Harper & Lee Plus Three

Gone

I woke up in the hospital bed. My three kids slept down in the nursery. I tried to roll over, but I was way, way too sore from my C-section. Lee was asleep in the chair on the other side of the room. I pressed the button next to my bed and a nurse came in.

"Hi, how are you feeling this morning?" she asked. "My name is Nurse Traci by the way."

"Sore. I think I need some more of those pain meds again. And breakfast. And I want to see my three babies!" I said.

"Sure thing. I'll get you all taken care of," she said with a nice smile.

I looked over to the rolling desktop where my laptop was. I pulled it over and immediately started watching Castle of Shadows. I fell asleep literally right before a shirtless fight scene between Beau and Ace.

"Knock knock!" said the nurse at the door a few minutes later. "We have a delivery!"

I paused the show and closed my laptop. Her and two other nurses wheeled in my beautiful babies. Lukas was crying, so I picked him up first and tried to calm him down. Lee held Noella in one arm and Zophia in the other. They were both sound asleep.

"They're so perfect and precious," I said.

"As long as they're quiet, I'll take it," Lee said.

I checked my phone with my free hand. Visiting hours were starting soon. My whole family and Etsy visited me last night, but I knew everyone wanted to come back again today.

I spent the morning trying to walk and learning to take care of my babies with Nurse Traci's help. She showed me how to swaddle them the right way and how to give them baths. Lukas peed all over me when I got to him.

"It's a little boy, better get used to that!" Traci said, giggling. "I've always wanted a little boy. They're so much fun."

"Oh, do you have girls?" I asked.

"Actually...no. No kids for me. But spending time with so many babies here kind of makes up for it, in a way!" she said with a smile.

In the afternoon, once everyone left after visiting, Lee and I were chilling in our room. Somehow the babies were asleep. I was just about to lay down and close my eyes. I heard footsteps and looked up when Nurse Traci walked into the room. She was carrying a clipboard and reading through it. Something wasn't right.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I came to take Lukas for some additional testing. It appears he had a small heart murmur last night and will need an EKG."

I gasped. "Oh, my poor little guy. Do you think he has a permanent heart problem?"

"We won't know until we finish testing," she said.

I gave Lukas a quick kiss before she wheeled out the bassinet. "Bye buddy. See you soon."

"He'll be fine, Harper. Don't worry," she said.

"Thanks," I said.

She didn't say a word and left quickly with Lukas.

"Did something about her seem...off to you?" Lee asked.

"No. I think she's probably just worried about Lukas," I said.

Noella was fussing. I held her and just browsed through my social media. My baby pictures were getting hundreds of likes. I heard a rumbling noise and looked up. A nurse was coming in with a covered tray of food for me.

"Dinner time!" she said.

"Great," I said, handing Ella back to Lee so I could eat.

The nurse lifted the cover on the tray. It was sliced turkey, mashed potatoes, and a bottle of juice. It didn't look good, but I dove in anyway because I was starving.

"Miss Collinsworth, where is your third baby?" the nurse asked.

"Oh," I said, swallowing my food. "Nurse Traci came in to tell me about Lukas's heart murmur and bring him down for an EKG."

She started to look confused. "When was this?"

"Like...ten minutes ago," I said, casually starting to drink my juice.

"That's odd...Traci should have gone home an hour ago when her shift ended...I'll be right back," she said.

Lee got up from his seat. "I'm going to set these two down and get food for myself, since I guess they don't deliver to dads."

"Okay. Hurry back," I said.

I leaned my phone on it's popsocket and started watching YouTube. Both girls were getting fussy. I wanted to let them cry it out, but the nurse came back with two bottles. Out in the hallway, something was going on. I saw nurses running back and forth, then several security guards rushing past my room. One stood right outside my door. I suddenly wasn't hungry anymore.

"Ready for a quick lesson on bottle feeding?" the nurse asked.

"Sure," I said.

She handed me Zophia and demonstrated everything on Ella. She showed me the right angle to hold their bottles and how to burp them. Lee ran in with a to-go box a few minutes later.

"Something's going on," he said.

"I could tell. Do you know what it is?" I asked him.

"Most likely just a standard security drill," the nurse said as she rinsed the bottles in the sink.

Lee checked his phone. "Lukas still isn't back? It's been like a half an hour."

"Attention all Oak Falls General staff! We have a Code Pink on the maternity floor. I repeat, a Code Pink on the maternity floor!" someone said over the loudspeaker.

"What's a Code Pink?" I asked the nurse.

She looked me right in the eyes and said with a shaky voice, "Code Pink is a missing infant."