I couldn't speak. Couldn’t breathe. I had no idea if Emma was alive or dead. I stared down into the faces of my three new sons, and the only thing I could think about was how they might live without their mother. How they would never grow up to know her laughter or how big her heart really was. How they would never get to feel the warmth of her bosom against their cheek or snuggle into the crook of her arm to fall asleep at night.
“Mr. Aaron?”
“Yes?” I asked breathlessly.
“We’re going to roll your sons into the mother-baby unit,” the nurse said.
I whipped my head over to her as a tear streamed down my cheek.
“Emma’s-?”
“She’s fine. And stable. It took the doctor a while in surgery to get her there, but he did.”
I raced over to the nurse and wrapped her up in my arms, picking her off the floor. We rolled my sons into a massive private room and there she was. Pale. Hooked up to tubes and monitors.
But alive.
“Emma?” I asked as I sat on the edge of her bed. “Emma, can you hear me?”
Her head lobbed over, and her eyes peeled open, and I felt my heart soar with joy.
“Holy shit, you scared me,” I said with a whisper.
I got up and pressed my lips against hers. I felt her hand gripping mine as tightly as she could, but it was still weak. I nuzzled my nose against hers before I took out my phone, shooting a text message off to the nanny.
“My boys,” Emma said weakly. “Where are my boys?”
One by one, I plucked them from their bassinets and put them on Emma’s bare chest. I had to help her hold them. I had to cradle her arms so she could cradle our sons. She doted on them and kissed them. Fed them from her breast as a smile crossed her face. I smoothed her beautiful blonde hair back from her face, keeping it out of her view so she could take everything in.
And when they were all asleep against her, their cheeks pressed into her naked breasts, the doctor came in and sat down.
“You gave us a scare there, Miss Gentry.”
“What happened?” Emma asked.
“A host of things,” the doctor said. “The biggest issue was that you were pre-eclamptic. But because you were carrying triplets, the usual signs weren’t picked up on. Swelling of the joints. Excessive protein in your urine. Things of that sort. The pre-eclampsia was what caused your high blood pressure and the distress on one of your infants.”
“But he’s okay, right?” she asked.
“The nurses have given each child a clean bill of health. One of the other complications that comes with pre-eclampsia is the compromising of other organs. Specifically, the kidneys and the liver. When your body went into distress, two of the boys reacted by releasing their bowels a little too early. It’s called ‘meconium’, and because your liver and kidneys were already compromised, your body reacted poorly. That’s what prompted the emergency c-section and that’s what kept you on the table for so long.”
“So… what-? I’m not sure I-?”
“The only thing you have to do right now, Miss Gentry, is rest. You and the boys will have a longer-than-usual stay. We’re keeping you at least through the week to monitor all of your vital signs. Your kidney and liver functions need to come back up and I want to make sure these boys don’t start showing signs of meconium ingestion.”
“I thought you said they were okay though?” Emma asked.
“All of this is precautionary, Miss Gentry. I’d rather be very safe than anything else right now. Things were touch-and-go for a while in surgery. Your body needs time to rest, and we can better control that rest here.”
“Listen to me,” I said as I looked down at Emma. “I’ve got the nanny and the kids coming by tomorrow. I’ll tell her to bring us some more clothes for the boys. They’ve got plenty of diapers here and you’ll be fed the best food in the city I can get us. I’ll be right here, and the kids will be taken care of. Okay? That’s all that matters right now.”
“Something happened, didn’t it?” she asked.
I looked over at the doctor, wondering if I should tell her.
“What happened, Ryan?”
I turned my eyes back to her and watched my sons sleeping against her chest. A sight I didn’t think I’d see after what I witnessed. Emma’s eyes were growing in their strength. Coming alive every second she gazed at me. I drew her lips in for another kiss before I nuzzled her nose, then I drew back and closed my eyes.