Chapter Twenty Two:

“Damnit, Nora!” he shouts as he grabs the paddles. It only takes one shock and the monitors level off. Larry wipes his forearm across his brow and looks around the room, “Okay people; let’s get her pressure up and control this bleeding.”

Out in the hallway Bo walks over to the nurses’ station and picks up the phone, “Hi, Pa…Yeah well our plans had to change…Listen Pa, Nora had the baby tonight. She went into labor in the cabin…The baby’s fine, Pa. It’s a boy…Pa…Pa, listen to me. Nora’s in the hospital, she’s in pretty bad shape…Larry said she’s gone into shock…They’re still working on her. I just wanted to let you know about Nora and the baby,” Bo nods his head, “Okay, Pa, I’ll see you guys in a little while.”

Bo hangs up the phone and walks over to the window. He watches the doctors as they work on her. He tries to read Larry’s lips, trying to figure out what’s going on with her. He turns a little while later when he feels a hand on his shoulder, “Well that was fa,” he says, thinking it was Asa, “Oh, Hank; I’m sorry I thought you were Asa.”

Hank looks into the window and down at Bo, “How is she?”

Bo shakes his head, ‘I don’t know, Hank.” He looks from the window over at Hank, “How did you know we were here?”

“I was at the station and someone said that the call for medivac chopper had come over the dispatch; that the Commissioner’s wife was in labor. I’ve been calling every ten minutes waiting to hear that the chopper landed.”

Bo smiles and then turns and looks back through the window, his smile disappearing, “I’ve never been so scared, Hank, not even after the accident when we lost Sarah. I mean I’ve gone through the training, in theory I knew what I was doing, but…”

“It’s a whole other story when it’s the woman you love.”

Bo nods, “It all happened so fast. One minute we were lying on the couch in front of the fire, the next she was in labor,” He walks away from the window and sits down in the row of chairs across from the trauma room, “She was just so tired towards the end. I…I have no idea if she even got to see the baby before she lost consciousness.”

Hank places his hand on Bo’s shoulder and squeezes it, “She’s going to be okay, buddy. She’s survived too much already not to be.”

Bo nods and looks up, noticing the door opening and Larry walking over to them. Bo stands up and meets him half way, “How is she Larry?”

“She’s coming around, Bo. We’ve gotten her blood pressure back up and have gotten the bleeding to stop. She’s sleeping right now but if you want to go in and sit with her that would be fine. We’ll move her up to the maternity ward in a little while.”

Bo shakes Larry’s hand, “Thank you so much, Doc; for everything.”

“It was my pleasure, Bo,” Larry pats him on the back, “Congratulations, daddy.”

Bo turns and looks at Hank who just nods, “I’ll be waiting out here. I’ll visit with her later.”

Bo nods and shakes Hank’s hand before going in to sit with Nora. He walks over and sits down beside her. She still looks so pale, he thinks to himself. He brushes the hair off her brow, the movement causing her to stir. Her eyes slowly flutter open, blinking as she adjusts to the bright lights. She slowly turns her head, a small smile forming when she sees him sitting beside her, “Hey, there beautiful. Welcome back.”

“What happened?”

“You went into shock after the baby came, but Larry says you’re going to be just fine.”

“Have you seen him?” she asks with a smile.

“Not since the helicopter ride here. I wanted us to see him together.”

“Is he okay?”

“He’s small, but Larry said he’s strong and doing well. They took him up to the NICU right after we landed.” Nora begins to try and get out of bed, “Where are you going?”

“I want to go see him.”

“Okay, get back in bed and I’ll go get a nurse to take us up there.” Nora nods and settles back into the bed. Bo leaves and returns a few minutes later with a wheelchair, “Your chariot awaits madam.”

Bo helps her out of bed and into the wheelchair. He wraps a blanket across her lap as the nurse helps him situate her IV. They exit the room and sitting in the chairs across from the room is Asa, Renee, and Hank, “How you feeling darling?” Renee asks.

“I’m tired but happy,” she looks back at Bo and then at her in laws, “We’re going to go up and see him. Do you want to come up?”

“We’ll come up and see him in a little bit, honey.” Asa says with a smile and a kiss on her cheek, “You two go see your son.”

She looks up at Hank. He smiles down at her, knowing what she was thinking, “I’ll take care of calling Rachel. Congratulations you guys.”

They said their goodbyes for the moment and entered the elevator. A few minutes later they were waiting outside the NICU. Bo wheels her in and over to where their son was, lying in the open bassinet. Nora looks up at Bo, smiling through her tears, “He’s so small.”

The nurse smiles, “He’s a strong one; already off the respirator,” she picks him up and brings him over to Nora, “Here you go.”

Bo kneels down beside her. The baby reaches out and grasps Bo’s finger, “Hey there little man.” He looks over at Nora, “I guess we better settle on a name for this little guy, Buchanan Jr. just isn’t going to cut it anymore.”

She looks down at the small bundle in her arms, draped in a pale blue blanket, their little gift from above. She looks up at Bo, “Matthew,” she says in a whisper.

Bo looks down at their son, “Matthew…” he says just as quietly.

She continues to look at Matthew as she speaks, “It’s Hebrew, meaning ‘gift from God,’ and that’s exactly what he is.”

Bo leans in and kisses her, “It’s perfect.”

She looks at Bo and then back at their son, “Happy Birthday Matthew Hanen Buchanan.”

Matthew and Nora were both transferred to their private room. Larry kept them both for a few extra days just to make sure every thing was fine.

Bo walks into her room the morning of their release, a huge bouquet of flowers in hand. Bo walks over to the bed and hands her the flowers. He leans in and kisses her good morning before walking over to the bassinet on the other side of the bed. He kisses Matthew good morning and then sits down beside her, “So has Larry told you when he’s going to spring you?”

“We both have one more checkup and then we’re free.” She looks over at Matthew and then over at Bo, “Thank you,” she says quietly.

“For what?”

“For him,” she says through her tears.

“Oh, Red,” he says as he wipes the tears from her face, “I’m the one who should be thanking you.”

They left the hospital later that morning. Asa and Renee were at the house waiting with the rest of their family and friends. Hank had had a few officers go up to the cabin and pick up Nora’s car and leave it for them at the hospital. They pull into their driveway thirty minutes later. Bo helps her out of the car, supporting her with one arm while he held the carrier in the other. He pushes the front door open and steps to the side. Nora walks in and smiles at the decorations hanging around the room.

“Welcome home, mama,” she hears from the corner by the stairs. She turns and slowly walks over and into her daughter’s arms.

Nora breaks their embrace and holds Rachel’s face in her hands, “I’m so glad you’re here, baby.”

“Daddy called me and I left as soon as I could. I couldn’t miss welcoming my baby brother into the world.”

Nora looks over at Matthew as he sleeps in the carrier that Bo is still holding. Nora looks back over at Rachel, “He’s beautiful, isn’t he?”

“He’s an angel.”

Nora kisses Rachel’s cheek and looks around the room at the rest of the family there to welcome her and Matthew home. She walks over to Viki and then Renee. Asa walks up to her and lays his hands on either side of her face, “I know I give you a hard time and believe me you give as good as you get, but you’re one hell of a woman, Nora Buchanan,” He kisses her forehead, “Thank you for giving me my grandson.”

Nora looks up at Asa, smiling through her tears, “Yeah, I love you too, you old coot.” She leans up and kisses him. She walks over and picks Matthew up out of the carrier. He stirs in his mother’s arms, his eyes slowly fluttering open. She walks over to Asa and hands him their son, “This is your grandpa, Matthew,” she looks up at him, “He’s waited a long time for you.”

Bo walks up and wraps his arms around her from behind and kisses her temple, “I love you,” he whispers in her ear as they watch grandson and grandpa get to know each other.

Everyone left an hour later to give Nora some time to rest. Renee suggested a party for the rest of the family to meet Matthew. They agreed to the party being the following evening. Bo stands in the doorway, waving as they pull out of the driveway. He closes the door and turns to find himself alone in the living room. He walks upstairs and finds her sitting in their bedroom, watching Matthew as he sleeps in the bassinet beside their bed. He walks over and sits down beside her on the bed, “Penny for your thoughts, Red.”

She shakes her head and continues to look down at their sleeping son, “I can see Sarah in him,” she runs her finger over his soft cheek causing him to stir slightly, “I mean he has your hair color and hers was red, he has my eyes not yours, but I can see her in him just the same.”

Bo slides closer to her and puts his arm around her from behind, “Of course you do, and I’m sure you’ll even see some of Rachel in him too.”

Nora nods, “I do, it’s just with him here now,” she shakes her head, “never mind I’m just being emotional.”

“You realize what we missed out on with her, don’t you?” she continues to look at Matthew. He reaches over and turns her face, “Don’t you?” she nods as a tear falls onto her cheek. He leans in and kisses the tear from her face, “Honey, it’s only natural that you would think that, and I’m sure it’ll happen again, especially as he grows up and hits his milestones. If we think about Sarah it doesn’t mean we love Matthew any less.” He looks over at her as another tear falls, “That’s what you’re afraid of isn’t it?”

She nods, “I know we’ve talked about this before, how we love each of our children equally, it’s just I want to celebrate his life without this sadness,” she looks up at him, “When does the sadness go away?”

Bo stands up and walks around to his side of the bed. He kneels behind her laying his hands on her shoulders, pulling her down onto the bed with him. She lays her head on his chest as he runs his hands through her hair. He kisses the top of her head and takes a deep breath, “I don’t know if the sadness will ever go away, Red, but it’s getting easier and you know that,” she nods and lays her hand across his stomach, “We have a beautiful baby boy laying asleep in that bassinet over there, we’ve made it through the darkness we fell into after Sarah and now all we have to do is live our lives together and raise our little boy, and by doing that we’ll continue to heal.”

She nods knowing he was right, knowing that they would make it through what lies ahead. They will celebrate each day they’re given, hold on to the precious love they share and the amazing life they brought into the world.

TBC…