Halcyon

Unwanted News

The whole time the foetal echocardiogram was taking place nor the Doctor or the Nurse said anything to Jack or Nikki, but the only thing that worried Nikki was the concerning look the two medical professionals gave each other towards the end of the echocardiogram.
Jack and Nikki have now been told to wait in the waiting room which is making Nikki more and more anxious as the minutes go by, "For god sake Nikki, sit down!" Jack huffs as he can't take much more of Nikki's constant pacing of the waiting room.

Nikki sits herself down on the chair beside Jack and starts to fidget, "Stop being so annoying Nikki, there is probably nothing to worry about, you know hospitals like to be thorough" Jack says placing his hand on Nikki's knee.

Around twenty minutes later Nikki is called back into Dr. Ruairidh's office, Jack grabs Nikki bag this time as she stands blindly and walks towards the office without it, Jack catches up with her and heads into the office.

Nikki sits back down in the same chair like last time and Jack sits beside her, "So we have had a second opinion from one of our top leading cardiothoracic surgeons and he has confirmed my findings from the echocardiogram" He begins.

Suddenly a lump appears in the back of the throat for both Jack and Nikki, Jack reaches for Nikki's hand as he can see she is shaking with nerves. For a Doctor, Nikki wasn't keeping her cool but then this was regarding her unborn child, "Just give it to me straight" Nikki mumbles fighting her tears already.

Nurse Maguire notices Nikki's tears forming and her eyes glazing over with a layer of tears, she places a full box of tissues in front of her, Nikki instantly grabs two and holds them tight. "From the foetal echocardiogram, we can confirm that we have found numerous causes for concern" Dr. Ruairidh replies watching Nikki's bottom lip tremble.

"Okay, please proceed" Jack speaks as Nikki can barely speak she is that worried for her own baby.
The doctor nods and flicks through his notes becoming to the main part of the notes, "Okay, our normal fetus scan came back normal, the baby is fully developed, head is engaged only concern is that the baby is showing as back to back with the mother, this may change this may not come close to the due date..." He explains but is cut off by Nikki.

"For crying out loud, just skip to the pissing echocardiogram," Nikki says getting herself agitated again.
"Woah, Nik, calm down..." Jack speaks placing his hand carefully on her knee.

"So we have detected that the fetus..." He begins but is cut off by Nikki again
"The baby..." She says correcting him.
"Yes the baby, we have detected a large ventricularseptal defect and a small but repairable atrial septal defect," He says reading off the notes he has.

"Oh god..." Nikki breathes as the tears start to slip down her face.
"What happens next?" Jack asks swallowing the jump in his throat again.

"So it's up to the mother really," Dr. Ruairidh says looking at Nikki.
"What options do we have?" Jack asks.
"So there are two main options, so you can wait until the baby is born and we can monitor the baby closely up until it's baby's first birthday were we shall assess the situation and see if we do need to surgically close both the ventricular and atrial. Or, we can do keyhole surgery, it's very risky but it would include the mother going through the surgery and having to remain really still, but if all fails it will be surgery at birth" Dr. Ruairidh replies to Jack's question causing Nikki to cry more.

Jack pulls Nikki into his side and holds her close, "What's the survival rate or the baby being born and waiting?" Nikki mumbles through her tears.

"It would be fifty percent" he replies.
"Okay, and what about if I chose the surgery for the baby right now?" Nikki asks wiping her eyes.
"80 percent, Most babies who have surgery see past their 12th Birthday, 20 percent of the children don't" He explains again.

"I want to go with that option," Nikki says boldly.
Jack looks at her horrified, "No Nikki, you're risking yourself here" Jack panics looking at her.
"I'm not going to be selfish, I want our child to have a fighting chance at life" Nikki breathes.

Dr. Ruairidh nods at her wish and rights down what will happen, "When will this happen? and could the holes get bigger?" Nikki asks as she holds her bump protectively.
"I doubt they will get bigger, we want them to only get smaller, but I shall book you in for a surgery slot and hopefully you will get something either next week or the following week" he explains which becomes clearer to Nikki.

Once all the paperwork is filled out Dr. Ruairidh shows Nikki and Jack out the office and allows them to go home, they head out the hospital and Jack pays for the parking while Nikki waits at the car.

Jack comes back to the car and looks at Nikki, he walks straight to her and pulls her into a hug, "Your okay, we're going to be just fine, I know it" Jack smiles embracing Nikki in a tight hold, he sways her side to side and kisses her head. "I love you, I'm not leaving you" He mumbles against her head.
"I Love you too," Nikki replies slightly muffled into his t-shirt.
He kisses her head one last time and pulls away from her, "Now let's go to that pub" Jack smiles as he jumps into the driver's seat and Nikki gets in beside him.