FLY LIKE A BIRD

OK THIS IS PART 1 OF THIS CHAPTER. ITS PRETTY MUCH ALL INFORMATIVE. JUST TO LET YOU KNOW WHATS HAPPENING WITH NICKI & THE BABY. PART 2 WILL BE UP ON WEDNESDAY & PART 3 WILL BE UP ON FRIDAY. AFTER THAT I WILL NOT BE POSTING ON SUNDAY. I HAVE A LOT OF WORK 2 CATCH UP ON SO I'LL BE TO BUSY. BUT ENUFF OF ALL THAT HERES PART 1. ENJOY!



chapter 42: part 1

Nicki sat on the bed in the delivery suite worried. It had almost been as hour since Drake had left to look for his mother. She & her mother were praying that she was alright. Maria had been coming in periodically to check on Nicki making sure she was comfortable & checking her vitals. She got her started on the medicine even though Nicki was upset she couldn’t wait on Drake. She was seconds from having SB go search for him when he peeked around the corner.

“Hi.” He said softly. “I know I’ve been gone for a long time. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. You’re here now.”

“You have visitors.” He said giving her a half smile. Sandi peeked from behind him.

“Hi Nicki.” She waved. Nicki was happy to see her. She held her arms out to hug her. Sandi walked over & embraced her tightly.  “How are you honey?”

“I’m ok.” Nicki told her. 40 wasn’t far behind. He came over to her & kissed her forehead gently. “im glad you guys made it here ok. I was worried.”

“Don’t worry about us. We’re worried about you. Aubrey told us about everything that’s been going on.”

“Yeah it’s been a long day.” She sighed.

“I know it has.” Sandi said patting her hand.

“You don’t know how much it means to me that you’re all here. Thank you.”

“Ooooh don’t you thank me. I don’t even want you to talk right now. Save your energy. You need your strength.” Sandi said waving her off. “I’m gonna go see if they have more chairs around here. Come help me Noah.” She beckoned. She & 40 left on a hunt for more chairs for the room. Drake tried to help Nicki get as comfortable as she could in the bed.

"i talked to Shanell. She said the road are too bad so her & Wayne rented a hotel & they'll be here first thing in the morning."
"Good. i dont want her out in this shit. I dont wannahave to worry about her too." Nicki said. "i hope Koyoa get's here soon. now that this medicine's starting to work i wanna get some sleep." Everyone was starting to get tired. Just as Nicki was about to doze off, Maria came in the room.

“Hi Nicki.” She said softly. Nicki smiled. “How are you feeling now?”

“Better.” She almost whispered.

“That’s good. It looks like your contractions are slowing down. They should completely stop within the next 20 minutes or so.”

“Am I supposed to feel nauseous?” she asked. Maria frowned slightly.

“Unfortunately yes. The medicine will make you feel a little sick to your stomach. It’s also gonna make you feel tired, which is good. You need the rest. I just came in to let you know that Koyoa is in the hospital now but she’s doing an emergency C-section with Dr. Dolkart so it will be a little while before she gets here but she’s gonna come & see you before she goes home.”

“That’s good.”

“I also wanted to see you 1 more time before I headed out.”

“You’re leaving?” Nicki asked.

“Yeah, my shift is over. But I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Awww but I don’t want you to go my little puffy yuffy yumpkin.” Nicki said as she lazily reached for Maria’s hand. Maria giggled. She could tell Nicki was getting sleepy.

“Puffy yuffy yumpkin?” said Maria.

“Yeah cuz you have the pretty little powerpuffs on your scrbs.” Maria laughed.

“Ok Nicki. But I have to get some sleep. But I’ll be back tomorrow, I promise.” She smiled.

“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow my little powerpuff.” Nicki yawned. She closed her eyes & laid down. Maria smiled & rubbed her shoulder gently. She turned to Drake. “The new nurse should be in soon. I’ll be back tomorrow. You might wanna keep an eye on her. She’s gonna be feeling sick while she’s on this medicine. She could throw up.”

“Alright. I’ll look out for her. Thank you.” he said as he stoked Nicki’s hair. She was already asleep, snoring lightly.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Maria said as she patted his shoulder before leaving. He spent the next few minutes just watching her & thinking.  He was trying so hard to be strong for her, but it was tough. Talking to his mother before he came back up on the unit with Nicki did help but he felt like he wasn’t doing his job as a man when he was crying to his mother. He was silently scolding himself & he promised there wouldn’t be another episode. He was in a bit of a trance & was shocked when his mother put her hand on his head.  He looked back at her & smiled.

“You need to sleep sweetie. You look horrible.” She stroked his cheek.

“I’m not tired.”

“What makes you think you can lie to your mother. You’ve been trying since you were 2 & it hasn’t worked yet.” Sandi laughed. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You can’t do anything for her if you’re not taking care of yourself.”

“I know ma. But I just wanna make sure she’s ok.” Sandi kissed his cheek.

“She’s sleeping. You should too.” She was right. The day had worn him out. He got comfortable in his chair & dozed off. He was trying to get into a deep sleep but he couldn’t. He kept hearing Nicki moaning in her sleep. She looked uncomfortable. After a while he couldn’t take it. He nudged her gently, waking her.

“What’s wrong baby?” he asked her.

“My stomach hurts. I feel like I’m gonna throw up.” She said, her face twisted in discomfort.

“What do you want me to do babe?” he asked. She couldn’t speak, only pointing to the wastebasket while covering her mouth. He handed it to her just as she bent over & expelled everything she ate all day. He handed her tissue when she sat back up so she could wipe her mouth.

“Oh my god. I hate this shit.” She cried.

“There’s gotta be something somebody can do. I’ll call the nurse.” He pressed the call button. Before long there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.” she said softly. Koyoa walked in & closed the door behind her.

“Hey, how you feelin? I came  in earlier to check on you but you were sleeping. I didn’t wanna wake you.” she asked.

“I’m ok. Just glad the contractions stopped. But I feel so sick to my stomach.” She admitted.

“Yeah the medicine will do that to you. I’ll get you some Zofran for that but 1^st I need to check you.”  Nicki sluggishly rolled on to her back. “I’m sorry baby. I know this shit is horrible. I’ll be quick I promise.” She gave Nicki a sympathetic look as she pulled on a pair of gloves. As promised, she was quick with the exam & for that Nicki was thankful. After she pulled off her gloves she went to get the medicine for Nicki with a cup of water. She then sat down next to Nicki on her bed. “Nicki if you’re up for it I’d like to talk to you about some things.” Nicki say up slowly.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Well 1^st as you probably know the medicine I gave you stopped the contractions. And your blood pressure has dropped significantly. So that’s good. Malaki’s heart rate has been stable for the past few hours so that’s good too. He’s not showing any signs of distress.” Nicki smiled slightly. She was happy to hear some good news.

“Well I’m glad for that. My main concern is him.” Nicki said as she gently stroked her belly.

“Well right now baby my main concern is you. I know you love him & I don’t say this to be mean but my job will always be to help you first. And since were on the subject, I wanna break a few things down for you.” Nicki took a deep breath before nodding her head, signaling for Koyoa to continue. “As of right now you are no longer in labor but there is no guarantee that it will stay that way. Because of the placental abruption, you could go back into labor at any time. So I wanna tell you what would happen if you do go back into labor. If you did, you would be at risk for full eclampsia & I don’t want that so the best option for you would be to deliver the baby.”

“But isn’t it too soon? I don’t want that!” Nicki cried.

“Nicki I know you’re worried but my main concern is getting you through the delivery safely. You’re almost 28 weeks so he has a very good chance of surviving. And the NICU team here is very good. They’ll take good care of him.” Nicki was sad. She was glad that Koyoa would take good care of her but she wanted her son safe. She took a deep breath trying to hold back tears.

“Ok so if I do go back into labor, what will happen? What can I expect?”

“Well, if you go back into labor, I wanna give you an epidural right away. Hopefully that will slow down your labor a bit & keep your blood pressure under control. I know we’ve talked about you wanting to be alert during the birth so if time permits I can make that happen. But if not, I’m gonna give you some general anesthesia that’s gonna put you to sleep, but you won’t feel anything. I’ll do a C-section to get him out as quickly & safely as possible. After that he’ll be taken to the NICU where they’ll run some tests & watch him for a few days.”

“Will I get to see him?” Nicki asked.

“Probably not at first but after a few hours you should be able to depending on your condition.”

“Ok so when can I go home?”

“Oh no baby, you’re here for the long haul. As soon as we get a free room on the residential floor, that’s that’s we’ll put you.” Nicki shook her head slowly.

“This is not how I pictured this. I wanna be home with my family, not here.”

“I know but right now this is the safest option for the both of you. Your condition could change at any moment. I need you to be here so we can control the situation. I know you’re upset but it’s for the best, baby.”

“I know.” Koyoa felt really bad. She knew Nicki was terrified. She wished there was something she could do to make things better.

“Just hang in there baby girl. Let’s count our blessings. Were lucky he didn’t decide to make an appearance today. Everyone is safe right now. Think about that tonight. I’m gonna go & let you get some sleep. We’ll talk more in the morning.” Koyoa stroked her hair slightly before leaving.

“She’s right you know.” Drake said to her. “You gotta focus on the good in this situation. I know it’s not the best right now but it could have been a lot worse.” He kissed her forehead.

“I know you’re right. I just don’t think I can handle all this.”

“I know you can. You can handle anything. But try handling some sleep now. You need to rest.” Nicki sighed as she laid back down on the bed. She closed her eyes & silently prayed for the strength to keep it together for her & her baby until sleep came.

  


btw if you havent heard "fly like a bird" by mariah carey......you should.