Two Hearts And A Baby

CHAPTER FOUR

Three Months Later

            It was a chilly March morning in Connecticut it had been raining for the past two days.  Finally, this morning it subsided but it could start up again at any minute.  You should love springtime but the two sisters sitting in the car wasn’t thinking about that.  They were on their way to the doctor’s appointment where Julie will find out if the doctor was going to induce labor or give it some more time.  Julie had made her way to a lawyer where she made a Will.  She couldn’t understand why but this feeling just kept telling her she should.  She was going to do it after Thanksgiving but never had a chance.  The feeling wouldn’t leave her so after New Year’s she finally made it.  She only hoped no one would be angry over it, especially Faith.  Traffic was heavy this morning but that wasn’t unusual for this area.  There was water still lying on top of the roads from the heavy rain, but it looked as if they would make it to the doctor on time.  Stopping at the intersection at Main St., they waited for the light to change suddenly a loud blaring horn shattered the air. 

Julie and Faith both looked up to see a black pickup hydroplaning across the water.  It was coming right toward them as the truck jumped the medium in the road.  With a single thought in her mind, Faith tried to get her seatbelt off, so she could protect Julie.  It happened so fast she never got it unbuckled the truck slammed into them head on.  The car bounced off the truck Julie felt the steering wheel slam into her large stomach then there was another jolt of their car hitting another car behind them.  Faith’s head hit the dashboard as she flung back from the impact, the windshield shattered.  She had shards of glass flying at her then she felt sharp pains as the glass cut her or stuck into her.  The jolt of the car hitting another car caused her to slam back against the dashboard.  One of the shards of glass which was stuck in her shoulder suddenly pushed deeper into her.  Faith felt the pain before darkness engulfed her, she didn’t know Julie felt her water gush out as she’d gone into labor. 

Pain burst all through her not just from the contractions that suddenly began.  She knew something else was very wrong looking down she saw a huge piece of glass was protruding from the top part of her belly.  Glancing over at her sister Julie now knew what the overwhelming feeling to make a Will was all about then the world began to fade away.  Faith was unconscious, but you could see the accident had done damage to her too.  Faith gained consciousness sometime later but for only a moment, she heard sirens and mumbling voices. 

            A voice began asking her questions, “Ma’am can you tell us your name.”

            “Yes,” Faith paused and tried to swallow but it hurt.  She tasted copper in her mouth as if she’d sucked on a penny.

            The paramedic spoke again, “Easy miss you’ve been in a car accident.”

            “Where is my sister,” she spoke softly.

            “What is your name,” he repeated.

            “Faith Summers.”

            “Your sister went into labor and has been rushed to the hospital,” he informed her.

            She couldn’t make out his face it was too fuzzy, but she heard them asking her more questions.  All she could say was a bunch of mumbling before the darkness took her again.  At the hospital emergency people were trying to save Julie and her baby.

            “She has quite a bit of internal bleeding Doctor,” the nurse explained.

            “It’s more than that nurse the glass sticking out from her belly hit some major arteries.  Even if we get the baby out, I don’t think we’ll be able to save her.”

            For the next several hours, they concentrated on trying to save Julie Summers and her baby.  It was so quiet in the operating room when suddenly there was the wail of a baby.  As the standby nurses took the baby and worked on him, they tried to take care of Julie’s internal injuries.  As they were repairing, some of her injuries, her heart stopped, and they tried to bring her back with no avail.  It turned out a blood clot broke free and went straight to her heart.

            The doctor turned to the nurse, “That’s it,” he sighed, “Is the family downstairs waiting.”

            “No there is only a sister, and she was in the car with her.  They brought her in a few minutes ago, and they took her directly to an operating room.”

            The doctor thanked the nurse then left the room to go find out some information on the sister.  He approached an outer desk where a nurse was immensely helpful to him.  He was young, and women seemed to like him especially since he was a doctor.

            “Can you give me any information on Julie Summers sister?”

            “Of course, Dr. Brighton last name Summers, yes here she is.  It seems that right after we admitted her into the hospital, they took her to surgery room 340.  Dr. Magnusson is operating, but injuries are not listed.”

            “Does it list any relatives,” Dr. Brighton sweetly asked.

            She smiled, “It says no known relatives for them.  I’m sorry Doctor it seems it’s just the two of them.”

            Now it was just the one sister Dr. Brighton thought to himself, “Thank you for your help.”

            “You’re welcome,” she again smiled at him.

            He walked down the hall heading for operating room 340 with sad thoughts in his head.  Entering the outer room, he could see Dr. Magnusson at the table donning a mask, he entered the operating room.

            “Sorry to barge in like this Harold but I need to know about this one.”

            Dr. Magnusson looked up from his suturing to stare directly at Dr. Brighton, “No problem, Ralph come on over.  She had some internal bleeding a piece of glass lodged into her shoulder.  She will need physical therapy on her knee considering its busted up.  Other than that, she should make a full recovery.”

            “That’s really good I operated on her sister.”

            “Oh and,” he said.

            “The baby is alive and well, but the sister didn’t make it,” Dr. Brighton stated.

            “Damn I’d hate to be the one to tell her,” he finished the incision then turned away from the table.

            “I know, especially when there is no other family alive.”

            “Shoot well she does have her sister’s baby.”

            Dr. Brighton shook his head, “I have to go call family services the baby must go with them until she is well.”

            “Hey after you do that, meet me down in the lunchroom for some coffee,” Dr. Magnusson offered.

            “Sounds good see you in a bit,” he walked away to his office to call family services about baby Summers.

            Dr. Ralph Brighton sat behind his desk in a plush chair staring at the phone knowing what he had to do.  He’s been doing surgery for fifteen years and it still got to him when things like this happen to young people.  Those poor girls had only each other and now one of them was gone.  Life could be so cruel finally knowing he had no choice he picked up the phone and dialed the number.

            “Connecticut Family Service, how may I direct your call,” an older woman’s voice politely answered.

            “I need to speak with one of the case workers about a baby,” he explained.

            “Just one moment sir and I’ll transfer you,” the woman softly said then he was listening to soft music.

            “Hello this is Nancy Shudder, whom am I speaking too.”

            “My name is Dr. Ralph Brighton I work for the Hartford Hospital.  I have a real problem over here two young women came in after a car accident and one was pregnant.  Now she gave birth to a healthy baby unfortunately the Mother didn’t make it.  The other young woman was the sister, and she is currently recovering so I need some place for the infant to go until the proper arrangements can be made.”

            “I understand Dr. Brighton, I can be down there in a few hours,” She informed him.

            “Good I’ll see you soon,” Ralph stated.

            “Yes goodbye Dr. Brighton.”

            Ralph put the receiver back onto its base then headed for the cafeteria to have some strong coffee.  As he walked in, he saw Dr. Magnusson already sitting at a table with two cups of coffee.

            Harold asked Ralph the second he sat down, “So how did it go.”

            “She will be here soon,” he took a deep drink of the coffee.

            “Did you find out anything about the person who caused the accident,” Harold took a drink of his coffee.

            “It was a young man who was drunk he hydroplaned right into them.  He was killed on impact.”

            “That’s a shame because he should have lived so he could be prosecuted for what he did to those two women.”

            Ralph shook his head, “I agree.”

            Suddenly a page came over the speaker, “Would Dr. Magnusson and Dr. Brighton please report to room 230.”

            “Who is that” Ralph asked.

            “The sister,” Harold stood so Ralph followed.  The sister must have woken up and wanting to know about her sister.

            A few miles away Kincade Jordan was sitting in an office speaking with his friend and client Slade Douglass about the building he was designing.  This was the second building Slade wanted built in the last year.  Slade’s company was taking off quickly and probably by the end of this year, he is going to want a third building.  The thing is he wanted each one to have its own flare and not look exactly like each other.

            “I like the angles Cade, but I think we need to make it taller instead of wider.  What do you think,” Slade glanced at him?

            “We could but that would change the angles here,” he pointed to a particular area on the building, “Then we would have to compensate for the extra extension at the top.  We would want to make the building look elegant instead of rough.”

            Kincade made a quick drawing of what Slade was asking for and when he showed it to him, he made a face of disgust, “I see what you mean Cade.  With that in mind, I am perfectly happy with this design.  When do you think, you’ll have a full-scale model to show me?”

            “It should only take two or three days will that work for you,” Kincade pulled open a drawer to grab a date book, “Let’s look at my schedule and see, I can fit you in on Monday at ten o’clock.”

            Slade pulled out an electronic palm organizer then pushed several buttons before saying, “Monday at ten will be perfect so I’ll see you then.  Oh, Cade you did a wonderful job.”

            “Thanks, oh by the way how is your Father,” Kincade knew this was a sore subject but couldn’t help razing his friend.

            “Up yours Cade,” he said as he left the office.

            Kincade followed laughing for if he could remember Quinn Douglass and his son have never agreed completely.  Quinn wanted Slade to take over the family business, but Slade wanted to make his own way.  It still ticked the old man off that his son has done such an excellent job on his own.  Slade just might be more successful than his Father, which would just eat at the old man.

            “See you Monday Mr. Douglass,” Kincade chuckled.

            Slade turned and waved with that smug smile on his face, “Monday Mr. Jordan.”

            Kincade watched him leave the building before heading back to his office and there she was sulking by his office.

            “Did you hear about Harris,” Christina Stewart stepped away from his doorway.

            They were currently involved but he was taking it slow especially after New Year’s Eve.  He couldn’t get that woman out of his mind the one he called Cat Woman since he didn’t know her real name.  She had gotten under his skin an itch he really wanted to scratch but for now, he was continuing his relationship with Christina.

            “No, what about him,” he remembered Harris was the mail boy in the office but mostly was a gopher of sorts.  He began to walk into his office and knew she would follow.

            She stopped in front of his desk where he sat down, “He was killed this morning in a car accident.  Apparently, he was drunk and got behind the wheel of his car.  He hydroplaned in the rain hitting another car head on they said he was killed instantly.”

            “Wow I can’t believe it I didn’t even know he drank,” he was shocked.

            Christina shook her head before continuing, “I didn’t know either, but it gets worse the two women in the other car were taken to the hospital.  No one knows if they survived or not, but I heard the driver was pregnant and it caused her to go into labor.”

            Kincade paled at this information, “How terrible then I think Harris deserved what he got.  I hope the women and baby are all right.”

            She looked appalled at his statement, “Why Kincade I thought you didn’t like children.”

            “Never once did I say I disliked children only I didn’t want any,” but lately he’s been rethinking this thought but didn’t tell her, “My sister has two lovely little girls and I adore them, but I’m not experienced in what to do with children.”

            She looked very relieved causing Kincade to think even more if she was the right woman for him.  What if he did change his mind and wanted children would she be willing to.  This was something he was going to have to think about later.

            She was talking again, “Understandable anyway I have an appointment with a new client I must go.  I’ll see you tomorrow night,” she quickly kissed him on the cheek and hurried out of his office.

            He went about working on the detailed model for Slade’s new building, but he couldn’t quite put out of his mind about what Christina had told him.  About the accident, about children then his mind again wondered to Cat Woman.  Would she want children maybe she already has children?  He needed to stop thinking about her and move on.  After three months and no run-ins with her maybe, fate had finally decided not to put them back together.

            Back at the hospital, Dr. Brighton and Dr. Magnusson were rushing to the room where Faith was.  She’d woken in a fog but the first thing she knew was pain then an overwhelming feeling hit her she needed to know about Julie.  A nurse came in when she heard the monitor beep funny and found Faith awake.  The nurse checked some things then turned to leave but Faith reached out grabbing a good hold on the woman’s arm.

            “Where is my sister,” Faith’s voice didn’t sound like her it sounded like a frog.

            “Please Miss Summers I have other patients to attend too,” she stiffly said.

            “I know but I need to know about my sister,” Faith snapped back.

            “I’ll find your doctor he’ll be in soon now kindly let go.”

            Faith wanted to shove the nurse away from her in disgust but didn’t instead just let go and the nurse rushed out.  She sighed then a page went over for two doctors then the nurse came back in.

            “The doctor should be here any moment can I get you something to eat,” the snobby nurse asked.

            “No, I don’t want anything to eat I just want to know what happened to my sister,” Faith’s voice was finally coming back.

“I told you the doctor will be able to help you now if you will relax maybe eat something, you’ll feel better.”

            The nurse was really beginning to get on Faith’s nerves, “I told you I’m not hungry now find out what happened to my sister.”

            Dr. Brighton and Dr. Magnusson heard the shouting the minute they exited the elevator, “I want to know about my sister now damn it.”

            “Listen Miss Summers,” the nurse stopped talking as the doctors entered the room.

            “Oh, thank God maybe you can calm her down,” she turned and left.

            Faith stared at the two doctors, “Well.”

            One moved forward he was older than the other one, “Hello Faith, I’m Dr. Magnusson.”

            She looked at him, he had brownish hair with some specks of gray in it while his eyes where a bright blue, “Hello,” she answered.

            “I’m the doctor who took care of your injuries you had some internal bleeding, which we took care of.  A shard of glass penetrated your left shoulder just above your breast but luckily, it didn’t tear anything important.  Your right leg was broken up bad, so you will need some physical therapy.  You had many cuts and scrapes, but nothing serious I’m sure some salve and time will make those go away.”

            “Great Dr. Magnusson now can either one of you find out what happened to my sister,” she looked expectantly.

            “Faith I’m Dr. Brighton,” the younger doctor approached.

            She also took a good look at him he was taller than the other doctor.  Pale blond hair sat on top of his head, but his eyes were gray like storm clouds, and they held a soft light, “I’m the one who worked on your sister,” his face never wavered to give any indication of how her sister was.

            “Oh, great how is she Dr. Brighton,” Faith was finally happy.

            “When she came in, she was already in labor our focus was to get the baby out, so we could help Julie.  The accident had done severe damage on her body along with being pregnant didn’t help.”

            Faith was beginning to feel sick, “What happened to my sister.”

            Dr. Magnusson could tell she was starting to get upset and knew things were just going to escalate from there.  Moving to the door he stuck his head out and said to a nurse, “Can you bring in a sedative.”

            “Sure Doctor,” a nurse smiled.

            “We were able to get the baby out then we began to work on Julie’s injuries.  One of the problems was a shard of glass had impaled your sister just above her pregnant belly just below her breasts. 

            Faith was beginning to feel a little hysterical, “Get to the point Doctor.”

            The nurse came in to stand by Dr. Magnusson just as Dr. Brighton told Faith about her sister, “A blood clot broke off from the injury and went straight to her heart.  Her heart stopped we tried to bring her back but I’m sorry Faith we couldn’t.”

            Faith’s body finally let her emotions take full force she let out a cry of utter torment, which probably shook the heavens.  The doctor’s and nurse have never heard such a cry and instincts kicked in.  The nurse ran over and put the sedative into Faith’s IV but still she cried out.  It took ten minutes before the sedative took over and she was quiet.  

            The doctors left the room, “I’ve never heard a cry like that in all my life.”

            “No and I’ve told many people that a family member has passed on,” Dr. Brighton told his colleague.

            Dr. Magnusson shook his head in agreement, “I don’t ever want to hear it again, but I don’t think she’ll be any better when she wakes up.”

            “We should get Dr. Mendel to come in and talk to her,” Dr. Brighton suggested.

            “That’s a promising idea,” they left the area and went to let Dr. Mendel know she had a new patient.

            Nancy Shudder walked into the Hartford Hospital and went straight to the reception desk, “May I help you,” the receptionist said.

            “I’m here to speak with Dr. Ralph Brighton.”

            “I’ll page him,” she said.

            Ralph was sitting at his desk when the page come over the intercom, “Would Dr. Ralph Brighton please report to the receptionist desk.”

            He stood and hurried to the elevator knowing the woman from the state had arrived.  He walked toward the receptionist desk and saw a woman who was older.  She had brown hair with gray speckled through it as he got closer, she looked at him with hazel eyes.  Once he was standing in front of her, “Hello I’m Dr. Ralph Brighton.”

            Nancy smiled at him, “Nice to meet you I’m Nancy Shudder we spoke on the phone.”

            “Yes, please follow me,” they went back toward the elevator and took it to his office floor.

            Entering his office, he directed her to a chair, and he took his chair, “After I talked to you the sister woke up, but she didn’t handle the news very well.  I think she’ll be down for a few more days.”

            She pulled out a bunch of papers before she spoke, “Well after I talked to you, I researched our girl the two sisters were alone since their parents died.  Julie was the oldest by three years and she was seventeen when they died in a plane crash.  She took care of her sister Faith who was fourteen at the time.  They have no grandparents alive and both parents were only children,” she paused to pull out another folder.

            “Don’t they have any great aunts or uncles,” Ralph asked.

            “Yes, but everyone has long since passed on,” she opened the folder, “I did however find a Will for Julie Summers apparently, she wanted to take every precaution for her baby’s sake.  The Will states that the baby is going to be giving to the Father not the sister.  It does say that if the Father doesn’t want the baby, then the baby would go to Faith.”

            “That seems very strange since from Faith’s reaction to her sister’s death I would assume they were close,” Ralph looked confused.

            “I can’t answer that but what I don’t understand is how come Mr. Jordan wasn’t notified of the birth of his child.”

            “I can’t answer that either there was no mention anywhere on any paperwork we have.”

            “I can’t argue with a legal document so as requested by the Mother I’ll be taking the baby to the Father when he’s released.”

            “He’ll be released in three days if no complication from his birth arises.”

            “Very good I’ll head on up to the nursery to fill out the forms for him.”

            “Of course, thank you Mrs. Shudder for rushing right down,” Dr. Brighton stood then moved around his desk.  He escorted her to the door and watched her walk to the elevators before going in and closing his door.

            Nancy went right up to the nursery, “I need to speak with whoever is in charge,” she declared the minute she was in the room.

            A tall nurse came forward, “I’m Raquel.”

            “My name is Nancy Shudder I’m a state worker, and I’m here about the Summers baby.”

            “Of course, how can I help you,” Raquel asked.

            “I need to fill out some paperwork so when I come back in three days, I can take him to the proper place.”

            “I understand right this way,” she took Nancy into an office where she pulled out the folder of forms filled out by parents for their babies.

            Nancy filled them out made copies then left to return in three days to take little Gabe Jordan to his Father.