Chapter 47: Chapter 47
Radiation therapy has now been completed for the first two weeks of the treatment. The days of the week that I attend are Sundays and Thursdays. It has come to our attention that this particular kind of radiation is a totally novel kind that we have never seen previously in any of our investigations. My most recent battle with it was of the severe variety, during which time everything hurt and I was unable to move about very effectively. This time, I'm not nearly as weary as I was, and the only place of my body where the skin is peeling off is my shoulders. That doesn't get on my nerves in the least.
After getting his walking cast adjusted, Mark is finally back at work. At this very moment, Abby and I are decompressing at home by watching a movie together. Today marked the beginning of my fifth and last session of radiation therapy. I couldn't be happier right now if I tried.
She gasps, "Oh my god," while grabbing her stomach and expressing shock at the situation.
"You ok?" I inquire sitting up awake. My pregnancy progressed more quickly than expected, and I was three weeks ahead of schedule, yet she is only two weeks away from her due date.
"I'm fine, so please don't worry about me — whoops! Absolutely unacceptable, this is not acceptable in any way!" She utters these words while clutching her stomach and muttering in an obviously distressed manner.
"Ok, ok. Do not panic. Continue to breathe normally. In and out, with continuous movement in both directions" I make an effort to reassure her as I move up to her and help her stand while simultaneously offering my assistance.
"Charlie, give me a call." She stutters when she speaks.
"I'll take care of it at the hospital once we've brought you there. You carry more weight than ever before at this juncture." The following sentence is what I say as we step out of the elevator.
"Th-thanks." The following sound that I pick up is her stuttering, then another groan after that.
"Don't bring it up again." I say this as I assist her in getting into the car and then quickly make my way to the front driver's side of the vehicle. I'm really thankful that Mark is willing to drive my truck today. I don't think that I would have been able to persuade her to carry it through even if I had tried.
I shift the automobile into drive and begin driving as swiftly as I can go while still adhering to the maximum speed limit that is stated. At the very least, not an unreasonable quantity. If she were to give birth while we were driving, I don't think Mark would murder me, but I wouldn't know how to assist her in delivering the baby if that were to happen.
I am there to help her out of the car once we have arrived at the medical facility where we are going. She takes a momentary pause before exclaiming, "Oh no!"
"Hmm Oh oh?" I would appreciate it if she would refrain from staring over at her.
She does it in a circumspect manner and glances across at me while she does so. "My water broke." Like she mentioned earlier.
My eyes immediately widen, and I make a beeline for the emergency room of the hospital in an effort to get her there as soon as humanly possible. When I walk into this building, I'm taken aback to realize that there are only a few people present. My impression was that there was a lot going on at all times in the hospitals. A doctor comes up to us. "The bejesus, what the heck is going on in this area?" He asks.
"Her water broke." I say. He then makes a hand signal to a nurse and gives her instructions to bring a rolling bed over to him. After getting to her feet, Abby wanders over to the couch and lays down.
What exactly is your relationship to her, if there is one at all? The doctor pursues his line of inquiry.
"You can refer to me as your friend." I say. Abby gives me a grin despite the fact that she is laboriously taking in air.
"Alright. We are going to find a place for her to stay." It is suggested by the attending physician that the bed be rolled into the room from the corridor.
I'm going to dial Charlie's number straight away and have a chat with him. I turn to Abby as I'm walking out of the room in order to get her attention before I proceed down the hallway.
"Hello?" Charlie answers.
"Hi dad." I am playful.
"Can you please explain what is taking place?" He asks with an air of suspicion hanging over his head.
It won't be long before your daughter arrives there. Despite the fact that he is unable to see me, I give him the information with a friendly grin.
"What?!" He asks. "Are you serious?"
"She is sixty cm tall according to our measurements. There is a chance that she will give birth sometime today or tonight." By putting his head through the crack in the door, the physician makes his statement.
"Yep. I mean this with absolute sincerity." I speak into the microphone that is attached to the phone receiver.
"Give me a little while, and I'll be there." He says hanging up.
"Goodbye." I say nothing. I extract my phone from my pocket and start dialing Mark's number. He doesn't answer. "Hi, Mark! I am sorry to bother you at this time, but I wanted to let you know that Abby is now going through the labor process. I am sure you are quite busy right now. I-" I restrained myself from demonstrating my feelings of fondness for you. "Bye." I also call my father, who informs me that he is currently driving to our house.
While we wait for Charlie to come, I stay with Abby and help her through the contractions she is experiencing in preparation for the birth of our baby. We made a strong effort to deflect her attention from what was going on. She has the impression that she is being used as a test subject because she has been locked in this room with all of these wires and machines for so long.
"Wow, this has had to be one of the most impressive scientific displays that has ever taken place." At this time, I have no words to express how I feel.
"Simply put, I want to get absolutely no more involved with her. My brain pregnancy lasted for about nine months, during which time I had morning sickness, swelling in my feet, and the stare from both of my parents. I also had to deal with the fact that they were both concerned about me." The woman goes on a rage.
"How do you look?" I ask. At least she is not giving her unborn child any thought while it is still forming inside of her while she is pregnant.
"When I had broken the news to my parents for the first time, they said that they did comprehend it, but their expressions strongly suggested that this was not the case. It had been three months by the time I finally moved out, and I saw them the day after I moved out, which was the day before we were supposed to leave. They gave off the impression of being happier. It was as though the burden of the obligation of bringing up a grandchild outside of wedlock was taken away from them. That frown is driving me absolutely crazy." Following then, there was total silence throughout the entire room. Too quiet.
I am so sad to hear that, Abby. I let her know that I'm going to approach her from behind and rest my hand on her shoulder as I walk over to her. It seemed like I was preparing to signal another contraction, so she turned her attention back to the child that she was carrying in her womb.
Charlie and I just kept our distance and observed as she dealt with the matter on her own while we did nothing. It's possible that we wouldn't be here today if we hadn't done it, but it's also possible that we wouldn't have died yet.
Abby eventually went asleep while Charlie and I were having a good time playing some cards. Mark arrived as we were in the middle of playing war, and my dad arrived a little time after Mark did. The three of us continued playing for a long after they arrived.
She shrieked Charlie's name as she shook herself awake and let out an exclaim. The way in which she behaved caught all of us off guard. Charlie jumped to his feet and started walking over to her without pausing for a moment before doing so.
"What exactly is the problem?" When he finally takes her by the hand, he asks her the question.
"It is a very bothersome experience. This contraction is causing me a great deal of discomfort." As time goes on, I can picture her grip on Charlie's hand becoming increasingly solid.
"Give me a moment," she said, "and I'll go find the doctor." My father has suggested that I get up and head out the door as soon as possible.
The man repeated over and over, "in and out, in and out." My recommendation to her is that she create more obstructions. She takes my advice and agrees with what I have to offer. It has come as a bit of a surprise to me that she has not yet cautioned me to keep quiet.
"So, in that case, what exactly is occurring in this area?" It takes the doctor such a little amount of time to get there that it's almost funny.
"I'm in pain." Abby has a tendency to exaggerate things. Together with the rest of the others, she lets out the tiniest little giggle as well.
Before beginning his lecture, the doctor fiddles with a few various things in his office. The doctor stated, "That makes great sense, your 10 centimeters dilated," in response to the patient's condition. He says it in a nonchalant manner. The sense that one gets from him is that he is a sarcastic physician. I like it.
I don't understand what you mean when you say I can escape from her. She is inquiring with a spark of excitement in her eyes. The doctor gives a slight nod in agreement. "I couldn't agree more!" She stretches out her neck and leans back, letting out a sigh as she does so.
After leaving the examination room, the physician comes back in with a nurse in tow. By putting together Abby's bed, he gets it ready for transfer to its new location. Another nurse walks in here with Charlie's scrubs, as well as three hairnets and a pair of gloves. "Get cleaned up, because you're going to be a father!" She includes this in the conversation while she is delivering Charlie the items. I can't help but grin when I see him smile, and I imagine that Mark is happy because I'm smiling because Charlie is smiling because he's going to be a dad in fewer than thirty to forty minutes. I just can't help but smile when I see him smile. When we see each other smiling, neither one of us can help but break out in a grin.
Mark, my dad, and I wait together in the waiting room of the medical facility. Maddy enters the room a few minutes after the others do, after they have already gone into the other room. While we wait patiently for Charlie or the doctor to come out and give us the good news, we are just holding our breath and trying not to breathe too deeply.
"Wanna meet my daughter?" Charlie asks the question with an ecstatic grin plastered on his face.
We all follow him into the room, and once we're there, we see Abby standing there with a tiny child in her arms, completely drenched in sweat.
What did you decide to call her? Maddy asks.
"Let me guess. Alexis." Mark says.
"How were you able to make that determination? Did Abby tell you?" Charlie asks.
"What! Is that what you mean to say?" Mark is curious, and his eyes are starting to get rather big.
"Yeah. This monicker has been the one we've decided to use right from the start." "I'm very sleepy," Abby mumbles.
"What allowed you to make that determination?" I lower my voice to a whisper and hush Mark.
"I can't believe my good fortune!" He says it with a glint in his eye and a chuckle in his voice.