Chapter 5: Mommy’s Boy
1022 Words
Whitney felt a liquid running down her legs and chills through her spine only to realize that her water just broke. "Mama, please come quick, you need to see this." She called out to Amelia.
"What is happening?" Amelia rushed into the room, with a bit of concern etching on her face.
"My water just broke!" Whitney replied with her trembling voice.
"Oh my God! We need...we need to get you to the hospital." Amelia's facial expression switched to that of an emergency.
An excruciating pain surged through Whitney's lower region. Each passing second made it unbearable for her.
"Sorry, my dear. I understand how painful this might be for you. It'd soon be over." Amelia told Whitney when she heard her yelp.
Whitney and her grandma felt a mix of perplexity and anxiety going through their minds. At last, the wait of an enduring nine months was about to produce its fruit. She was finally going to be a mother.
Contractions had kicked in for Whitney after about thirty minutes of being in the maternity ward but from where she sat, she could hear the concerns of some nurses and midwives but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. Something just wasn't right.
"Someone please tell me what's going on. Please! Please tell me," Whitney cried out worrying for her child.
"There seems to be an issue beyond our capacity. We have to wait for the doctor." One of the nurses told her.
"The baby is already crowning!" One of the midwives announced minutes later as she was forced to check Whitney's opening. "Let's move her to the delivery room."
"Wait....wait! Where is my doctor? Where is Doctor Brit?" Whitney demanded.
"Your doctor will soon be here. We need to do this before she arrives."
In the midst of her state, the pain of her contractions left her unable to think clearly. She barely noticed how time passed quickly and when her doctor arrived.
"Relax Whitney. I'm here now. Everything is going to be alright." The familiar voice of Doctor Brit was enough to soothe Whitney.
"Doctor Brit, is that you?" Whitney turned her face to the other side trying to follow the direction where she heard the voice from.
"Yeah, I'm here. Don't worry, we're going to get your child out right away."
"Oh, thank God."
"Remember to push as you feel your contractions. Let's go!"
With every push she made, she shed a tear.
"You are almost there, Whitney. Almost there," Doctor Brit encouraged her. "Push one more time."
With her eyes closed and an accompanying loud scream, Whitney tried to push her hardest. Then she heard the shrill cries of her baby and opened her eyes.
A faint smile crept on her face. She looked around to see the source of her happiness. She immediately forgot all her earlier pain and miseries.
"Do you want to hold your child now, ma'am?” The midwife asked her.
“Yes.” She nodded her head, already getting excited and impatient to see her baby’s face. Another midwife assisted in lifting her bed so she could hold the baby properly.
"Here’s your son."
“Hey, little handsome man, it’s your mommy.” She whispered as she rubbed her thumb on his soft cheeks, observing every joyful moment of being a mother for the first time.
He smiled like he recognized his mother’s touch.
“Mommy loves you so much, okay? I promise to teach and protect you, my darling. I will play the role of both parents in your life. You won’t miss having a father. Whitney said to him like he could understand what she was saying and kissed his left cheek.
While she was still gazing at her newly born, the door opened distracting her attention from her son to the unknown intruder. Her grandmother stood at the door with a proud expression written all over her face.
“Come on in mama." Whitney invited her grandma with a hand signal. "Don’t you want to hold your great-grandson?”
"Of course, I want to," Amelia responded as she drew closer. "Hi, great-grandson."
"Say hello to great grandma," Whitney whispered to her baby.
"He's so cute and looks so much like you."
"Of course mama. I'm his mother." Whitney chuckled and a brief silence hit the room.
"I'm happy you saw this through my dear. You're indeed a strong woman." Amelia broke the silence a few seconds later.
"And I couldn't have done it without you, mama. I owe you so much and I don't know how I'd ever repay you." Whitney's eyes faced her grandmother with filled with emotions.
"No, don't say that. You don't owe me anything. I did what any grandmother would do for her grandchild. And now that it is over, I can finally join those who have gone ahead of me."
"You are not going anywhere, mama. At least not now. How do I raise him without you by my side?"
"I'm just saying, my child. Death is inevitable and I don't know how much more time is left on my side."
While Whitney was listening to her grandma, she noticed that her child had stopped breathing. "Mama, can you see this?" She asked as she tried to raise the alarm, with her focus still gazing at the little boy in her arms.
"What's that?"
"My son is no longer breathing."
"No, that can't be." Amelia drew her finger to the baby's nose to confirm. "Oh my goodness!" She added when she didn't feel any breath coming out of his nose.
"Someone get the doctor! My son is no longer breathing!" Whitney yelped calling out for help.
Doctor Brit and 2 nurses rushed into the room as soon as they heard Whitney's scream from the room where she was.
"What's happening here?" Doctor Brit enquired.
"My son...He's not breathing anymore. Please do something doctor....save my son." Whitney panicked.
"Let me have him." Doctor Brit instructed as she stretched out her hands to receive the little child.
"Doctor please do all you can to save my child... Don't let my son die, please." Whitney cried.
- Writer
