Month: November 2025

The next morning, Sophie walked into Pod C, where Rihanna was sorting through Isabelle’s T-shirts and onesies. “I can’t believe you’re leaving already. What am I going to do without you?” “You’ll be fine. I’ll miss you terribly, but I’m so happy to be leaving here.” “Let me help you pack your stuff up. When

Now that Danny was finally starting to gain weight, Sophie was allowed to hold him, wrapped in warm blankets, for short periods. She liked to hold him close to her chest, sometimes attempting to nurse him. Those attempts were largely in vain, and he tended to fall asleep nestled between her boobs. Oh well, at

Sophie needed some air. She called Kate and asked her if she had time to join her for a walk. Kate promised to be there as soon as she could break away from her Skype meeting. Forty-five minutes later, Sophie met Kate in the lobby. Sophie wanted to explore the whole hospital, or at least

The NICU was overcrowded. For every baby, there was equip ment that took up twice the space of the baby. The smaller the baby, the more equipment there was. There were ventila tors, monitors, IV pumps, rolling tables that held multiple pumps designed to deliver microdoses of medications, special photo therapy lights, supply bins that

Nurses rushed into the pod. Sophie could see the mother was struggling to breathe. Then she went limp and fell to the floor. Sophie cringed at the sound of her head hitting the floor. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Her arms jerked up and down, and her back arched. Sophie watched in horror

“We’ve got more to talk about that doesn’t need to be a part of our conversation with Jody.” Adam held the elevator door open. On the way down, he said, “Hey, I know! How ’bout a date night tonight?” “Yeah.” Sophie smiled. “I like that idea. Kate’s busy tonight meeting up with some old friends.

Sophie and Adam found the social work department and the door with Jody Carter’s name on it. They knocked and were greeted by a smiling thirtysomething woman. “Hi, I’m Jody. And you must be the Youngs.” Dressed in designer jeans and a casual silk button-down blouse, she invited them in. Sophie and Adam sat next

A few days after the power outage, Danny had weaned off the ventilator and now was attached to a CPAP machine with little oxygen prongs going up his nose. The CPAP helped to keep his oxygen levels up and prevented him from having apneic spells. Checking the monitor frequently, Sophie saw that all his numbers