NEW YORK CITY, NY – HOSPITAL – MAR. 17TH, 2002 – SUNDAY

     It was 3 pm when the doctor entered Kirstin’s room.

     “Hello.” he said closing the door behind him.

     “Hi.” Ashley and Kirstin greeted in unison.

     “So… I’m gonna have to take Miss Addams now, Mister…?” the doctor frowned.

     “Angel.” Ashley answered, getting up.

     “Oh, you’ve got an Angel with you, Miss Addams? What do you need me for? And why are we worried?” the doctor kidded and Ashley and Kirstin smiled “So, I’m taking you to run the tests. We’re gonna do the ultrasound and collect some blood. Ok?”

     “Yes.” Kirstin nodded.

     “So, I’m gonna ask the nurse to take you to the ultrasound room, alright?”

     “Ok.” Kirstin nodded.

     “Then I’ll meet you there.” the doctor smiled and closed the door.

     “I’ll be right here, ok, baby? When you finish the tests, I’ll be waiting right here, alright?” Ashley wanted to make sure Kirstin knew he wasn’t gonna leave her.

     “Ok.” Kirstin smiled. She knew he wasn’t going anywhere.

     Two nurses, came in, took off what was monitoring Kirstin’s and the baby’s hearts, lifted Kirstin up and placed her on a gurney.

     “I think I can walk.” Kirstin informed them.

     “Oh, no, you still can’t. Until the doctor runs the tests, he said you should be lying down. The baby might start to move rapidly again. So we can’t take any risks until we are certain there are no risks.”

     “Ok.” Kirstin agreed and looked at Ashley as they started to take her out of the room “Bye, Ash.” she waved at him and he waved back.

 

     After an hour or so, Ashley was pacing around the room.

     “Why is it taking so long? Wasn’t it some standard tests?” he rubbed his forehead, worried.

     Tired of waiting in the room, he headed outside and went to get some information.

 

     “I’m sorry.” he said to a nurse at the reception “Could you please tell me if Kirstin Addams is ok? She went in to do some tests but it’s taking too long.”

     “What’s the name of the patient again?” the elderly nurse asked, going through the computer files.

     “Kirstin Addams.”

     “Hm.” the nurse looked over her glasses “It says here that she was scheduled for surgery right about now.”

     “What?” Ashley shouted “That can’t be. She just went in an hour ago to do some tests, ultrasound and that was it. She can’t possibly be in surgery. Can you check that again, please?” Ashley asked nervous.

     “Well, it says here that she was taken to surgery 30 minutes ago.” the nurse looked from the computer back to Ashley.

     “But… I… what… I mean…” Ashley was confused. What did she mean by surgery? Why was Kirstin in a surgery? She was completely fine just a few hours ago “Why? Why is she having surgery?” Ashley still couldn’t understand. The nurse’s words just didn’t make any sense to him.

     “That’s all it says here, sir. That’s all they’ve given to us. There’s nothing else I can tell you. Just the people inside the Operating Room would be able to tell you more about that.”

     “Yeah? And where can I find these people? When will they be leaving the Operating Room?” Ashley was starting to shake. Operation?

     “I don’t know, sir. There’s not a predetermined time for that. It depends on her state.”

     “And how is she? Doesn’t it tell in your computer why she was taken to the Operating Room? Because, for me, she was fine a few hours ago. I was in the room with her and she was fine!”

     “I already told you all I know, sir. I know you’re worried, but there’s nothing else I can tell you, because I seriously don’t know. I don’t have that kind of information.” the nurse was trying to be nice to Ashley. She could see in his face that he was truly worried.

     “Fine. Thank you.” Ashley thanked and left.

     On the way to the room, he searched the place to see if he’d find the doctor or Claire or the nurses that took Kirstin to do the tests. But he didn’t find anyone.

     He entered the room and searched for Kirstin’s cell found. He found it on the table, beside Andrew’s flowers.

     “Ok… Ok… Calm down, Ashley.” he said to himself, looking for Grace’s phone number. When he found it, he just pressed ‘send’ and waited.

     “Hello?” he heard Grace’s voice.

     “Grace, it’s me.” he said as if he was in a hurry.

     “Ashley. What’s wrong?” Grace knew that he wouldn’t be calling if everything was fine.

     “It’s Kirstin. She is going through surgery right now!” Ashley now sounded mad.

     “What?” Grace shouted.

     “I don’t know what happened!” he felt like crying “They took her to do the damn tests. Then it’s been an hour and I went to ask someone for information and they just told me she went into surgery 30 minutes ago!”

     “But… why?” Grace’s voice was starting to sound shakey.

     “I don’t know! They can’t tell me. They don’t know. Can you come here?”

     “Of course! I’ll be right over.”

     “Oh… and… can you call Tom and let him know too?” Ashley asked.

     “Yeah, sure. We’ll both be there soon.”

     “Ok. Hurry up. Please.”

     “Of course. Bye.”

     “Bye.” Ashley said and hung up.

     Ashley couldn’t stand being in that room anymore. Kirstin was going through surgery and he wouldn’t just stay there. He had to get some sort of information about Kirstin. He had to do something.

     Ashley ran out of the room and started to look again for the familiar nurses and the doctor. But still, couldn’t find anyone. He then saw a sign that read ‘Chapel’.

 

     Ashley stepped into this little Chapel. It had a big illuminated cross right in front of the door and 4 benches. He sat on the last bench and stared at the cross. After a while, he knelt down and put his hands together.

     “Oh, God. Oh, God.” he started speaking “I don’t even know… Oh, God. Ok. All I ask right now is for Kirstin’s life. And the baby’s life. I have no idea what is going on. They just took her to surgery and they can’t tell me anything!” Ashley hit the bench, but soon took a deep breath and got it under control “Oh, God. Please, just… let Kirstin and the baby be ok. Please. That’s all I ask. I can’t lose Kirstin now. I just can’t. She is my life. I’m nothing without her. I’m worthless without her. It’s for her that I wake up every morning and you, God, better than anyone else, know that. You can’t take her from me. Please, God. Please.” tears were taking over Ashley’s face now.

     He took a deep breath and sat back on the bench. He wiped the tears away and stared at the cross for a few more minutes. He then stood up and left the Chapel.