Thank you all again for your patience and well-wishes. This chapter has been long overdue--especially given that nasty cliffhanger. So without further ado...
Chapter 9 - In the End, At the BeginningLeighton glanced uneasily at the clock. Eight-forty-two p.m. He had been there for…how long? Two hours? Three? He wasn’t entirely certain at this point. All that he knew was that his wife was undergoing emergency surgery…and he hadn’t heard a single word.
He buried his head in his hands. Why in the name of the Watcher was this happening? Their marriage was still so young, so fresh, and to be faced with such a struggle so early on seemed almost unfathomable. How were they going to pull through this? Could they even pull through this? The doctor had been far from optimistic. “We will do everything that we can,” he had said, “but given her condition…I am afraid that the odds are not in her favor.”
Those haunting words echoed themselves in Leighton’s mind. He didn’t want to even think about the chances of losing her. And yet…the possibility was very,
very real—as was the possibility of losing their unborn child.
He glanced up at the clock again. Only ten minutes had passed since the last time he had looked. It was just shy of nine o' clock, and the summer sun was just setting over the horizon. Leighton rubbed his temples as a dull headache made its presence known; this was going to be a very long night.
The waiting room was largely deserted, save for the nurse at the reception desk and an elderly couple off in the corner. Occasionally he would hear the two of them speaking, but for the most part they remained silent. Leighton wondered why they were there. A friend? A son, maybe a grandchild? Regardless of the reason why they were sitting in that room, one fact was abundantly clear:
they had each other to lean on.Oh how Leighton envied them.
“Mister Sekemoto?”
A low voice tore Leighton from his rampant thoughts; he looked up and noticed an older gentleman in full scrubs looking down at him, the expression on his face deadpan. Immediately Leighton’s heart started racing.
“Doctor,” he greeted as he slowly stood. “H…how is she?”
The doctor’s expression turned from deadpan to sullen. “Mister Sekemoto…I am afraid that I do not have good news,” he finally replied. “Your wife is in critical condition and is very unstable. She…is not expected to survive the night.”
Leighton fought back an oncoming wave of tears as the weight of the doctor’s words came crashing down upon him. No...no
no, it
wasn’t supposed to be like this! They were supposed to live their lives together, raise children together, grow old together.
“I am deeply, sincerely sorry, Mister Sekemoto,” he continued. “We did everything that we could possibly do, but the extent of her injuries is far too great. It was a miracle that we were even able to save the baby.”
Leighton's eyes shot open. “O...our baby survived?”
The doctor nodded. “Your son was very near full-term. We have him in an incubator for now as his breathing is a bit erratic, but he appears to be in otherwise good health.”
My son...but wait, didn't Doctor Jolina tell Morgana that she was having a girl?“Leighton?” He felt someone shaking his shoulders. “Snap
out of it, son!”
Leighton blinked a few times to clear his vision. He saw his mother standing over him, looking very concerned. It took Leighton a few moments to register that he was in Sunset Valley, not Riverview...and that the woman in surgery was
Morgana, not Shira. The scene that had just played out so clearly in his mind had happened more than six years ago. Memories of the rest of that horrible night came flooding back, and Leighton had a difficult time keeping his composure. Losing Shira had been a bitter pill to swallow; he didn’t know if he could handle losing Morgana too.
He didn’t even want to
think about what it would do to Sam.
“Are you all right? You seem a bit out of it,” Yumi asked.
“I...was having a bit of a flashback, I guess,” Leighton stammered. He grabbed a tissue from the nearby table and dabbed at his eyes, trying to stave off the tears that were threatening to fall. “Where is Sam?”
“With the Keatons. Justine was kind enough to offer to let him spend the night.” She sat down next to her son. “A flashback, you say?”
Leighton heaved a sigh. “I was back in the waiting room in Riverview...after the accident.”
Yumi nodded in silent understanding, a pensive expression on her face. “Any news yet?”
“Doctor Landgraab came out and said they're not sure what is going on, but given that Morgana is running a fever he thought it best to perform a C-section and get the baby out as soon as possible.” Leighton looked at the clock. “That was about…ten minutes ago? Maybe fifteen.”
Had it really only been that long?“You will probably hear something within the next few minutes. It usually doesn't take very long,” Yumi commented as she sat down next to her son. “Now for my other question: how are you holding up?”
“About how you'd expect,” came Leighton’s soft reply. “My wife and my daughter are in danger and there isn't anything that I can do about it.”
“Something that the both of us know all too well.”
Leighton didn't reply, instead leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. In the back of his mind he felt that Morgana would pull through this, but that small measure of uncertainty was enough to set his heart racing. This was not exactly how he envisioned their wedding night,
that much was for certain.
When Leighton heard the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway a few minutes later he immediately looked up.
He recognized the woman in full scrubs as Jamie, and in her arms was a tiny bundle wrapped in a delicate pink blanket. Slowly he rose from his seat, his breath catching in his throat as Jamie ever-so-gently placed the bundle into his arms.
“Mister Sekemoto, there is someone whom I would like you to meet.”
Time itself seemed to stop as he gazed into his daughter’s bright blue eyes for the first time. Leighton took her tiny hand in his, and almost reflexively the child wrapped her fingers around his thumb.
This time, he just let the tears flow freely.
“Hi sweetheart...oh my
goodness she is just adorable,” Yumi cooed. “You and Morgana picked out a name already, right?”
“Y...yes.” Leighton replied once he managed to find his voice again. “Alexia Grace.”
Alexia let out a gurgling coo seemingly in response.
“Congratulations,” Jamie chimed in. “She is just beautiful.”
“She looks just like her mother, she has no
choice but to be beautiful.” Leighton looked up at Jamie. “How is Morgana?”
“Still recovering from the anesthesia at the moment,” she began. “Doctor Landgraab is running a battery of tests to try and determine the underlying cause of the fever, but for right now she is stable. In fact...” Her voice trailed off. “I imagine that you should be able to go back and see her once she awakens. I would advise, though, until we know what exactly is ailing Morgana, that we keep Alexia in the nursery. The last thing we want is for a premature infant to be exposed to something contagious.”
“I suppose that’s understandable.” Leighton looked down at Alexia and gently tickled her chin, eliciting a soft giggle from the child.
“Well, just let me hold my granddaughter for a little while before you take her back to the nursery,” Yumi insisted. Leighton obliged, carefully handing the child over to her grandmother's eager arms.
Alexia, however, would have none of it and promptly started screaming.
“Well if
that’s your opinion…” Yumi grumbled as she placed her back into Leighton's embrace. Almost immediately the crying ceased, leaving Yumi silently fuming and Jamie only barely holding back a fit of laughter.
“I have a sneaking suspicion that miss Alexia is going to be a handful,” she snickered. “Let me bring her back to the nursery for now, then I will have a chat with Doctor Landgraab and see about getting you back to see Morgana. Does that sound all right?”
“Yes.” Leighton looked down at Alexia and smoothed back the tiny tuft of black hair atop her head. “Doctor Jamie will take good care of you. I promise I'll see you soon.”
The child fussed slightly as he handed her over, but soon settled into Jamie's arms and was almost instantly asleep. Leighton watched sullenly as Jamie retreated to the nursery with his baby daughter in tow, hoping that they would not be parted for too long.
---
About forty-five minutes later she returned with the go-ahead from Doctor Landgraab, and Leighton wasted no time in heading back to visit his bride. Given that Morgana had just undergone surgery he wasn't quite sure of what to expect. He braced himself for the worst as he slowly opened the door to her room.
Of all the images he had in his mind, Leighton most certainly did not expect
this—to see Morgana fully awake and alert. His anxiety melted away when he saw his new wife's smiling face.
“Hey, handsome,” Morgana greeted him.
Carefully Leighton sat down on the chair beside the bed and took her hand, kissing it gently. “How are you feeling?”
“Light-headed…a bit loopy.” She chuckled slightly. “Not exactly how I expected to spend our wedding night, but I guess Alexia had other ideas.”
“She just wanted to join the party, that’s all.” Leighton bent down and kissed Morgana on the forehead. “Did you have the chance to meet her?”
“No...not yet. Doctor Landgraab whisked her away before I had the chance. How is she?”
“Perfect. Absolutely perfect. Ten fingers, ten toes..." He paused. "And a serious set of lungs.”
Morgana let out a wistful sigh. “I can’t wait to hold her.”
“You should get your chance in fairly short order,” came a familiar voice from just outside the door. Moments later Geoffrey walked inside, clipboard in hand and a bright smile on his face.
“You’re smiling. That must mean it’s good news.”
“Indeed it is,” the doctor answered. “But first I must ask, have you been having any headaches recently? Sneezing? Any sort of nasal symptoms?”
“Well…yes, now that you mention it,” Morgana replied. “My allergies have been flaring up quite a bit this week.”
“No, not allergies,” Geoffrey corrected. “You, my dear, have a sinus infection.
That would be the reason why you are running a fever."
Morgana blinked. “That is it? What about that pain in my side?”
“Nothing more than a strained muscle. You probably pulled it sometime within the last day or two and just didn’t feel it until the labor pains hit.” A wry smirk crossed his lips. “I’m going to take a wild guess here. Moving furniture? Boxes?”
“A bookcase,” came Morgana’s sheepish reply.
“In other words, something you were
not supposed to be doing at almost eight-and-a-half months pregnant. Not that I’m at
all surprised by this.
You would still be up and going with a migraine, two broken legs, and a case of the llama pox.” Geoffrey crossed his arms and laughed. “Anyhow, barring any unforeseen complications from surgery both you and Alexia should be able to head some first thing tomorrow morning.”
Leighton breathed a sigh of relief and squeezed Morgana's hand. "Thank you, doctor."
"My pleasure," Geoffrey answered back. "I will say it made for one of the more
interesting nights I've had in recent history. It's not every day when you attend a wedding and then perform surgery on the bride less than three hours later." He glanced at the clock, then back at Leighton. "Well, I'd best be getting home. I will see the both of you bright and early tomorrow. Until then, try to get some rest."
"We will. Thank you again."
---
The next morning…
“Remember, I want you to stay off of your feet for the first week. No standing for long periods of time, no heavy lifting, no rearranging furniture, no grocery shopping, and if I see that you’ve logged into your hospital account I
may have to fire you.”
“All right, I
get the picture,” Morgana laughed. “I need to rest. I know.”
Geoffrey smiled. “Relax and enjoy that beautiful daughter of yours. You will have plenty of time to get work done after you’ve fully recovered, and rest assured I will have a full workload for you when you return from leave.”
“I’ll try to relax, I
promise.”
At that moment Geoffrey's cell phone rang. “Excuse me for just one moment,” he added as he held the phone up to his ear. “Yes?”
The voice on the other end sounded panicked, though Leighton couldn't quite make out what was being said. “Son,
calm—hold...hold on, Malcolm, I can't hardly understand you. Say that again?” Geoffrey's eyes widened. “All right. Try to stay calm, and make sure your mother is comfortable. I will be there in a few minutes.” A pause. “
What? She does
not need to be driving while she's in labor!”
Morgana looked at Leighton with an amused grin on her face.
“Tell her that I'm on my way. I'm leaving right now. All right, see you in a few.” Geoffrey placed his phone back in his pocket. “I hate to cut this short, but my wife has gone into labor and seems to want to drive
herself to the hospital.”
“Oh dear...”
“Take care of yourself, Morgana—and
remember what I said,” he called out as he ran for his car.
“I will. Good luck.”
“I'll need it...”
As Geoffrey sped away Leighton turned to his wife and gently kissed her on the cheek. “Are you ready to go home, my love?”
Morgana smiled. “I think we're more than ready.”
