I'm the Last One That You'll Ever Remember
Chapter 51: C-Section
At 39 weeks pregnant, Frank was right back in the hospital for his official C-section that would officially bring his twins into the world. He couldn’t be more than apprehensive at this point, and was now lying on the operating table with his mother who dressed in her scrubs and mask so that she could hold his hand in support through it all. The consenting paperwork had already been signed that morning before he was given his epidural which is an anesthesia that was injected into the small of his back to help numb everything from the ribcage down during the procedure. It stung for about five seconds and caused Frank to wince a bit before he felt absolutely nothing. Since he was about to be cut opened by a group of doctors instead of somehow pushing the baby out like a female could, his dosage was increased. Afterward Frank was given some Bicitra to drink that would help neutralize his stomach acids so he wouldn’t feel nauseous during the procedure. The bile was some salty chalky disgusting substance that Frank had to be urged to drink by his mother and recently arriving Uncle and Aunt. If he thought that the worst had been over now, he was dead wrong. Frank was forced to get a catheter in him before they would stick an IV in his arm. He had protested to this, but the nurses reassured him that since he was given an epidural he would probably have to urinate after the birth, so to make things easier for all of them, he would have to get the catheter in. After much convincing by his family, Frank finally agreed. The idea of sticking a small hose up his penis hole and then up to his bladder didn’t sit well with him, but it didn’t actually hurt since he was already numbed down there. They assured him that it was an infant catheter so it’s only meant to collect urine, and that sometime after his children were born they would simply take it right back out with no problems.
Frank’s lids were becoming heavy from the medications as the nurses dressed in blue scrubs and masks pulled a curtain across his mid-section so that he wouldn’t be able to see the gory procedure being done on him. He found himself listening hard to his surroundings and before he knew it, someone was grabbing his hand. “Pumpkin, its ok now, mommy is here.”
Turning his head a bit, Frank saw the familiar hazel eyes of his mother since her long dark hair was in a hair cap and the lower half of her face was covered by a blue mask. He stared up at her with drowsy eyes for a minute before giving her a loopy smile, and squeezing her hand. “Hi, mommy. Where’s daddy?”
Margo reached over to caress her son’s forehead. “He’s been granted permission to perform the C-section on you. He doesn’t trust anyone else to do it, which is ridiculous if you ask me because all these doctors here are just as talented, but I suppose it’s your father’s paternal instinct kicking in. You are the only baby we have, after all, and we don’t know what we’d do if we ever lost you again.”
Frank smiled up at her, until he heard his father’s voice. “Margo, I’m going to make the incision.”
Feeling her eyes tear up, Margo urgently nodded to the nearest nurse. “We understand.”
When she looked back down at her son, she watched his brows furrow in confusion as he stared up at her. “Mommy, i-is that daddy’s scalpel cutting into me? It feels like a pinch.”
“It’s just your peritoneum, honey. It’s the tissue that lines your abdomen, and is very difficult to anesthetize which is why you can feel it.” Margo explained as she continued to caress his forehead.
Frank shakily nodded, and licked his lip. He continued to hold his mother hand, and look up at her while she cooed and comforted away his fears. His father’s voice suddenly spoke up. “Now, I’m going to reach in and move the first baby into position, Frankie. You’re gonna feel a bit of prodding, but don’t worry, Daddy’s got you okay?”
Tears pricked at the corner of Frank’s eyes, but he continued to just focus on his mother as he felt his father’s hand enter his body to turn the first baby, and before he knew it he heard a small scream enter the room that stopped his heart and caused it to race at the same time. It was a baby’s cry. His baby. Frankie instantly tried to sit up, but his crying mother pushed him back down. “Don’t move, Frankie. Your father isn’t done yet.”
“It’s a boy!” Frank Sr. cried out with tears filling his eyes as he held up a squalling naked baby in his hands. The room erupted into a short applause before the baby was taken from his hands, and wrapped up into a sheet. “I’m going in for the next one.”
“Oh my god, let us see him! Let us see our baby.” Aunt Edith cried from the back of the room where she stood with her husband, dressed in scrubs. Her hands were clasped over her mouth to quiet her happy tears as she leaned against the grinning man she loved.
“Yes please, give us our boy!” Peter urged in joy as he kept a tight hold around his wife’s shoulder.
Frank felt his heart shatter at the thought that the child he gave carried was going to be seen and held by his aunt and uncle before HIM. He didn’t care what he said before about not wanting to see their faces the second they were born. All of that had changed the moment he heard his son’s cry. He HEARD him, he heard HIS son…and no matter how much drugs they shot him up with his first child’s cry couldn’t ever be unheard ever again. Frank had to see him, he had to, even if that meant he had to get up to get to him himself. Frank tried to get off the operating table on his own, but was pushed down by his mother’s dainty hands. He refused to accept defeat and began to struggle beneath her hands. “NO, NO MOM! I WANT TO SEE HIM! LET ME SEE HIM! HE’S MY SON! MY SON!”
“MARGO KEEP HIM STILL! I need to get the other baby out!” Dr. Iero called to his wife for help as his hands found the second baby.
“Frankie, calm down right now! Please! You’re gonna hurt yourself!” Margo yelled at her son, but it didn’t help. Frank wasn’t about to stop moving even with the many hands now trying to hold him down, and Margo didn’t want to see her baby strapped down like an insane patient. Glancing over her shoulder, she spotted the nurse that held her grandson. “YOU! Bring that baby over here, RIGHT NOW!”
The nurse jumped in fright, before looking between the Aunt and Uncle and Dr. Iero’s wife. Peter and Edith didn’t hesitate to usher her to obey the patient’s mother. “No, please bring the baby to him, please!”
“Calm down, Frankie! They’re bringing your son over.” In seconds, Margo had her grandson placed in Frank’s shaking arms. “There you go now.”
Frank only had seconds to look at his wailing son, before he heard his father’s announcement. “It’s a girl!”
The room once again erupted into applause, but this time a much longer rejoice now that both of the children were out and safe. Frank was about to cry out for his other baby to be brought to him too, but his mother had belted out the order instead. In minutes, Frank had both of his children crying in his arms. His son, and now his daughter. The few tears that had slid down his face before were now pouring from his eyes as he began to sob out of happiness. His mother couldn’t help but cry herself, and even his father had a few tears of his own too. Aunt Edith and Uncle Peter came up behind Margo to admire the crying twins, and were immediately in love with the little faces. “They’re so beautiful, Frankie.”
“Excuse me.” A nurse gently interrupted the family’s special moment. Everyone looked up at the nurse, except for Frank, who was too mesmerized by the two lives he had helped create, carry, and bring into the world. “These little angels are gonna need some names to match. Do you have any in mind?”
Aunt Edith and Uncle Peter shared an agreeable nod, and were about to open their mouths to tell her when they were cut off by their nephew. “Lorenzo Davion Iero, and Venetia Adeline Iero.”
Frank’s relatives were all shocked by the young boy. Not too long ago he wanted nothing to do with the kids, but now he was insisting on seeing their faces before anyone and was giving them full names? Aunt Edith and Uncle Peter locked confusing eyes with Margo, who merely shrugged with uncertainty herself. A different nurse came up to them to take the babies away to clean them up, give them the APGAR test, and then placed them in the warmer, which radiated heat that would help keep the twins body’s temperature steady. Frank was reluctant to let them go, but he did. While his father was closing his incision up, he had fallen into a peaceful slumber that for once had no Poison entering his dreams.
When he finally woke up the first time, he was lying in the recovery ward with a heart monitor and an oxygen saturation monitor attached to him. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes again was his mother, Aunt Edith and Uncle Peter at the foot of his bed in deep conversation. The second time he arose from his sleep he was back in his luxurious hospital room. His mother was sitting at his side holding his hand while watching her sister, and her sister’s husband hold little Lorenzo and Venetia in their arms. Frank’s slumberous dazed eyes snapped back to focus when he saw his children in the arms of their future adoptive parents. Deep down inside he wanted nothing more than to hold his children again, who now appeared to be calm and quiet. He could feel his hands clench into fists, and that pressure around Margo’s hand caught her attention as she turned her head to look at him. “Oh my pumpkin, you’re awake! How are you feeling?”
Frank only spared his mother a nod since all his focus was on his children. He wanted them back with him, but he had to remind himself about the deal he had made. His aunt and uncle had offered to adopt his children because he didn’t want to raise or have any involvement with them. Frank remembered feeling that way before, but everything had changed the moment he heard the sound of his son’s first cry as he entered this world. He wasn’t sure specifically how things had become different, all he knew was that they had. His Aunt Edith noticed him staring longingly at his daughter, and felt sympathy for the first time mother. “Would you like to hold her, Frankie?”
It took everything, EVERYTHING, in him to shake his head and decline her offer. He could feel the tears starting to come as he watched them become the family he wanted for himself. He continued to watch in intense pain while a nurse came in to check on his machines and such. Frank didn’t want to answer her questions so his mother had to. When the young lady was about to leave, he called her back at the last minute. “Excuse me, do you have any pain medication? I’m in a lot of pain right now, and it’s getting to be unbearable.”
The nurse frowned in confusion. “Mr. Iero, you’re already on pain medication. Pretty strong one too, if I may add. Do you want me to go get you a doctor instead so he could see what the problem is?” Frank stared up at her dumbfounded as the realization dawned on him that his pain wasn’t coming from his physical body being operated on, but actually his heart. Acknowledging that, he dismissed her with a pitiful shake of his head with tears filling his eyes.
Frank’s lids were becoming heavy from the medications as the nurses dressed in blue scrubs and masks pulled a curtain across his mid-section so that he wouldn’t be able to see the gory procedure being done on him. He found himself listening hard to his surroundings and before he knew it, someone was grabbing his hand. “Pumpkin, its ok now, mommy is here.”
Turning his head a bit, Frank saw the familiar hazel eyes of his mother since her long dark hair was in a hair cap and the lower half of her face was covered by a blue mask. He stared up at her with drowsy eyes for a minute before giving her a loopy smile, and squeezing her hand. “Hi, mommy. Where’s daddy?”
Margo reached over to caress her son’s forehead. “He’s been granted permission to perform the C-section on you. He doesn’t trust anyone else to do it, which is ridiculous if you ask me because all these doctors here are just as talented, but I suppose it’s your father’s paternal instinct kicking in. You are the only baby we have, after all, and we don’t know what we’d do if we ever lost you again.”
Frank smiled up at her, until he heard his father’s voice. “Margo, I’m going to make the incision.”
Feeling her eyes tear up, Margo urgently nodded to the nearest nurse. “We understand.”
When she looked back down at her son, she watched his brows furrow in confusion as he stared up at her. “Mommy, i-is that daddy’s scalpel cutting into me? It feels like a pinch.”
“It’s just your peritoneum, honey. It’s the tissue that lines your abdomen, and is very difficult to anesthetize which is why you can feel it.” Margo explained as she continued to caress his forehead.
Frank shakily nodded, and licked his lip. He continued to hold his mother hand, and look up at her while she cooed and comforted away his fears. His father’s voice suddenly spoke up. “Now, I’m going to reach in and move the first baby into position, Frankie. You’re gonna feel a bit of prodding, but don’t worry, Daddy’s got you okay?”
Tears pricked at the corner of Frank’s eyes, but he continued to just focus on his mother as he felt his father’s hand enter his body to turn the first baby, and before he knew it he heard a small scream enter the room that stopped his heart and caused it to race at the same time. It was a baby’s cry. His baby. Frankie instantly tried to sit up, but his crying mother pushed him back down. “Don’t move, Frankie. Your father isn’t done yet.”
“It’s a boy!” Frank Sr. cried out with tears filling his eyes as he held up a squalling naked baby in his hands. The room erupted into a short applause before the baby was taken from his hands, and wrapped up into a sheet. “I’m going in for the next one.”
“Oh my god, let us see him! Let us see our baby.” Aunt Edith cried from the back of the room where she stood with her husband, dressed in scrubs. Her hands were clasped over her mouth to quiet her happy tears as she leaned against the grinning man she loved.
“Yes please, give us our boy!” Peter urged in joy as he kept a tight hold around his wife’s shoulder.
Frank felt his heart shatter at the thought that the child he gave carried was going to be seen and held by his aunt and uncle before HIM. He didn’t care what he said before about not wanting to see their faces the second they were born. All of that had changed the moment he heard his son’s cry. He HEARD him, he heard HIS son…and no matter how much drugs they shot him up with his first child’s cry couldn’t ever be unheard ever again. Frank had to see him, he had to, even if that meant he had to get up to get to him himself. Frank tried to get off the operating table on his own, but was pushed down by his mother’s dainty hands. He refused to accept defeat and began to struggle beneath her hands. “NO, NO MOM! I WANT TO SEE HIM! LET ME SEE HIM! HE’S MY SON! MY SON!”
“MARGO KEEP HIM STILL! I need to get the other baby out!” Dr. Iero called to his wife for help as his hands found the second baby.
“Frankie, calm down right now! Please! You’re gonna hurt yourself!” Margo yelled at her son, but it didn’t help. Frank wasn’t about to stop moving even with the many hands now trying to hold him down, and Margo didn’t want to see her baby strapped down like an insane patient. Glancing over her shoulder, she spotted the nurse that held her grandson. “YOU! Bring that baby over here, RIGHT NOW!”
The nurse jumped in fright, before looking between the Aunt and Uncle and Dr. Iero’s wife. Peter and Edith didn’t hesitate to usher her to obey the patient’s mother. “No, please bring the baby to him, please!”
“Calm down, Frankie! They’re bringing your son over.” In seconds, Margo had her grandson placed in Frank’s shaking arms. “There you go now.”
Frank only had seconds to look at his wailing son, before he heard his father’s announcement. “It’s a girl!”
The room once again erupted into applause, but this time a much longer rejoice now that both of the children were out and safe. Frank was about to cry out for his other baby to be brought to him too, but his mother had belted out the order instead. In minutes, Frank had both of his children crying in his arms. His son, and now his daughter. The few tears that had slid down his face before were now pouring from his eyes as he began to sob out of happiness. His mother couldn’t help but cry herself, and even his father had a few tears of his own too. Aunt Edith and Uncle Peter came up behind Margo to admire the crying twins, and were immediately in love with the little faces. “They’re so beautiful, Frankie.”
“Excuse me.” A nurse gently interrupted the family’s special moment. Everyone looked up at the nurse, except for Frank, who was too mesmerized by the two lives he had helped create, carry, and bring into the world. “These little angels are gonna need some names to match. Do you have any in mind?”
Aunt Edith and Uncle Peter shared an agreeable nod, and were about to open their mouths to tell her when they were cut off by their nephew. “Lorenzo Davion Iero, and Venetia Adeline Iero.”
Frank’s relatives were all shocked by the young boy. Not too long ago he wanted nothing to do with the kids, but now he was insisting on seeing their faces before anyone and was giving them full names? Aunt Edith and Uncle Peter locked confusing eyes with Margo, who merely shrugged with uncertainty herself. A different nurse came up to them to take the babies away to clean them up, give them the APGAR test, and then placed them in the warmer, which radiated heat that would help keep the twins body’s temperature steady. Frank was reluctant to let them go, but he did. While his father was closing his incision up, he had fallen into a peaceful slumber that for once had no Poison entering his dreams.
When he finally woke up the first time, he was lying in the recovery ward with a heart monitor and an oxygen saturation monitor attached to him. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes again was his mother, Aunt Edith and Uncle Peter at the foot of his bed in deep conversation. The second time he arose from his sleep he was back in his luxurious hospital room. His mother was sitting at his side holding his hand while watching her sister, and her sister’s husband hold little Lorenzo and Venetia in their arms. Frank’s slumberous dazed eyes snapped back to focus when he saw his children in the arms of their future adoptive parents. Deep down inside he wanted nothing more than to hold his children again, who now appeared to be calm and quiet. He could feel his hands clench into fists, and that pressure around Margo’s hand caught her attention as she turned her head to look at him. “Oh my pumpkin, you’re awake! How are you feeling?”
Frank only spared his mother a nod since all his focus was on his children. He wanted them back with him, but he had to remind himself about the deal he had made. His aunt and uncle had offered to adopt his children because he didn’t want to raise or have any involvement with them. Frank remembered feeling that way before, but everything had changed the moment he heard the sound of his son’s first cry as he entered this world. He wasn’t sure specifically how things had become different, all he knew was that they had. His Aunt Edith noticed him staring longingly at his daughter, and felt sympathy for the first time mother. “Would you like to hold her, Frankie?”
It took everything, EVERYTHING, in him to shake his head and decline her offer. He could feel the tears starting to come as he watched them become the family he wanted for himself. He continued to watch in intense pain while a nurse came in to check on his machines and such. Frank didn’t want to answer her questions so his mother had to. When the young lady was about to leave, he called her back at the last minute. “Excuse me, do you have any pain medication? I’m in a lot of pain right now, and it’s getting to be unbearable.”
The nurse frowned in confusion. “Mr. Iero, you’re already on pain medication. Pretty strong one too, if I may add. Do you want me to go get you a doctor instead so he could see what the problem is?” Frank stared up at her dumbfounded as the realization dawned on him that his pain wasn’t coming from his physical body being operated on, but actually his heart. Acknowledging that, he dismissed her with a pitiful shake of his head with tears filling his eyes.