Hope for All- chapter 38
All Tony could do was watch as Angela fell to the ground. He took off running at full speed until he got next to Angela. A crowd had formed around her, with Mona next to her side. He pushed his way through the people until he was kneeling next to her.
"Angela! Sweetheart are you okay? Are the babies okay? Does something hurt?" he asked, his questions coming in rapid succession.
"My… my wrist. I landed on my wrist… and I think… I think I just had a contraction" she said with tears in her eyes.
"Oh my god… someone call 911. We need an ambulance!" Tony shouted to the crowd. Someone in the crowd said 911 was already called and would be there soon. All Tony and Mona could do was try and keep her and themselves as calm as possible. Within a few minutes, which felt like hours, the ambulance came and the EMTs came over.
"Hi ma'am. My name is Thomas and I am here to help. What happened?" he asked.
"Some asshole was running down the platform and ran into her, sending her flying to the ground. It all happened so fast, I couldn't do anything…" said Mona as she held back her own tears.
"I… I fell on my wrist and I think it maybe broken. I'm thirty weeks pregnant with twins and I think I had a contraction right after I fell. Please, make sure my babies are okay!" she cried, as the tears continued to fall.
"Alright let's get you to the hospital to check everyone out" said the EMT as they lifted her onto the stretcher and put her into the ambulance.
"Mona, take my jeep home, get the kids and meet us at the hospital" said Tony as he got into the ambulance with Angela.
"Any complications with the pregnancy?" asked Thomas as he took her blood pressure.
"No. A few weeks ago my blood pressure was high but it came down with some bed rest. My glucose test came back fine so I don't have gestational diabetes. Everything has been fine so far… oh Tony! I think it's another contraction!" she said as she winced in pain.
"Okay sweetheart it's okay! Just breathe in and out like we practiced. In and out…" he said as he grabbed a hold of her non-injured hand and brushed the hair off her face.
"It's too… soon!" she said through the pain.
"Once we get to the hospital, we will give you some medication to try and stop the contractions. This happens sometimes when there's been a trauma. Hopefully they will subside once the medication is administered. Your blood pressure is a little high but nothing that's too concerning since you're in pain and injured. I'm going to put a temporary splint on this wrist as I do think it's either broken or badly sprained" he said.
"How about the babies? Are they okay?" asked Tony as he tried to steady his voice.
"Nothing will be conclusive until we get to the hospital but let's see if we can take a listen to the heartbeats" he said as he pulled out the doppler device. Soon they could hear a loud whooshing sound as he found the heartbeat of baby A.
"That's baby A. He's always the first one on the regular sonograms too!" said Tony.
"Nice and strong too! Okay let's look for Baby B" he said as he moved the doppler to the other side of her stomach. After a few moments, which again felt like forever to Tony and Angela, another heartbeat could be heard. They let out audible sighs of relief.
"Baby B's heart rate is a little slower than I'd like it to be, which again could be a response to the trauma. An ultrasound will help us see what if anything is going on with Baby B" he said.
"Tony…" started Angela before she burst out crying. He leaned into her as closely as he could and wrapped his arms around her.
"Hey… it's going to be alright. We're almost there and they are going to take care of all three of you. Remember she's tiny but mighty! She's always the one causing us to worry and then she's fine! We just have to focus on what we have control over…" he said, hoping his words could convince both of them. Soon the ambulance pulled up at the hospital and the staff took Angela right away to be treated. Tony never left her side as they worked her up.
"Hello. My name is Dr. Silver and I am the attending OBGYN resident. I see you've had quite a fall. They said you've had some contractions too. I'd like to give you some medicine to try and stop the contractions as well as some medications to strengthen the babies' lungs if they need to be delivered today. They are going to bring down a portable x-ray machine to see about that wrist. In the meantime, I'd like to examine you to see if you have started to dilate. Do you have any questions?" asked the doctor.
"Baby B's heartbeat was slow. Is… is she okay?" asked Angela as she started to cry again, prompting Tony to come even closer to her to comfort her.
"We are going to run some tests and do an ultrasound to see what's going on. I want to start the IV medications now to stop the contractions, which should help if one or both babies are in distress. Let's do the examine first and then go from there" said Dr. Silver and he and Tony helped her move into position. After a few very uncomfortable minutes, the doctor finished his exam.
"Okay Angela you aren't dilated, which is a very good sign. The nurse is going to administer the IVs now. The technician is here for the x-ray so let's get that out of the way" he said.
"Are x-rays safe for the babies?" asked Angela.
"We will put this shield on your stomach to prevent any radiation exposure. They will be fine" he said.
"Okay sir, you can step out of the room while we do the x-ray. It won't take more than a few minutes" said the nurse.
"No way… I'm not going anywhere. Give me one of those shield things and I'll stay right here" said Tony.
"Tony it's okay. It's just going to take a few minutes. I'll be…" started Angela as another contraction started.
"Okay Angela just breathe in and out. Listen to my voice… in and out… in and out" he said as the contraction finished, not as strong as the last one. The nurse could tell Tony wasn't going to leave her side and got him a protective shield. The x-rays took a few minutes and soon the ultrasound machine came in along with the technician.
"Alright let's see what we have going on here" said Dr. Silver as he put the ultrasound wand on her stomach. They were both used to having the doctor walk them through the sonograms and were very nervous when the doctor wasn't saying anything.
"Is…is everything alright?" asked Tony.
"So far so good but I want to take a closer look at Baby B. Once I'm done I will give a full update" said Dr. Silver. He spent the next ten minutes getting many different views of both babies until he finally finished.
"Okay everything looks good- no signs of this being early labor. No placenta abruption or internal damage that I can tell. Baby A is showing no signs of distress which is very good. Baby B seems to a little shaken up from the fall but is not in full distress, which is good. We are going to monitor both of them very closely. If either heart rate drops, I'm afraid we will have no choice but to do an emergency c-section. We will be keeping you here for a few days. Assuming everything stabilizes, you can go home but on strict bed rest for a few weeks" said the doctor.
Just then, another doctor came in with the x-rays and the nurse with the IV medication. The IV was put in her other arm as the doctor talked to them.
"I'm afraid there is a fracture in the wrist. It doesn't appear you will need surgery so the nurse will start the process of putting on a splint until the swelling goes down and we will put on a cast. You should be good as new in about six weeks" said the other doctor.
"Can you give her something for the pain?" asked Tony.
"Yes of course. It's only Tylenol as that's all she can have that's safe for the babies" said the doctor.
"I'll be fine Tony. I don't want to take anything I don't have to" said Angela.
"Eh oh, oh eh! You've got a broken arm! That's pain! And that can't be good for your blood pressure or for you trying to relax. Take it Angela…" he said. She reluctantly agreed, knowing being in more pain couldn't be good for the babies either.
"Okay Angela, the medication is in and the splint is on. I want you to just rest as much as possible and I will be in to check on you in a little while. We've attached the heart monitors to your stomach to monitor their heart rates. We will be alerted if anything changes" said Dr. Silver as he left the room. Tony moved down to where the monitors were and placed his hands on her stomach.
"Hey little ones! What a day we've all had! Don't worry though- you guys and Mommy are in good hands! They are taking really good care of all of you- better than Daddy did this morning… Anyway, little girl, Daddy needs you to be okay in there! It's still too early for you and your brother to join us, as much as I can't wait to meet you both. Daddy is going to make sure Mommy rests now so that you both can rest up too…" said Tony as he wiped away some tears from his eyes.
"Tony this wasn't your fault! I told you to stay in the car…" said Angela.
"I know Angela but I should have done something to that guy! What an asshole! He could have…" said Tony as Angela stopped him.
"I know but you doing anything to him would have stopped you from being here for me, for us. Remember what we've been saying- we have to stay in the moment. It's over and now we have to focus on making sure these little ones are alright…" she said as she took his hand and placed it with hers on top of her stomach. Just then, Mona, Samantha and Jonathan came into the room.
"Angela! How are you doing?" asked Mona as she moved closer to them. Samantha and Jonathan just stood by the door, both immobilized by fear.
"I'm doing okay. Looks like this wrist is broken but otherwise I'm fine. Baby A is doing well but Baby B looks like they were a little shook up from the fall but nothing that they feel is an emergency right now. I'm going to be monitored for the next few days and then hopefully going home on bed rest for a while" said Angela.
"Do they think the babies will need to be delivered early?" asked Mona.
"As of now no, as long as their heart rates don't go any lower. If they do, then they will need to be delivered by c-section. You guys can come closer, it's okay" she said to Samantha and Jonathan. They slowly took a few steps closer but stayed near the door.
"Is…is everything going to be okay?" asked Jonathan in a voice just above a whisper.
"Come here you two…" she motioned for them to come closer. She took their hands and placed them on her stomach where they babies were moving around. They both smiled once they felt them move.
"See? They are okay! I think very excited to see you both! They started moving around when you walked in! Try talking to them" she said.
"Hi little guys. It's Samantha your big sister! I can't wait to meet you but just not yet okay! I'm so excited to start decorating your new room but it's not going to ready yet so just stay where you are!" she chuckled. She smiled when she felt a baby kick.
"Hi… I'm your big brother Jonathan. I… I don't know what else to say…" he said as he looked like he was going to cry. Tony came up behind him and put his arms on his shoulders.
"You've got the best older siblings waiting for you! We are going to have so much planned for when you are here and old enough! Just stay with your beautiful Mommy a little while longer so we can get everything we need to done here…" said Tony.
"How about you guys go to the cafeteria and get some lunch? Maybe bring me back some snacks?" said Angela.
"Alright kids let's leave them and raid the cafeteria! Those babies need their rest and who better to bore them into rest than Tony and Angela!" said Mona with a forced laugh. Angela made sure to hug both Samantha and Jonathan before they left.
"Oh Tony they looked so scared! I wish there was something we could do make them feel better" said Angela.
"I know sweetheart but there's nothing we can do. I think you need to rest right now. Hopefully you won't have anymore contractions and you can sleep" he said.
"I hope so too… stay with me okay?" she asked as she held onto his hand.
"Always…" he said as he leaned over and kissed her forehead.