Page 144 - The Letter By Ann Newhouse
P. 144

It was near midnight before Penny rang from the hospital. They suspected Seki had a blood clot and they were doing some tests. They may have to take the baby early. ‘She is in and out of conscience, they say she knows we are here’, she sobbed, ‘Paul is explaining to her about the baby, she has asked to call her after her mother if it’s a girl’, she hung up then choked with emotion. I felt emotionally drained. Rex tried to persuade me to go to bed but I refused I had to find out if they were both ok.
I had replenished the coffee pot ready for when they would return and stretched out on the sofa with Rex when the phone rang hesitating he picked up the receiver, listening intently.
I knew by the look on his face that it was bad news.
‘It’s Seki’, he turned slowly to me, and said, ‘she’s gone’.
I could hear crying, but I don’t know whether it came from me or Rex. We both sobbed for what seemed like hours when suddenly I remembered, ‘The baby!’ I exclaimed, ‘the baby did it survive’? still crying I prayed, ‘God please let the baby have survived at least’.
‘Yes, a baby girl’, Rex whispered, ‘she only weighed 2lb but is a fighter the doctors say she has a good chance’.
Somehow it was a small consolation.
Paul and Penny came home at 6am and we persuaded them to go shower while we made them something to eat. Neither really ate anything but we needed to feel like we were doing something. Penny was in obvious shock, but Paul was but a shadow of himself. He didn’t talk only to say he needed to get back to the hospital to see Seki and his daughter. It was heartbreaking to watch this broken man.


































































































   142   143   144   145   146