The Strength of a Family

“They are too early, what if something happens. Casey, I can’t lose them now, I just can’t,” she quickly sputtered to me as we rushed around in the hospital. She was on a bed; they were transferring her to the operating room to do an emergency delivery. She was close to a month premature and her claims were quite valid.
“I know, Sweetheart, but everything will be fine. The doctors will do all they can for the three of them. Just trust them; you will do fine, Elle. I love you,” I told her as I hit the point that I could no longer go any farther. I kissed her head and said a quick encouraging line from poetry that we both loved and let her go. I quickly headed back to the waiting room, afraid of falling apart emotionally.
Our best friends had come to sit with me at the hospital while their sixteen year old daughter watched all of the kids, my twins included. I was thankful there was a friendly face in the waiting room, even though I didn’t say anything. I know they knew that.
After what seemed like hours, Dr. Paul came out. He didn’t look happy or sad, so I hoped that everything was okay for now and could get better with time at the very least.
“Casey, we have safely delivered the triplets and they are being put into the NICU as we speak. They all seem to be fine, but we will know more in the coming hours. They are not overly small, considering how premature they are. It seems that she may have been further along than we believed. But the bad news is that your wife has lost a lot of blood, too much. We need to do transfusions in order for her to regain strength and move past the delivery. But there was a puncture to her heart, from a rib possibly. We repaired it the best we can, but we are unsure as to where it will lead her in the future. I need your authorization to do the transfusions and we can talk after seeing where she stands in a few hours. I know that is not exactly what you were hoping to hear, but, it is what we have. An airbag going off with her in that condition was not a great thing. But the damage could have been worse, I have seen worse.”
“Where do I sign?” he handed me the paperwork and I quickly signed on the line and handed it back. He gave me a small smile and clapped my shoulder. I nodded and he left me with my friends, waiting for more information.
“I’m sure everything will be fine, Casey,” Melinda, Elle’s closest friend, tried to reassure me. I hadn’t heard anything from any doctor since I signed for Elle’s transfusions and it had me down right worried. I was about ready to ask a nurse what was going on when Dr. Paul reappeared.
“Are you ready to meet your triplets, Casey?” the man had a glow in his eyes and in turn, it made me feel better. I nodded and stood to follow him, thanking my friends before heading after the doctor. We entered the NICU after pulling on some scrubs and he led me to three little bed with covers on them. I knew they were incubators, but I always thought of baby chicks when the word incubator came to mind. “Meet your children, Casey. You have two beautiful baby girls and a handsome boy. The test results are slowly coming back but it seems that all their systems are running smoothly, they are just a little on the small side. That is common among triplets. If their vitals stay where they are now, they should move out of the NICU in a day or two. We certainly dodged a bullet here.”
“They are beautiful,” I said placing a hand on the glass of the first bed I saw with my last name attached to it. I haven’t yet named them, so at this point they were just my children.
“They are indeed. Whenever you are ready, a nurse will be outside to take you to see Elle. She has been asking for you. The nurse will explain on your way,” I nodded and let him leave me with my kids. Hearing that Elle was okay calmed me. I was actually smiling as I looked upon my children. I thanked God right than and there for all he had given me at that moment.