- Nerves of Steele,
Will of Iron and Dreams of Gold
- Part 5
- by SteeleChic
1999
Bursting through the hospital doors into the emergency room,
Remington ran alongside the gurney, watching as the flashing
red light of the ambulance still cast an eerie glow over the
white sheet and Laura's pallid complexion. His heart in his throat,
he gripped her hand and a voice he barely recognized as his own
assured her that everything was going to be all right.
Somebody must have called Dr Barnett because she was there waiting
even though Remington didn't remember telling the paramedics
the name of Laura's doctor. Doctors replaced paramedics as they
raced towards an exam room.
Laura's hand was torn from his and a touch on his shoulder prevented
him from following them into the room before the doors swung
closed on an image Remington was sure would haunt him for life
- Laura's fingers grasping the air, closing around emptiness,
her hand reaching desperately for his as he stood helpless in
the doorway.
He turned to face the nurse whose hand on his shoulder had kept
him from going with his wife. A name tag identified her as Nurse
Katherine.
"Don't worry," she said softly, "She's in good
hands." His unfocused gaze fell on the young woman, her
word holding a sincerity that was vaguely comforting.
"This time it's serious, isn't it?" Remington asked
quietly.
"We don't know yet, Mr Steele," the nurse answered,
"Why don't I get you a cup of coffee? Is there family, anyone
you want to call to come and be with you, for a bit of support?"
He knew the young nurse was only trying to help, but deep down,
in the pit of his stomach, he knew something was drastically
wrong with Laura. As he paced restlessly outside the exam room
door, all his old guilt resurfaced but a million times stronger
than it had two weeks ago. He couldn't stop thinking about the
arguments they'd had recently, the most serious having been that
very night. He didn't have family and he didn't want anyone else,
he only wanted his wife back safe and sound.
Giving himself a mental shake, he stopped pacing. Icy calm,
old boy, he told himself, he had to be strong for Laura.
It was then that Dr Barnett emerged from the exam room, almost
colliding with Remington as he stood vigil outside the door.
"Mr Steele," Dr Barnett began, "We've stabilized
your wife's condition and we're moving her to ICU. At the moment
she's quite sedated, it was important for us to calm her down
so we've given her a relaxant. The baby is fine but -"
Trying to ignore the `but', Remington interrupted, "Can
I see her first? Then you can explain to both of us." He
knew Laura would hate it if the doctor spoke to him without letting
her in as well.
"Of course, Mr Steele," Dr Barnett amended, "It's
important that I speak to you both. Katherine, would you show
Mr Steele to ICU?" The young nurse nodded and moved towards
Remington.
"It will take a little while for the sedative to wear off,
so I'll leave you with Mrs Steele and I'll be up to talk to you
both in a short while," Dr Barnett told him as he turned
to follow the nurse to the elevators.
When they reached Intensive Care, Katherine held open the large,
swinging doors, ushering Remington inside but not following.
"Thank you," he murmured absently, unable to take his
eyes off Laura.
She lay perfectly still, dozens of tubes and wires connecting
her to this, that and the other. An IV fed her a sedative, the
fetal monitor drummed out their baby's heartbeat, something else
showed Laura's own heart rate and yet another machine monitored
her brain waves.
Remington eased himself into the chair beside her bed and gently
lifted her hand, noticing how his own engulfed it. He was numb
from the shock of seeing her like this, so tiny, so vulnerable
and so unlike the Laura he knew and loved more than life itself.
He didn't know how long he sat like that, mesmerized by the beeps,
flashes and zigzags of the various machines, steady and repetitive,
assuring him that everything was as it should be, but soon he
felt her fingers move inside his and her eyes fluttered open.
"Hi," he whispered, drawing her fingers to his lips.
"What happened?" she asked groggily, "Is the baby
- ?"
"Sshh," Remington told her, "You gave us quite
a scare but the baby is OK. Dr Barnett will be here soon to see
you and tell us what happened."
Even as he said the words, Dr Barnett pushed open the heavy doors
and walked in. She examined the monitors and raised Laura's bed
into a sitting position before detaching Laura from the IV.
"How's your eyesight Mrs Steele?" she asked.
"It's fine, back to normal," Laura answered, "But
what happened to me? What went wrong?"
There it was again, Remington noted worriedly, his eyes flashing
from the doctor to Laura, that `I'm tough' attitude she wore
like a damned badge of honor, of all the times for her to be
icy calm...
"Mrs Steele, Mr Steele," Dr Barnett began, "The
toxemia we diagnosed two weeks ago has progressed into a condition
known as eclampsia -"
"How is that possible?" Remington demanded, seeking
to blame, to lay some of his guilt to rest, "You were treating
her."
"The cause of toxemia is unknown and, while we can treat
the symptoms, we can't offer a complete cure," Dr Barnett
explained, "In this case, the toxemia, combined with the
early labor, were too much for your wife's body to handle."
"And what happened tonight?" Laura prompted quietly,
her eerie calm more than a little disturbing.
"Tonight's episode was a convulsion common in eclampsia.
Swelling of the liver caused your abdominal pain and a swelling
of the brain gave you the headache and put pressure on the part
of your brain that controls your eyesight. Without immediate
treatment you could suffer complications such as loss of kidney
function, liver disease or even brain hemorrhage," Dr Barnett
paused, she wanted to be sure they were taking everything in
because what she said next would likely come as a shock to them,
"I won't lie to you, it is life threatening."
"What is the treatment Doctor?" Remington asked softly
as he looked at Laura, her face a mask of undefined emotions,
fear, confusion and even pain.
"Your body simply can't cope with the strain of pregnancy
any longer Mrs Steele," Dr Barnett continued, "Treatment
would be to deliver the baby now. I'm afraid you and your family
have a difficult decision to make. I understand you've only just
entered into the seventh month so there's still a chance the
baby won't yet be fully developed but at the same time it's chances
of survival are small to fair. On the other hand, each day this
baby remains inside you, while giving it a greater chance of
survival, you place your own life at greater risk and you begin
to live on borrowed time."
A thousand different emotions flashed across Laura's face, this
time stopping with anguish, tears slipping silently down her
cheeks.
Remington turned hooded eyes to Dr Barnett. In a low voice, filled
with pain he asked, "Are you saying only one of them will
survive?"
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