Chapter Five
Doctors and nurses flooded in and out of the room for the past five or six hours, none of them informing anyone
of what was happening. Leighanne was given more of the pain medication in order to cease the sharp pains she was
feeling, but that did nothing to soothe the nerves of everyone else in the room. Brian was distressed and the only thing that
comforted him was pacing. AJ and Amanda kept to themselves in the corner of the room, unsure as to if they should
inform Brian of his cousins arrival shortly. The Wallace family had left a short time ago to find food, and Nick and
Gretchen sat in the same chairs still, watching the actions of the others. Gretchen still clung to Nick’s hand, not that he
minded. He could tell something was bothering her, but the two still were uncomfortable talking. For now, he decided that
he would just be near her, to support her if she needed him, to be someone to lean on. Gretchen was known to her friends
and family as a worrywart. She would concern herself with things that were unimportant, insignificant, and pointless. For
some reason, though, this time, things didn’t seem so petty. Gretchen always believe in intuition, the strong sense of
knowing, and tonight, Gretchen knew something was going to happen. Nick watched Gretchen intently, and he could see
her going through some internal struggle. Not being able to hold back any more, watching her upset, he inquired.
“Brown Eyes, what’s wrong?” Gretchen heard Nick whisper. Her heart pounded at the sound of his voice but she
told herself to calm down and worry about her feelings for Nick later. Right now Leighanne was in trouble.
“I-I have a really bad feeling about this.” she replied looking up at Nick. For the first time in almost a hour Nick
and Gretchen locked eyes. The fire that Nick had seen before had vanished, and in its place, fear. Without thinking Nick
wrapped his arms around the girl sitting next to him in attempt to comfort her.
“Sweetie, everything is going to be okay.” Nick whispered in her ear. The tingly feeling was growing inside of
him again, but he brushed it aside and concentrated on easing Gretchen’s nerves.
“No Nick, I really think that something is wrong.” Gretchen let out, her voice cracking. Her eyes were welling up
and it pained Nick to see her go through that. “You know how Doctors are Nick, they don’t tell you what’s going right
away, especially if its really bad. Nick, you and I both know that someone should NOT be in this much pain during labor.
Something has got to be wrong.” She finished as the tears began to trickle down her cheeks.
“Gretchen...” Nick began. He was at a loss of words. He, too, sensed that something was very wrong with the
entire situation, but Gretchen didn’t need to hear him agree with her. “I’m sure that whatever is going on, the Doctors
have under control. If it was serious, then they would be in here right now preparing her for whatever they had to do to
help her.” As Nick finished his sentence a nurse entered the room wheeling a large machine. Gretchen gripped his hand
tighter as the nurse made her way over to a now calm Leighanne and Brian, who had quit pacing and darted over to his
wife’s bedside. Nick and Gretchen strained to hear what the woman dressed in white said. Apparently the Doctors wanted
Leighanne to have an ultrasound to make sure the baby was still healthy. AJ, Amanda, Gretchen and Nick stood up to
leave but Leighanne quietly asked them to stay. She was hooked up to the machine and the nurse lifted her gown. Placing
gel on her belly, the nurse slowly ran a tiny magnetic ball over the enlarged area. On a screen the image of the tiny baby
appeared, and slowly came into view. Everyone in the room watched as the tiny being moved around inside Leighanne’s
stomach.
“That, my dear is our problem.” The nurse informed Leighanne who was intently watching her unborn child on
the monitor.
“What is it?” Brian asked alarmed. The nurse let out a laugh.
“Your child is a little squirmer.” She said smiling. “The only problem is that the baby is moving around quite a
bit, other than that ,that kiddo is perfectly fine.” she finished as both the parents gave a sigh of relief. Gretchen, too, was
relieved that Leighanne was safe, and that their child was healthy, but the bad feeling lingered. No matter how many
people told her that everything was going fine, she still believed that things weren’t. Nick looked at her to see if the news
had calmed her at all, but still saw the look of concern plastered on her face.
“Gretchen, let’s go out into the hall.” Nick stated as he stood up. He looked down at her, she hadn’t moved at all,
and still set her gaze on the ultrasound screen, still showing the infant. Slowly she looked up at him and held her hand out
for him to take. He took it and proceeded to lead her into the hall. Once there, he led her down to a quiet waiting area,
where they could talk alone. “What’s on your mind Brown Eyes?” Nick questioned cautiously as the two sat down in the
middle of a couch.
“I don’t know. I just have this odd feeling that something is going to go wrong. You know, when you watch a
horror movie and you just have this premonition that someone is going to be killed within the next few minutes, or you
know exactly how the movie ends without ever seeing it. I have that feeling now.”
“I know the feeling. But Gretchen, everything is fine. You heard the nurse, Leighanne’s in pain because the baby
is moving around so much.”
“I know, I know. Nick, I heard what the lady said, but I can’t trust someone I have never met before over my gut
instinct. Even if she is trained to know what she’s doing.” Gretchen stated plainly. Nick couldn’t disagree with her. He had
always followed what his instincts and heart had told him. If he had listened to what everyone had said, he would be no
where. Nick looked at his watch. It was already 9PM.
“Maybe if you laid down for a while...” Nick let his sentence drift off as Gretchen grasped his wrist and twisted it
so she could see his watch. She nodded and looked up at Nick who scooted down the couch so that he could rest his arm on
the arm rest. He put a pillow on his lap and Gretchen weakly rested her head there. Closing her eyes, she curled her legs
up the best she could on the small couch and began to drift off. No dreams came, but she awoke to a doctor racing past
her, lightly bumping the end of the couch she and Nick rested on. Gretchen slowly opened her eyes and let her
surroundings register before sitting up. Further down the hall she was three doctors race into Leighanne’s hospital room,
and AJ and Amanda quickly exit. AJ spotted Gretchen watching him and he and Amanda began to run towards them.
Gretchen looked up at Nick but found him sleep, she shook him awake roughly. He opened his eyes and noticed AJ and
Amanda enter the waiting room out of breath.
“Something happened! The baby’s heart beat just dropped and no one knows what’s going on.” AJ let out in one
breath. Nick sat rigid on the couch as he took in what his friend had just said.
“I knew something bad was going to happen.” Gretchen said as she dropped her head into her hands, trying her
best to hold back tears. Glancing up, her eyes met the sight of Leighanne being rushed out of the hospital room
surrounded by doctors and nurses and a helpless Brian trying to keep up. As if it were planned, just as the emergency room
doors closed, leaving Brian standing there staring at his wife through the tiny windows of the close door as she was
wheeled into surgery, Kevin and Kristin entered through the front entrance. The older man took one look at the group in
the waiting room and knew something was wrong.
“What’s happened?” He asked.
“Baby’s heartbeat just dropped, really low, they took her in to surgery.” Gretchen said somberly. Kevin’s eyes
widened.
“Where is he?” He asked, everyone knowing he was referring to his cousin. They all pointed to the end of the
hall where Brian still stood, his shoulders shaking slightly as he cried. Kevin’s face softened when he saw his cousin and
he quickly left the waiting room to comfort him.
Brian had just watched the love of his life be rushed into surgery. Neither one of them knew what had happened,
one minute they were discussing what things would be like after the baby was born, and the next, doctors were racing into
the room commenting about an extremely weak and low heartbeat. From there it was chaos, within seconds Leighanne
was rushed from the room, and Brian could do nothing to help her. The tears just came to him. He thought of the
outcome. What might happen to his family? He was scared, anything could happen to his wife and child. The thought of
losing either one of them brought weakness to his entire body, and his legs gave out. Before he could sink to the floor he
felt two strong arms wrap around him.
“They’ll be okay Brian.” he heard the deep voice of his cousin say. Brian looked up at Kevin in shock, again,
thought of his wife and his eyes welled up once more. Kevin pulled his cousin to him, as Brian hugged him, and
cried.
The group quietly watched Kevin hold his upset cousin, none knowing what to say. They could only await news
from a doctor on the condition of Leighanne and the baby.
A half hour later all eleven of them sat silently in the waiting room. Leighanne’s family had been in the cafateria
when the problems arose, and found out a short time later that Leighanne had been taken into the OR. After Kevin and
Kristin arrived, everyone had quietly sat, AJ, Amanda, and Kristin on one couch, Kevin, Brian, Nick, and Gretchen on
another. And the Wallace family scattered in the chairs throughout the room. No one moved, they all just sat, waiting for
news. Brian looked as though he was in a trance, staring at the wall, not blinking in a semi state of shock. Kevin sat with
his arm around his cousin, sharing worried glances with his wife, Kristin frequently. Amanda busied herself with
examining her nails, and AJ found a magazine, though everyone could tell that he wasn’t reading it, he was just holding it
occasionally flipping the pages. The Wallace’s talked quietly amongst themselves about their home in Georgia, when they
would be back. Nick and Gretchen sat clutching each other looking around the room, watching everyone do nothing.
Minutes later a doctor entered the waiting room. No one noticed him until he spoke.
“Is there a Mr. Littrell here?” He asked somberly. Brian looked up at the man before slowly standing.
Chapter Six
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