Saturday, May 29, 2010

Chapter 31

The last month had moved by quickly and Karen's due date was now only a month away. She hadn't really been feeling all that well and been taking it easy every chance she had. Sidney had noticed and told her that if she didn't feel like going to the arena these last few weeks, he'd rather have her safe at home.

It was now November and for one home game, Natalie decided to stay with Karen and watch the game with her at her house. They wanted some popcorn, so Karen went to make it. As the microwave dinged, Karen reached for a glass bowl on a shelf. Natalie was getting settled in for the rest of the third period when she heard the distinct sound of glass breaking. She got off the couch and ran into the kitchen to see Karen on the floor and blood pooling around her legs.

"Oh my God, Karen what happened?"

"I felt a sharp pain and then I just collapsed. Something's not right Nat."

"Karen, your bleeding. Did you get cut by the bowl?"

"No" she said as she realized what it was from and started crying.

"Ok, hold on. I'm going to call an ambulance."

Natalie ran to get her cell phone as Karen tried to calm her self down by taking deep breaths. Natalie came back with 911 on the line and Karen heard her give the address and then tell them it was Sidney Crosby's wife. "They're on the way."

"I don't know what difference it made to tell them who I was married to" Karen said with a little laugh.

"You never know. Our husbands are like Gods in this city, they may fly here." Natalie tried to comfort her by holding her hand to reassure her everything was going to be ok.

"Nat, what if...."

"No" she said shaking her head "we are not going to even think it let alone talk about it. We will get to the hospital and everything will be ok."

"Ok, but Nat..."

"No buts either."

"NAT!"

"What?"

"You need to call the arena."

Natalie heard them say there was still 8 minutes left in the game "ok, the game's almost over so if they get him now, he might be able to leave before the mad rush." Karen saw her dial and then leave the room. She heard the ambulance and let them in as she got connected to the arena. "I know this seems like a bad time to reach the players, but this is an extreme emergency...this is Natalie Talbot, I need an urgent message to get to Sidney Crosby right away...no I can't hold, tell him his wife got hurt and went into labor early...I know the game is still going on moron, his wife is in labor, being taken to the hospital by an ambulance and you want to argue with me. Tell him now that he needs to get to the hospital ASAP...THANK YOU!" Natalie hung up and left the house with Karen going in the ambulance with her. They reached the hospital a few minutes later and Karen was rushed into the OR. Natalie waited in the waiting room and was watching the post game and heard Paul Alexander talking.

We just got word why Sidney Crosby left the ice with more than 6 minutes remaining in the game. His wife went into early labor and no doubt he wanted to be with her. We here at FSN hopes everything is ok and we will let everyone know when more information is available.

Sidney practically threw off his gear and got dressed in a hurry putting on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. He heard Max say they would be there when they could and ran out of the arena. He got into his car and called Natalie's cell phone as he was on his way.

"Where is she? Is Karen ok?"

"They have her in the OR. No one has come out to say anything to me Sid."

"Fuck, I'm on my way. If you get to see her, tell her I am on my way." He hung up from her so he could concentrate on driving. About five minutes later, Sidney pulled up to the hospital and ran inside to be met by Natalie who just shook her head. Sidney went to the desk to get some answers. "I need some information about my wife, Karen Crosby. Please, can you help me?"

The nurse looked through her book "here it is...Mrs. Crosby is in the operating room right now. They are doing an emergency C section."

"Oh God" Sidney said falling to his knees and Natalie came running over to him "I can't lose her Nat."

"None of us do, come on let's go sit down." She got Sidney off the floor and over to a chair "she's a fighter Sid, we know she's not going to let anything happen to that precious baby of yours."

"I love her so much. I knew she's been feeling off and I should have not played tonight, staying home with her."

"Sid, if this didn't happen tonight, it could have been another time. Be thankful she was home safe and I was with her."

"Thanks Nat, I am grateful you were there. What happened anyway?"

"She made some popcorn and I heard the microwave go off. Next thing I knew, glass was breaking and when I ran into the kitchen Karen was holding her stomach and blood was all around her legs. It didn't take a genius to know where it was coming from. I called the ambulance and then the arena to get word to you." They sat there holding hands and waiting on bated breath until someone came to talk to them.

An hour later, most the the guys had joined Sidney in the waiting room. He had gotten up to see what was taking so long when Dr. Kelley came out.

"Is Karen ok? What's going on? Can I see her?"

"Karen is doing good. Her placenta ruptured and we had to do a C section. Evrything is fine and Karen will be
in her room shortly. Would you like to go see the babies?"

Sidney started to follow her when he stopped dead in his tracks "babies? Did you just say babies, as in more than one?"

"Karen was carrying twins. Did she not tell you? I had told her a couple months ago that she was having twins."

Sidney couldn't decide to either cry, faint, or scream at the top of his lungs. He just turned to his teammates and yelled "TWINS!" Everyone clapped and cheered as Sidney went with Dr. Kelley to Infant ICU.

"They are in an incubator and are trying to breathe on their own, but we have oxygen flowing for them. They are still a month early and twins are smaller anyway so we will probably need to keep them for the remaining month until their vital signs improve. They are healthy and getting stronger every minute Sid."

"Thanks but why would she keep this from me?"

"I think she wanted to surprise you when she went into natural labor. You can stay with them for a little bit longer. Karen should be in her room by then."

"Thanks Dr. Kelley, for everything."

"It was my pleasure Sid."

Sidney looked at the cards on the incubators and saw the words baby boy Crosby and baby girl Crosby. He smiled and let the few tears fall down his cheeks.

"We have been waiting a long time for you two. Of course, I only thought there was one of you and now I have you both. My son and my daughter at once. Your mom has some explaining to do but whatever she tells me, I'll be fine with it. Your mom is an amazing woman and you are going to love her, just as much as I do. I better go and let you two start getting better so we can take you home. I love you guys." Sidney kissed his fingers and placed them on each incubator before he left. He went out to tell everyone in the waiting room about the babies. The nurse came out a few minutes later and told him that Karen was being moved to her room and he could go see her. All the guys told Sidney to give Karen their love and only Max and Natalie stayed to go with him to her room.

The three of them quietly walked into the room and saw Karen hooked up to a couple machines. Natalie couldn't stop the tears and Max just held her. Sidney stood back and let her best friend give her a kiss on the cheek and whispered to her. Max just kissed her and told her that she better be ok because he missed her around the arena. They both left and bid Sidney goodnight.

Sidney brought over a chair that was in the corner and sat beside her bed. He grabbed Karen's hand, holding it and bringing his lips down to kiss the back of it.

"Baby, what I really need for you to do is wake up for me. I know you just had surgery but you need to come back to me. I don't think I have ever been so scared in my life than the message I got at the arena that you were being brought here. A million bad thoughts went through my mind until I knew you were alright." Sidney thought he felt her squeeze his hand but wasn't sure "I can't believe you kept a two month long secret from me that we were having twins. We have a boy and a girl baby. They are so beautiful, of course look who their mother is. I am so proud of you" he said moving a piece of stray hair from her cheek "we have our family baby" he whispered before dipping his head down and kissing her hand.

3 comments:

  1. Twins!!! What a surprise!! Hope they all will be ok!!

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  2. why do i think they may be jordan's? i love that you are updating, please keep it up!!!!

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  3. oooh Gabriella, I thought they were Sid's but maybe they're Jordan's??? Have they got a mess of blonde hair on their tiny heads?

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