The guy had been married for two years, and life was bliss. He loved his wife, and he was really looking forward to their first born. Their love could only grow.
One late afternoon he received a call from his wife, the baby was due anytime now.
He hurriedly logged off from work, bid his co-workers goodbye and proudly told them that he would soon be a dad. He then took off fast in his SUV.
He got home just in time. His lovely wife had started experiencing her labour pains. Luckily she had off late been keeping her bag packed in anticipation for this day. Quickly but lovingly, be bundled her into the front seat and took off to the hospital.
The wife was really in pain. He wished the car would fly so he could get the love of his wife to the hospital as fast as possible. The first time mom kept wriggling on her seat as spasm after spasm of pain bit her. The young man was worried, be kept moving his eyes from the road to his wife as the SUV cruised along the well maintained stretch of traffic clear road. Just about 7 more minutes and I’ll be there, he thought. But that was just before the car left the road and ended up in a ditch.
It was the nurse who first noticed something was wrong.
As he sat outside the delivery room, the nurse noticed he looked pale and fatigued. He looked weak and she noticed be was a bit shaky.
“Are you okay sir,” she asked with concern.
“Yeah, yeah am fine. Just a little tired. How is my wife faring?” he answered finishing with a question.
“She will be ok,” replied the nurse going back into the delivery room.
But she was unsettled. She could feel something was wrong but couldn’t put a finger into it.
What she read in the soon to be dad’s face was neither expectancy nor anxiety. There was something deeper. The wife would be ok, but deep down, she felt there was a problem with the husband.
She had always trusted her gut. She had been a nurse for seven years now and in that period, her sixth sense had not failed her. She had to do something.
“I think I need sexual fresh air, excuse me for a moment,” the nurse told her colleague before walking out. The husband was still seated outside but looking worse. She hurriedly walked out looking for a doctor she knew would not fail her.
“I need a favour doc, there is a patient I need you to see urgently.”
“What’s wrong with him? Where is he?” The doctor’s shift was coming to an end. He however could not say no to the nurse.
“He’s at the maternity unit. He brought his wife but I can see there is something wrong with him?”
“Have you talked to him? What does he say is ailing him?” asked the doctor.
“That’s the problem. He says he’s okay but I can see it in his eyes. Please just have a talk with him.”
The two medics walked into the maternity waiting area. They were just in time to find their subject standing up to remove his jacket.
He stretched his hands and they saw him wince in pain. As the jacket came off, they saw his face turn paler, sweat invaded his brow and he contorted his face in pain further.
“We have a real problem here. Let’s get him out of here quickly,” whispered the doctor to the nurse.
As they guided him to a more appropriate place, he faltered and almost fell.
“I don’t know why, but I feel kind of weak and dizzy, I need to lie down somewhere,” said the new dad. The two guided him away.
The wife delivered without a hitch. The couple had been blessed with a bouncing baby boy.
“Can the dad come in now? Am sure he’s dying of the waiting,” asked the new mom proudly. Unknown to her, the loving husband was almost dying yes, but from something else.
“Am sorry mom, your husband cannot see you right away but we’ll take you to him shortly. Just take a rest first,” the nurse told her.
The doctor had finally been able to piece the story together.
“So what happened after the car went into the ditch? How did you get here?”
“The road was clear. There were not many motorists and the few that passed by could not be bothered to stop,” explained the young dad.
“My wife was still in the car wailing as the pain became sharper and sharper,” he added.
“And that’s when I decided to lift the car by myself.”
The doctor could only explain it as an act of God. The anxiety, the need to get his wife to the hospital had given the guy such a surge of adrenaline he had been able to single-handedly lift the car back to the road.
“Did you feel anything? Pain?”
“No. At that moment, had I ran out of fuel I believe I would have carried my wife and ran all the way to the hospital,” be replied and the doctor and nurse continued to administer on him.
He had to be admitted.
Unbeknown to him, the act of lifting the car had destroyed the tissues from his shoulders down. He had severed some veins and had experienced interval bleeding.
“That’s why you looked pale and weak. It’s a miracle that you made it this far. You’ll have to be admitted,” the doctor told him.
The nurse looked at him with tears almost coming down her eyes. In her seven years, she had seen almost everything but this. Looking at her new favourite patient, she knew she had to work round the clock to make sure they saved his life.
“That young man loves his wife too much, we can let him die without seeing his new born,” she whispered to the doctor.
“Of course,” said the doctor.
“You don’t come across such an act of love every day,” he added.
