A/N: Warning some subject matter may be a trigger to some readers.
Chapter 38: Work pressures
Author: zeusfluff.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Blue Blood's characters. They belong to CBS. I do own all originals though. Date Started: 2/19/25. Date Finished: 2/23/25. Enjoy!
"Got a question for you Sarge."
It had been three years since Eddie was promoted to Sargeant and she still wasn't used to it.
"What can I do for you Officer Langston?"
Officer Marie Langston had been an officer with the 2-9 a couple of years. She was a solid cop. Eddie could sense some apprehension with the way she was displaying her body language. Officer Langston fidgeted with her fingers nervously.
"Um, is there somewhere we can talk privately?"
Eddie nodded and slowly got up from her desk with the mountain of paperwork on it.
"Sure. Is everything ok?"
Officer Langston gave Eddie a nervous look and followed her into an empty office. Closing the door, Eddie pointed towards the chair sitting in front of the desk.
"Have a seat. Now is everything ok?"
Officer Langston shook her head and took a deep breath.
"I need to go on desk duty Sarge. It's not safe for me to be out on the streets right now."
Eddie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at first and then it dawned on her.
"Your pregnant."
Officer Langston nodded and saw Eddie smile.
"Yes. I probably should've said something earlier, but I was feeling fine and everything is going well. But now I think its time to go behind the desk. I know the pay is the same."
Eddie nodded and kept smiling, leveling with her.
"Mom to mom, boy or girl?"
Officer Langston smiled and dipped her head slightly.
"It's a girl. I have a feeling she's going to be strong just like her mommy."
Eddie held a hand out as they went back towards the office door.
"Congratulations. I will get the paperwork started right away. Have a seat at an empty desk and I will have you fielding calls. Some will be legit, and as you know, some won't be."
Officer Langston gave a professional curt nod and exited the office. Eddie putting her professional mask back on, walked to her desk and sat down. The stack of paperwork wasn't going to finish itself. Taking a deep breath, she began reading over the file in front of her and whispered to herself.
"I hope your day is going well bub."
Meanwhile on the other side of the city, Jamie was having a banner day. 5 babies delivered and several more to go. He was taking a small coffee break, looking over one of the charts for his next patient.
"Jenna Carson. Last BP was 185/152. That's high. She was due last week. Induction is not an option. No signs of Pre-eclampsia. Cholesterol looks good. Iron and Magnesium levels are steady. The sticking point is her blood pressure. She's already on Metoprolol. Can't exactly adjust the dosage because it would be harmful to the baby. Hmm…"
Jamie was deep in thought as Sabrina entered the break room. She had transferred over from Saint Victors a week ago.
"Doctor Reagan, I'm sorry to interrupt your chart review, but Rene Sarson is in a lot of pain and asking for you."
Jamie nodded and made the screen dark on the tablet he had laid out on the table in front of him. Picking it up, he rose from the chair and exited the break room. He was glad this hospital had a break room on the fourth floor. Sabrina took the tablet from Jamie and explained what was going on with Rene.
"She's been screaming for you for the last 20 minutes. Her contractions are 10 minutes apart now."
Nodding seriously, Jamie followed Sabrina towards Rene's room. Sabrina knocked on the door and heard Rene's voice behind it.
"Come in!"
Cautiously stepping into the room, Jamie approached Rene with a concerned look on his face.
"Keep breathing Rene."
Rene shot daggers at Jamie with her eyes and shook her head.
"I want this baby out of me! NOW!"
Jamie nodded and watched as Rene walked around the room some more.
"I know it hurts Rene. Keep breathing through the contraction. That's it. Almost there."
Rene nodded as the contraction wound down. She had tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you."
Jamie let it slide off his shoulders.
"No need to apologize. I completely understand."
Rene's attitude seemed to soften.
"Do you have kids Doctor Reagan?"
Jamie smiled and helped Sabrina get Rene back into bed.
"Yeah. I've got 5 girls and 2 boys."
Rene's eyes widened.
"That's a big family."
Jamie remained professional and looked Rene in the eye.
"Ok Rene, I'm going to need to check your progress. Do I have your permission?"
Rene nodded her head.
"Yes."
Jamie went to wash up and Sabrina handed him a mask and gloves.
"Ok Rene, I want you to take a deep breath in for me. There you go. I know, I'm sorry that's uncomfortable. Looks like your 8 centimeters dilated but your water hasn't broken yet. Huh."
Rene tried to get into a sitting position but both Sabrina and Marina gently pushed her back down on the bed.
"My baby is ok though right?"
Nodding again, Jamie reassured Rene.
"She's perfectly healthy. Hopefully with the next contraction your water will break. Otherwise, I'll have to go and break it for you."
Rene's eyes grew wide again and she looked at Jamie seriously.
"Will it hurt?"
Jamie again reassured her.
"You'll just feel some pressure for a minute and then it'll be gone. After that, your baby will be on the way. Now are you sure you don't want an epidural?"
Rene shook her head.
"No. I'll be fine."
Jamie knew not to push his patients it was ultimately their decision. He watched as Rene managed to get out of bed with the help of Marina and Sabrina. He again gave her reassuring words.
"Walking around will help speed up labor."
Jamie could see Rene was scared. This was her first baby.
"I wish Gary would come back and be with me. He went to get some coffee."
Jamie squeezed Rene's hand.
"I can go and find him."
Rene nodded and both Sabrina and Marina helped her around the room.
"Thank you, Doctor Reagan."
Jamie nodded one more time and headed towards the door.
"I'll get Gary back here so he can see your baby girl come into the world."
Walking out of the room, Jamie made his way towards the elevator. The cafeteria was on the 3rd floor. The elevator door dinged and began to close.
"Wait! Hold the elevator please!"
One of the nurses held it open for Jamie.
"Come on in Doctor Reagan."
Jamie carefully slid between the doors before they could close. Blowing out a silent breath, the doors closed, Jamie was hoping to get to Gary quickly. The doors to the elevator opened up and he quickly exited. Going down the hallway, he entered the cafeteria and found Gary paying for his coffee. He looked over at Jamie as he got his change from the cashier.
"Doctor Reagan. You came to find me. Is Rene ok? The baby?"
Jamie put his hands up to try and calm Gary.
"Rene is fine. The baby is coming very soon. She asked for me to come and find you."
Gary was concerned and followed Jamie back towards the elevators. The elevator ride back to the 4th floor was quick. It wasn't long before Jamie and Gary were back in Rene's room. She was holding onto the railing of the bed and hunched over as a contraction ripped through her. Gary was quick to get to Rene.
"I'm here baby. I'm right here. Breathe baby. Breathe."
Jamie was trying to let them have a private moment, but he also needed to do his job. He watched Rene's tense body language and as the minute passed, Jamie could see her relax. He gave the couple a sympathetic look but had his attention on Rene.
"I don't want to intrude on your privacy, but I'll need to check your progress again Rene. Has your water broken?"
Rene shook her head no and Sabrina and Marina carefully helped Rene back into bed.
"No. I'm scared."
Jamie kept his calm as he spoke to her.
"Everything is going to be ok. Let's get your legs up here. There we go. Take a deep breath and relax. That's it."
Rene kept her attention on Gary and tried to tune out the sounds of instruments being moved around on a tray down by her feet. She heard Jamie's voice just beyond the sheet.
"Ok, you're at 10 centimeters. You're going to feel a little more pressure here. Alright, now that your water has broken, I want you to give me a big push now. That's it. Good. Another one. There we go. Keep going. The head is almost out. Give me another big push. There we go. One more and the head is out! Here come the shoulders. I want you to push as hard as you can. Push! Push! Push! Push! Good girl. One more big push for me! One more! Here she comes! Congratulations mom and dad! Say hi to your beautiful baby girl!"
Rene felt a cascade of tears roll down her cheeks, and she momentarily looked over at Gary to see his face was wet with tears as well. Jamie held the little girl over the sheet so they both could see. A choked sob came out of Rene's mouth.
"She's beautiful Doctor Reagan! Thank you so much. We owe everything to you!"
Jamie always being humble shook his head as he took the screaming little girl back over the sheet and gave Gary the honor of cutting the umbilical cord. Sabrina after taking the scissor back from Gary took the baby from Jamie's arms and placed her on top of Rene's chest. The little girl was now whimpering. Rene comforted her.
"Hi Isabela. I'm your mommy Rene and this is your daddy, Gary. Your beautiful baby girl. We both love you so much."
Jamie knew this was the good he did for others. It sometimes got messy but was worth it seeing the smiles on new parent's faces.
Eddie was walking past the desk that Officer Langston was sitting at. She didn't look well. She made eye contact with Eddie with unshed tears in her eyes.
"Sarge, something's wrong…"
Approaching Officer Langston, Eddie put a hand on her shoulder.
"Marie are you ok?"
Officer Langston shook her head.
"I don't know… I don't know… It hurts…"
The lump in Eddie's throat only got bigger, but she managed to quell it some.
"Someone call for a bus! NOW!"
"Alright what do we got?"
Jamie stopped short of saying more as he entered the trauma room. He knew the woman lying on the stretcher. She called out to him.
"Doctor Reagan! Please help me! It hurts!"
Jame approached Marie Langston and did his best to reassure her.
"It's alright Marie. We'll get to the bottom of what's going on. Just take a deep breath in and try and relax."
Marie nodded her head and looked at all the nurses around her.
"Please. Is my baby ok?"
Jamie had the deepest of pits in his stomach.
"I'm going to take care of the both of you. Sabrina is going to get you something for the pain alright? Then we'll get an ultrasound to see what's going on."
Marie nodded once more and looked Jamie straight in the eye.
"Tell sarge thank-you."
Jamie got a puzzled look on his face and then it clicked. Eddie.
"I will. But right now, I want you to try and relax ok? Marina, can you roll that ultrasound machine over here please? Thank-you."
Professional mask in place, Jamie turned the machine on and grabbed for the bottle of conducting gel on the side of the cart. He continued his conversation with Marie.
"This may feel a little cool Marie. Alright. There's your baby girl. Steady heartbeat. Good blood flow… That doesn't explain your pain though… Wait a minute. Sabrina, can you zoom in here? Upper left quadrant. Yeah. Right there. Oh. Damn it. Why didn't I see that?"
Marie looked up at Jamie with a scared look on her face.
"What's wrong? Is my baby ok?"
Jamie had to tread lightly with this one. This wasn't going to be easy news to tell her.
"Marie, I have some good news and some bad news…"
Marie gave Jamie a look.
"What's the good news?"
Jamie tried not to look at Marie with a sad expression.
"Your baby girl is healthy and strong. But there's something else…"
Marie felt herself squirm slightly.
"What's the bad news Doctor Reagan? Please just tell me."
Jamie nodded somberly.
"It appears that while you have a perfectly healthy baby inside your uterus, that's the good news, the bad news is that you also have an ectopic pregnancy."
Marie had a look on her face that spoke volumes. She found her voice after a few seconds.
"But how is that possible?"
Jamie shook his head but remained serious.
"I don't know. Now unfortunately, the pregnancy is no longer viable. I wish I could just make everything right again..."
Marie had completely tuned Jamie out, she was lost in her own thoughts. She couldn't handle this without her husband Jerry here with her.
"Hey your home."
Jamie had a defeated look on his face as he came in the front door and saw Eddie come out of the kitchen.
"I love my job. But not today."
Eddie could read Jamie like a book.
"What happened bub?"
Jamie looked around the living room.
"Not here babe. Upstairs."
Eddie nodded as Jamie hung up his jacket and took her hand, leading the two of them to their bedroom. Once the door was closed, they had a seat on the bed.
"Today was a difficult day. I took care of Marie Langston today."
Eddie felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
"Is she ok? Please tell me her baby is ok?"
The sad expression on Jamie's face told Eddie everything. She swallowed yet another lump that had formed in her throat.
"No. I don't like making difficult choices, but it's part of my job."
Eddie now understood. She was a boss. She too had hard decisions to make.
"If she had gone on desk duty a little sooner, none of this would've happened."
Jamie shook his head.
"None of this is your fault Ed. Nature had different plans is all. Things happen. The 1% of the job is devastating sometimes."
To Be Continued…
A/N: So, what'd you guys think? I know, a little heavy with this chapter. Next one will have lighter tones to it.