The Other Half || Jerrie

Chapter One

Alexander Edwards was a worrier. This, of course, was a fact that he vehemently denied whenever his wife, Debbie, brought it up. Alex’s worrying nature could be best explained by his actions on July 1st, 1993.

His wife was 41 weeks pregnant and after days of asking her how she felt every hour, and being told to “stop worrying, I’m a doctor, just trust me,” she finally announced to him that it was time. Their baby was coming. Debbie, the more calm and composed half of the couple, insisted that she be the one who drove them to the hospital after watching Alex’s hands shake as he picked up the hospital bag from the front hall. Alex didn’t try and fight his wife on the matter.

It wasn’t until Debbie was settled into a hospital bed just under an hour later that the complications started to arise. There were four other women in labor on the floor at the same time as Debbie and only one OB-GYN on call. Luckily though, it was Debbie’s doctor and friend from medical school – Kelly Spink.

Debbie’s labor progressed normally until exactly eight pm, around two hours after being admitted. It was at that point that her baby’s heartbeat began to falter. Something was wrong. Dr. Spink had just finished delivering a baby boy across the hall and had immediately assessed the situation with Debbie Edwards. It was quickly decided that Debbie would have to have an emergency C-section.

Nurses were pulling Debbie’s hospital bed into the hallway when Alex, in his stressed and worried state, somehow tripped over the cord to the fetal heart monitor machine, landing with his weight entirely on his left wrist. Even in the chaotic room, nearly everyone heard it crack.

“I’m fine! I’m fine!” Alex announced as he stood up, gingerly cradling his wrist. “Let’s go to the operating – okay s**t that really hurt. f**k. Yeah, I’m in a bit of pain.”

Alex glanced at his wife who was looking at him in a way that reminded him that she was about to go into surgery to bring their child into the world.

Dr. Spink sighed, never having understood why Debbie had married the engineer in the first place. “Nurse Kay, will you take Mr. Edwards down to ortho while I get Mrs. Edwards to the OR?”

The nurse nodded and gestured for Alex to follow him.

“I need to be there for my wife though!” he insisted.

“I’ll be fine Alex,” Debbie responded. “You need to make sure you get that wrist set and in a cast so that you can help with this baby once I get out of surgery.”

Alex frowned, but nodded in agreement.

Half an hour later, Alex returned to the waiting area outside the surgical ward of the maternity floor, wearing a brand new cast. He had just sat down on an uncomfortable, plastic chair when Dr. Spink ran out of the operating room.

“Kelly!” Alex exclaimed, dropping the title on his wife’s doctor’s name. “What’s going on?”

Kelly whipped her head around, but was unable to answer Alex’s question before a hospital bed came wheeling its way between them at an alarming speed. Lying on the bed was a brunette who couldn’t have been much older than sixteen, drenched in sweat and quickly losing consciousness. Her stomach seemed protruded from her frail, thin body. Though it took up most of the girl’s frame, it still seemed smaller than Debbie’s was and any passerby could tell that something was wrong.

Alex quickly took a step back and let Dr. Spink approach the teen in the bed, listening as the nurses spoke words that even Alex understood, “six weeks early” “parents not responding” “baby’s father unknown” “adoptive parents arriving shortly”. It wasn’t until the hospital bed was halfway through the doors to the operating ward that Alex heard the word, “She’s crashing! If we don’t get this baby out of her, we’ll lose them both.”

Alex always considered himself to be more spiritual than religious, but in that moment, it was his Catholic upbringing that reared its head in him. He offered a silent prayer for the safety young girl and her child along with his wife and child.

Shortly after the young girl and Dr. Spink disappeared, a large man with an impressive beard joined Alex in the waiting area.

“Is this the waiting area for maternity?” the man asked.

“Yes,” Alex nodded. Alex noticed the tell-tale signs of a father-to-be in the man, knowing he was exhibiting nervousness himself, so he decided to strike up a conversation. “So is this your first?” he asked.

The man jerked his head up, surprised to find Alex addressing him. He nodded. “I was just in the middle of painting the baby’s room when I got the call. My partner and I are adopting, but the birth mom wasn’t due for another six weeks.”

Alex immediately matched the young girl losing consciousness on the hospital bed to the man sitting distraught across from him.

“Is anyone ever ready to become a parent?” Alex teased, hoping a bit of humor would help with the man across from him.

“She was the first birthmother who even looked twice at our file. Most women don’t exactly want to give their kid up to two men,” he shrugged, wringing his hands together. “And of course we want this baby more than anything, but she’s a good girl too, the last thing I want is for anything bad to happen to her either. And my partner is stuck in traffic on his way here from work and I have no idea when he’ll be here.”

Alex took a deep breath and as he did so, he noticed a television above his head. A baseball game was playing. He stood up and crossed the room, taking the empty seat beside the man. This man needed to take his mind off of what he couldn’t control and so did Alex.

“Alex Edwards, Yankees fan,” he introduced himself, nodding his head towards the game playing opposite them.

“James Thirlwall, Mets fan,” the man responded with a slight chuckle.

Alex Edwards and James Thirlwall sat beside each other, talking about a sports game neither would care about in a few hours. They were each other’s distraction while they waited for the news that would change both of their lives entirely, and for the better. Little did they know at the time, that their happenstance meeting would not be their last.

On July 1st 1993, Dr. Kelly Spink delivered five children; three boys and two girls. She performed two C-sections that day. The C-sections were performed in rooms across the hall from each other, Dr. Spink alternating between the two rooms.

Jade Amelia Thirlwall was born at 9:31 pm that night. Her adoption paperwork signed by James and Callum Thirlwall the next morning. She spent her first two nights in the neonatal intensive care unit and went home with her fathers six days later.

Perrie Louise Edwards was born at 9:47 pm that night. Her parents, Alex and Debbie Edwards took her home the next afternoon.