Part 41

"Are you saying that heaven is a hotel room? That Mary the Mother of God plays cards?"

Sam was not a believer. Charlotte knew that, and not to put her husband over the edge she calmly answered, "Heaven must be what you make it."

Husband and wife just looked at each other until Sam's gazed dropped and Charlotte thought she was going to lose him to the bottle. That the moment he walked out of the hospital, he'd walk into a bar. She reached out and laid her hand upon his. "It's just a dream, Sam. But I feel that everything is going to be okay."

As Sam parted his lips to speak the door to the room swung open and in stepped Dr. Houseman. "Little lady you are one lucky soul." He was practically falling over himself with excitement. "I have to tell you, on the way into the OR, I honestly thought for sure we were going to lose you, and was sure we'd lost the baby."

Despite having a deep feeling that all was going to be well, Charlotte's face turned shock grey.

"And then you coded on the table..."

"Coded?" interrupted Sam, who practically shot up out of his chair.

The doctor's demeanor softened. "We lost her for a moment."

The room went silent. Charlotte knew she would have to break the dam that neither her doctor nor her husband knew what to say next. So putting on a bright face she said, "No worries, everything is fine now."

"You always say no worries. In this case, I would say it's no worries -- for now."

The three of them sat together until early morning rounds. The heart monitor beeping a steady rhythm of life.

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