Caroline rushed out of the elevator and was immediately joined by another doctor. "One child, its mother went into labour a bit under an hour ago, dilated 7 centimetres."
The baby had a very good chance of survival. "How's the mother?"
"Terrified. We considered sedatives-"
"Do not give her sedatives. She needs to be fully conscious." They arrived at the room and Caroline smoothed her features into a calm expression. "Alright, Ms. Kent, the first thing we need you to do is calm down." She went to the cot and took the woman's hand. "Your son has a good chance of survival even in the case of a natural delivery, but it would be wise to consider getting corticosteroid injections, which would help with the baby's lungs."
She motioned to nurse. "Prep two corticosteroid injections and get her magnesium sulphate." She turned back to the woman. "Is this your first child?"
The husband answered. "This is her second." Caroline looked up at him and nodded. "
"Good. Was your first premature?" The mother shook her head. "Do you have any history of birth defects in your family?" A nod. "Ok. I recommend getting the corticosteroid injections. We'll also give you some magnesium sulphate to help with the baby's brain. Caroline stood up and exited the room, in search of the nurse she had sent to get the medication.
Thomas opened one of the desk drawers, pulling out one of the plastic figurine birds of his collection. Although very childish, he knew, honestly it helped him earn patient's trust. And the little kids just absolutely loved them. Especislly the mocking bird figurine. He bought a bird for every child patient put through the plague of cancer. Let them choose and name a bird.
He turned the mockingbird over in his fingertips.
Oliver came to a halt beside Briar, staring at the flatlining monitor. The loud beep filling his ears. He felt himself blanch and pale. "No." He whispered, tears welling up in his eyes. "God, no." He was at the little boy's side, his heart dropping in his chest. "Nurse! Nurse! Get me a defibrillator! Now, please!" Oliver begged. One gently grabbed his arm and began to push him back.
Emilia heard the long ear piercing beep of the monitor before she saw the boy. Out of the few years she'd been a pediatric surgeon, only one of her patients had passed. This little boy wasn't her patient technically hers, but she still felt responsible. "No…no no no…" This was Emilia's weakness. She couldn't stand it.
Thomas began lining the little birds across his desk, finding he was smiling now.
"You don't understand! There could still be a chance! The longer we wait the more damage you're doing!" Oliver pushed past the nurse, his normal kind demeanor broken with a wild, frantic look in his eyes. "I said get me a defibrillator! This kid can't die!" He barked the order, rushing over to the boy to begin chest compressions.
Briar couldn’t move. She heard that heart-shattering beep many times in her life. But this was different. She had promised that little boy that he would be reunited with his mother. Now he was gone. She was going to have to tell his anxious mother..that she had killed her son.
Briar couldn’t bear it any longer. She collapsed to the cold linoleum floor, shaking.
Dove sat in her office and awaited her next patient. A knock came from the door and a muffled voice asked, "Ms. Lafontaine?
"Come in!"
A woman came in and sat down, "I'm Hannah."
"Hello Hannah! Now why are you here?"
The woman looked flustered, "My daughter, she has depression, I was wondering if…"
"Did you bring your daughter?" Dove leaned back in her seat.
"Yes. I did. Klara? Klara!" the woman called out. A girl came in, hiding her flushed face with her hair. Dove smiled, and made eye contact, "Hi, I'm Dove." she turned towards the mother, "This is where we usually ask the parents to leave." the woman stayed, but then got up and left the room. "Now, Klara, your mother told me that you have a clinical problem called depression."
"Y-yeah." Klara's voice was small.
Dove smiled at her, "I had depression a while back. I know how it feels." she shivered, "It was like a cold, dark monster that sucked on my happiness."
Klara nodded.
"Depression is a tricky thing, unlike how some people see it, depression is a serious medical condition and it needs to be treated." Dove got a pencil and started writing something, "I have a prescription here that would help you and you have to promise me something."
Klara managed a smile, "What?"
"Go outside, do jumping jacks, surround yourself with people who love you. If you need help, ask for it. Okay?"
"Okay."
Klara left with the prescription and Dove leaned back in her seat, drinking some tea.
Emilia rushed out of the room and into the hallway, not wanting to look at the boy. Oliver, who was way more determined than Emilia, was still attempting to save the little kid. Oh god, his poor family. She leaned against the wall, trying not to get too upset.
Oliver was being wrestled backward by three nurses. "Dr. Horne! You're going to cause damage to the body!" One snapped, but there was sympathy in the woman's eyes.
"I-I… I can't let him die!" Oliver croaked, crying. The fight started to leave him and soon he had exhausted himself, going limp as two nurses lifted him up under his shoulders.
"This is why we shouldn't be letting kids work here." One shook her head. Oliver was quietly sobbing as he was dragged out of the room. "Let's just take him to Dove."
Emilia saw Briar shaking on the floor. She walked over to the younger girl, crouching down and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Briar…what's wrong?" Emilia was pretty sure she knew the answer to that.
Thomas emerged from his office. His patient had just called to cancel the appointment, so… he decided to make an attempt to socialize.
Dove got a call from the office, telling her to clear her schedule, a doctor was coming in. She waited in her seat, drinking tea to calm her nerves, a doctor?
Caroline returned with the nurse and paged for a midwife to join them. The mother was now dilated 8 and a half centimetres. "Ma'am, it's now or never. Their a few risks that come with these injections. They sometimes lead to joint pain or early osteoarthritis for the mother, but it's nothing that can't be fixed."
Both women looked at the husband, who nodded. Ms. Kent followed suit.
"Alright then." Caroline motioned to the nurse to give the injection. "It'll be over in a second." It was done, and the mother relaxed. The midwife entered.
"She's dilated 8 and a half centimetres. What's the estimation for the birth?" Caroline asked her.
"Depending on the speed of dilation, that'll be 15 to 45 minutes How far apart are contractions?"
"A minute and a half." Ms. Kent let out a scream and Caroline started shaking.
"Honey, make that 10 to 25 minutes." Ms. Kent started sobbing uncontrollably.
"Sir, hold on to your wife, please, and try to comfort her." the midwife said and walked over to her stool. She dragged it to the end of the cot. "9 centimetres."
Caroline went over to the machine. The mother's heartbeat was spiking but the baby's was steady.
"Someone prep the incubator," she called.
"Ten centimetres!" the midwife. Caroline rushed to the mother's side and held her hand. "Start pushing."
She screamed and sat up, fear written all over her face.
With ten minutes of painful effort, the baby was born. He was silent. Caroline paled and walked over to it. It was small. Too small. The midwife put it in Caroline's arms, and the girl stroked its head; it let out a low whine. Caroline's shoulders slumped in relief. She handed it to a nurse to take care of for the time being. "Congratulations. There are no physical abnormalities and he's breathing steadily. We'll have to x-ray him in a bit to check for any internal problems, but for the time being, he's perfect."
She exited the room and sank to the ground. There was always the fear the baby would be born dead, and mercifully, today was not the case.
"Dr. Horne, you need to calm yourself." The nurse ordered tiredly, a strained smile on her face. Oliver was still sobbing and had let out a loud wail moments before. "You're disturbing the patients." She added. At that Oliver managed to quiet to mere sobs and sniffles shakily being lead into an office.
“I was the one who let him die..and Oliver took the blame for it..” She croaked, feeling her stomach lurch angrily.
She hoppped up and raced to the ladies room and slammed the door behind her. Once she was alone, she kneeled over the toilet and retched up her breakfast. Gross.
"D-Dr. Horne. H-hello." he hands were shaking as she lifted her tea. Oh God, oh God.
Oliver choked back a sob, his hand shaking as he weakly waved in greeting. A meager attempt to compose himself.
Thomas stopped in the hall when he heard voices inside Dove's office.
Part of himself sank with disappointment, but the other elated with relief.
Emilia, still sitting on the ground, watched Briar run out of the room clutching her stomach. She stood up and walked over to the young boy, taking his hand and kneeling down. "Take care." Emilia whispered. After a few seconds, she stood up and left the room, not wanting to be there when his family came. Quietly, she walked down the hallway unsure where she was going.
Dove stood up and patted Dr. Horne an the shoulder. "Why don't you sit down?"
"I-I'm sorry for bothering you. You… You must h-have other patients." He croaked, his body shaking almost violently.
Caroline stood and shakily walked the corridor. She passed in front of Dove's office and ran into Thomas. She waved tiredly.
Thomas smiled awkwardly, "Sorry," he exhaled quickly.
