tissue type-"
"That is the dumbest thing I ever heard," Chris remarked, "I had no idea that Marie and Zack had the same tissue type. Even if I had known there was no way of knowing that his parents would donate his lungs to Marie. I was a doctor. I was there to save lives, not take them."
You're good, Nick thought to himself, you just might be the first person to pull this off.
"Did you feel guilty about the boy dying?"
Chris took a moment to reflect before answering.