So I'm playing with the title....let me know what you think! XO-Me
The doctor came into the room. She was young, in her 30’s with a look of ambition and concern.
“Hi, I’m Doctor Abbey. I’ve looked at Sam’s lab results and I’m at little stumped. She’s seems very dehydrated. So we’re going to start her on an IV. I’ve called in a couple specialists for a consult. Her white blood cell count is really high indicating an infection. I would like to order a spinal tap. How long has she seemed sick?”
I suddenly second-guessed everything I had ever done; the glass of wine when I was nursing, maybe I should have pumped longer, then there was that time when she fell off the couch….
“She’s been sick with a fever since Tuesday. I took her to the doctor’s and they gave us an antibiotic. They said it wasn’t serious and she was ok to travel.” I answered. “We’ve been concerned about her weight gain and hearing for a while and we were just starting to get second opinions.”
“Any brothers or sisters at home?” She asked.
I looked over at my husband. Do we answer this? Do we go there? It’s probably important that they know. God, I hate this question.
“She had an older brother, Jack. He was stillborn at 40 weeks.
Dr. Abbey looked up from her notes. “I am so very sorry.”
The silence in the room was deafening but I could hear the blood pounding in my head.”
“Do they know why?”
“It was a cord accident.” I answered.
“Did they ever do an autopsy?”
“No, the doctors said it seemed pretty obvious that was what happened.”
“Hmmmmm” The doctor looked down at her clipboard and scribbled some more notes.
“No!” I wanted to yell “they didn’t do an autopsy because we shouldn’t be here. We should have had our awful tragedy, grieved and moved on with our life. We shouldn’t be in Children’s with our second child. We shouldn’t be answering these questions. Life should be giving us a green light. And it’s so very unfair it kills me, it makes me want to puke, to crawl in a little ball, to hurt something as much as I’m hurting!”
Instead, I shrugged, looked over at my daughter and searched for something to do to mask my pain. I should probably refresh my lipstick, I thought.
3 comments:
Heather - I have continued to check your blog ever since we met you at the walk in April. This excerpt of your book touched me...to go through what you & your husband & family are going through & have gone through, and then your ability to beautifully express the writing of your raw emotions in this excerpt is touching. Because it is so true. And at the end of the day, it is all about your love for your child. And, in your struggles over the last 3 years, it also appears to me that you have been given many more blessings than most of us...blessings that many people may not recognize, but you do...because your writing shows it. And, it appears to me that Samantha is teaching you to be an extraordinary mother. And extraordinary mothers don't come along every day...
Your "slip" is showing... you switched back to "Sam" instead of "Sarah". I like the name Detour, plain and simple. Keep going.
Laura
Love it. 19th street really hits home for me, describes that drive. To others, may not be so important??? You are doing great with the writings. Hope to see you two this week.
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