The Rebirth

Chapter 1

“Congratulations Dr.Stewart”, Monica said bluntly, her lips pulling into a thin and mocking smile, “Here’s your patient list”.

She pushed a chunky black clipboard towards Rowan- whose enthusiasm had now declined a little, thanks to his unwelcoming co-worker- and turned back to her computer screen, where she began typing rhythmically.

Rowan cast his eyes on the list. His attention was drawn to the bottom of the page which read ‘page one of three’; it would keep him occupied for the entire night. Before he had the chance to read the first patients name on his list, a short, plump woman in a nurse’s uniform appeared before him.

“Doctor, I need you in bay nine immediately” she rushed, her blue eyes looked at him frantically before indicating the way to the bay.

“Lead the way…” he hesitated, reading her badge, “Nurse Warren”.

Nurse Warren sped off towards bay nine with Rowan hot on her heels. Before they even reached the bay he had diagnosed the problem. He could hear the moaning of the hospital bed under the weight of the patient, and the spasm of young muscles, as they hit out at the metal side guards of the bed. This new born was having a seizure.

Rowan moved to the medicine trolley, and looked for the bottle labelled ‘anti-seizure’; everything was named due to its literal job. He pulled out a large syringe and filled it with the thick pink liquid from the glass bottle in his hand. With a movement of his head, Rowan signalled for Nurse Warren to restrain the top half of the young boy on the gurney. Once she had pinned down his arms, Rowan drove the needle straight into the boy’s heart; he immediately fell still.

“Well done, Doctor”, grinned Nurse Warren, her eyes now had a calm glaze about them, “This is the third time he’s seized up in the past couple of hours. I don’t think he’s responding well to his fluids”.

Rowan rubbed at the stubble which hugged his strong jaw line, while studying the newborn’s chart. He felt his thick brows pull into a frown, deep in thought. Then he found it, an error, small but significant.

“What blood type has he been receiving?” Rowan asked, pulling out a small torch and inspecting the boy’s eyes. Blank.

“A-Negative, ever since he arrived last week.”

“Just as I thought”, he said, returning his torch to his pocket, “See that there? Someone has mistaken this sign, its positive, only just. Change his blood immediately and I will check on his progress later.”

“Absolutely”, Nurse Warren replied before attending to her patient and as Rowan strode away he heard her voice, just a soft whisper in the bustling centre, “You have nothing to worry about with a doctor as good as that”.

Rowan smiled as he filled out the relevant paperwork and handed them to Monica, who snatched them from his hands, before waving him off.  It was incidents like this that had made Rowan fall in love with the centre to begin with. He couldn’t imagine a greater job than bringing new life into their world.

                                                                                   *

Much to his disappointment Rowan’s shift went smoothly; he attended to all his patients in record time and managed to have an in-depth conversation about blood types with two fellow doctors. He was about to sign out early when he decided to have a look around at some of the other patients charts, just to get his bearings.

He had nearly inspected all of the other doctor’s patients by the time his shift ended at four am, apart from two bays which sat almost hidden from sight in a small cove. Rowan had always been curious; it was what made him a good doctor.

He checked into the first of the two bays. There was a young girl, he guessed around seven years old, lying perfectly still in her bed. He flipped through her chart to see that she was responding extremely well to her fluids and was expected to wake up in several days’ time. He smiled at the newborn, thinking about the amazing life she now had to live.

He drew her curtain before walking over to the final bay, where for some reason he hesitated- feeling like a trespasser- before entering. Rowan felt his eyes widen and his broad mouth part slightly as he looked at the new born on the bed.

Her hair was spread out like a ring of fire around her wide, but perfectly symmetrical freckle covered face. Her lips were the colour of blossom, a watery pink, which emphasised the paleness of her skin. Rowan edged closer, completely hypnotised by her beauty. Her left arm hung awkwardly over her bedside, and Rowan felt tempted to move it. Instead he referred to her chart.

Rowan learnt that she had just turned twenty before she was admitted into the hospital six weeks ago, and had since been responding very slowly to any fluids administered. He knew that this was sometimes the case, but usually where older newborns were concerned.

Her charts showed that she was still deeply captured in her coma and would remain this way for a further month. Rowan looked at her once more; she looked almost peaceful apart from her one wild arm. He wanted to be able to just walk away but he couldn’t.

Rowan slowly made his way closer to her. Before he knew it, he was closer than he had anticipated he would get. He reached out and gently placed his hand on her wrist.

Suddenly Rowan felt a surge of electricity shoot up his arm; he pulled his hand away and quickly turned his attention to the girl’s face. Then without thinking about what he was doing, he placed a finger to her lips.

The current surged through his body again, tearing at his every being. Then without warning the girl’s eyes flicked open, revealing haunted, hazel eyes. Rowan gasped but let his finger linger on her lips. Her eyes pierced through his, as if she could see straight through into his soul.

Slowly Rowan pulled away his finger, and just like that, as if it had never happened, the light in her eyes died and went blank.