Trial By Fire - Bouncing Back, Book 1

Thirty-Eight

Memphis gasped as Kennedy’s water broke while they were getting ready for breakfast. His mind reeling, he couldn’t help letting out an exasperated cry. “It’s nearly a month too soon!”

“Would you calm the f**k down?” Thomas snapped.

On the other hand, used to extreme pain, Kennedy calmly got up from the table. “Memphis, go get the hospital bag, then go get the Jeep ready. Dad, let Diablo and the others know we’re on the way to the hospital. I’m going to use the downstairs bathroom. Memphis, we got this.”

“Just like always,” Thomas replied. He walked into the hall only to see his son on the phone. “Memphis?”

The younger man held up a finger, asking his father to hold on a minute. “Yes, but there’s one particular guard that enjoys cornering me. Thanks so much, Aunt Amber.”

Fighting a grin, Thomas watched his son, letting Memphis do as he pleased when it came to his growing family. “Wasn’t I supposed to call?”

“We’re going to need Donna Amber as fast as possible cause I am not taking chances with that overweight, trigger-happy asshole that likes to profile me whenever he sees me walk in.” Memphis replied.

Thomas grinned, breathing a laugh as he saw his great-uncle step over the threshold. “Uncle Florent? When did you get home? I haven’t seen you since Memphis was six.”

The man laughed, “Maman told me you gained a daughter, so I came all the way from New York to see you. You must be so proud of Memphis!”

“He’s grown up a lot, but that boy is going to be just fine,” Bella commented. Grabbing the bag from Memphis, she got to work helping Kennedy out the door.

Florent Slade shook his head in resignation. “Gavin Rouzes is nothing more than a misogynist full of piss and vinegar that just likes to hear himself talk. You, however, have always had your head on straight, Thomas. Maman, my little sister, Marigold, and my darling Belladonna! We must have a family dinner soon to catch up, yes? Now, should we not get going?”

Sitting in the car with his relatives, Thomas wasn’t sure what to expect. Then, tucking her long dark curls behind her ear, his mother offered him a sad smile. "Baby, I need to tell you something rather important. You see, I adopted Darren when I married your father. As much as it hurt, I’ve filed for divorce. I’m old and tired, Thom. I just want my life to be full of people who bring me as much contentment as I have offered through my lifetime. Whatever the outcome, Gavin and Darren deserved everything they got when Memphis took them to court."

His eyes softening, he said, "Maman, let’s not dwell on things we can’t change. As far as I’m concerned, you’re not responsible for their words and actions. They are.”

A little while later, he watched as Memphis wheeled his wife into the hospital. That was when he saw the same guard and a few nurses boxing in the red-head. The elevators dinged, and he smirked as he watched the tall, auburn-haired woman exit the lift.

"What exactly is going on here?” Ambrosia snapped.

The guard straightened, "Ma'am, we've had issues with this boy before. I was just making sure that he wasn't hurting this young lady."

"He's my f*****g husband, you donut-munching numbskull!” Kennedy snapped irately.

"You screamed-"

"I'm having a Goddamn baby! What did you expect me to do? Giggle?" She shot back. "Get the f**k out of my way before I take this wheelchair and beat you with it!"

Ambrosia straightened, "While I know you're in pain, I will not tolerate violence in this hospital. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am," the red-haired woman said.

Turning her green eyes to the people around her, the Doctor said, "As for the rest of you, you should have asked the appropriate questions and ascertained the correct measures to use. Greg, you're fired. Clean out your desk, hand in your equipment, and leave immediately. Your racist outlook does not belong in a medical facility where the number one priority is saving lives."

Kennedy moaned before clenching her jaw tightly, fighting the waves of raw desperation. Dropping to her knees once she was in a triage room, Ambrosia rolled up her sleeves. "Kenni, I need to check if you're crowning."

"No... you... don't..." the younger woman panted. "He's coming."

“Get Doctor Yaziel, stat!” Moving to the door, Ambrosia called out to the nurses, "Tell him that we’ve got an eighteen-year-old female in active labour.”

Minutes later, Ambrosia heard someone approach. Glancing over her shoulder, she spotted Doctor Yaziel running over to help. "What have we got, Doctor Hansson?"

Ambrosia gasped as she cut off Kennedy’s clothes. "The baby is already... Oh God..."

With barely enough time to form a sentence, another hard contraction hit. Kennedy whimpered in agony as another quickly followed and, without meaning to, she pushed, causing the baby to slide almost effortlessly out of the birth canal.

Doctor Yaziel immediately grabbed the newborn, turning him to clear his airway. As the baby’s wails fell around him, he glanced to the young, coloured man standing behind him. “Your wife?”

Memphis nodded, still in shock.

Yaziel smiled warmly, “She did good, but mother and child must be seen to first. After that, you may stay with her if you so desire.”

Nurses swarmed, hooking up tubes and wires as a long, loud beep filled the air. Others grabbed the infant, rushing the newborn to the Pediatrics unit. Suddenly, the shout no one wanted to hear dropped like an atom bomb into Memphis’s happy world. "Code blue!"

Memphis, who had been watching in fascination of the process, begged Amber to answer. He glanced at the heart monitor, his face draining of colour as he saw the solid line where there should have been spikes. Ambrosia, her stern demeanour rising to meet his stubbornness, snapped at him. "Go to the waiting room until I come for you. Don't worry, Memphis. We're going to do everything in our power to save her. Janice, have the team clear O.R. 2, and tell them to get scrubbed in ASAP!"

Numb, Memphis walked back out to his father. "Dad… Kenni… she coded."

“No…” Thomas’s eyes swam with tears. “But… she… so resilient…”

“Sweet baby Jesus,” Marigold muttered. “What now?”

Watching his son vanish into the hospital chapel, Thomas wept quietly. “Now, we wait and pray that she pulls through. God, please, if you’re there, spare her. Take me instead, but don’t take my boy’s family from him like this.”

******

Hours later, while Kennedy slept peacefully in the maternity ward bed after her frantic emergency surgery, Memphis sat staring at the baby wrapped in soft, blue blankets. The family had gone home to rest, and he couldn’t blame them. He was all kinds of tired at this point. Staring down at the tiny human in his arms, he suddenly felt the need to say something, anything to the boy.

"You’re adorable, Francis," he started. He looked over at the bed, at the wires and drips that were currently keeping his wife alive. "I love your mama so much, the thought of her dying hurts. Know what, though, she’ll never leave you the way mine did. Ta maman is strong, and strong women need to be respected, Francis. Strong women finish what they started. Even if it kills them."

Glancing out the window, he paced the room. His son had nothing of his mother in regard to looks, but that didn't bother him. "I'm gonna have to break out my baby book for proof, but you really do look just like me when I was born."

The heart monitor jumped slightly. It wasn’t by much, but he noticed the discrepancy. Swiftly and silently, he pressed the call button on the bedside.

A nurse walked in a few minutes later, "Is everything okay?"

"I thought I saw something on the EKG," Memphis replied. "Please, can you check?”

Nodding, the man moved over to the bed and double-checked the readouts. "I'm going to need to call the doctor in, so I'll be right back."

Minutes later, the nurse returned with the doctor.

"I’m Doctor Ahamed Yaziel," holding out his hand, he expected the other man to sneer at him as so many others had done in the past. This man, however, surprised him by taking the offering.

Still holding his newborn, the young man smiled, "Memphis Slade. Thank you for helping my wife earlier. Is everything okay?"

Going over the readouts, Yaziel pursed his lips, nodding as he noted the spike in the heartrate the husband was talking about. "It's possible that the medication we gave her is wearing off, and she could be waking up sooner than expected. We had to keep her under a continuous supply of anesthesia during the surgery due to her being a natural red head. They tend to require more as they have a high tolerance. Though we were able to save her reproductive organs in time, it would be ill advised to entertain the idea of expanding your family for another few years.”

"Who do I have to talk to in order to schedule a vasectomy?" Memphis asked.

The Doctor’s eyes went wide, “That’s an honourably responsible step for one so young. Any particular reason why standard practices wouldn’t suffice?”

“We know from experience that condoms can break, and birth control is never a hundred percent. I’m just taking precautions and responsibility over my own body this time around,” Memphis replied, thankful the doctor was willing to help him.

The doctor shook with laughter, “A lesson learned the hard way, I assume?”

Barking a laugh of his own, Memphis nodded. “That, we did.”

“I’ll grab the information and have someone from psychiatry confirm the sanity of the decision just in case anyone wants to question it.” The doctor commented as he left the room.

Answering a few more messages while sleep continued to elude him, Memphis continued his vigil.