It was a cold, dark stormy night. The conditions perfect for the start of a really good movie. Lightning raced across the deep purple sky revealing a deep blue sky with gray dots of water raining down from above drenching the Forestville community hospital. The drone of the rain rendering everyone partially deaf. In the delivery room the doctors and nurses raced across the expanse of the room in a frenzy trying to save the life of the woman on the delivery table and that of her baby.
Right outside the doors of the theatre her husband was wearing a path into the floor with his nervous pacing, his incoherent mumbling and the steady yet surprisingly even thump of his shoes on the tiled floor irritating the other occupants of the waiting room. Yet they all cowered in their corners, cold and angry at the man who apparently was hell bent on irritating everyone, yet they said nothing and with very good reason. After all it's not every day you come across a 6 foot 5 inches tall muscular specimen of a man. His arms were big enough to scare your opinion out of your mouth. But this giant wasn't concerned with the other occupants of the waiting room, as he didn't have enough concern to go around at that moment. All of his concern and energy resting solely on what was going on in the operating theatre.
Back in the operating theatre the doctors were running out of options. The power to the hospital had been knocked out during a forest fire, and in a rare turn of events one of the lightning bolts that provided most of the light by which this operation was being carried out had burnt the backup generator to a crisp. Forcing the hospital into an all hands on deck situation. One of the nurses from the reception desk was tasked with holing the woman's wrist and checking that her vitals remained stable. The anesthetic technician was now tasked with holing the woman's hand while the doctors worked, his hand already lost to numbness from the vice like grip she had his hand in. her screams bouncing off the walls from the pain even though she had already downed the epidural.
With the light cast off from yet another lightning bolt, the doctor in charge was finally able to see the head of the baby. On the sweat drenched face of the baby's mother you could see the pain and stress of the pregnancy so beautifully depicted like art. The pain on her face as artistic as a Da Vinci masterpiece. With a great gulp of air she pushed once more, the sweat on her face increasing tenfold. The pain on her face transcending the confines of earthly imagination. Her clammy hand squeezing the life out of the anesthetic technician, the crunch of his bones breaking drowned out by the rain. Her screams reaching fever pitch. The sound so filled with agony that it reached all the corners of Forestville. And suddenly it came to a stop.
Outside the theatre her husband waited with abated breath, counting down the seconds until he would be justified in his panic. The seconds until he would break down those doors and rush to his wife's side.
1, 2, 3,4,5,6...
And then suddenly the wail of a newborn baby cut through the fog that had settled in its father's mind. Cut through the silence that had engulfed even the occupants of the waiting room. And then suddenly the lights came back on and the rain started to ease up. The occupants of the waiting room looked to each other as if looking for permission to rejoice. And once again they were engulfed in the silence of that awkward moment. All waiting for the reaction of the giant in the blue flannel shirt, mouths sealed but brains loud as ever with speculations of what his reaction would be. But he didn't react. The silence in the room punctuated by the loud ticking of the giant clock mounted above the entrance to the operating theatre.
And then finally the giant released a large breath as his shoulders deflated, the image appearing like he was a balloon letting out air. With that simple gesture the room erupted in congratulatory remarks aimed at the quiet giant, who did nothing but nod. As time went on he finally broke into a small smile that was cut short by the sound of the theatre doors bursting open.
A nurse flew by in her scrubs with a bunch of bloody towels in her hands, while calling for more towels. The giant's expression changed to serious faster than anybody expected. But even that was short lived as it got replaced by a broken look thanks to the words that flew out of the nurse's mouth next
"Mothers gone into v-tach we need all essential personnel"
The look on the giant's face was what drew the concern of everyone in the waiting room. His face a perfect mixture of lost and broken in the right combinations. But that wasn't the point; the point was that he stood in front of the theatre doors like a dog waiting for its master. His face the depiction of someone who didn't know how to show the emotions he was feeling even if he wanted to. It was one of those things you just couldn't help but be sympathetic about.
And so they sat once again in an awkward silence, the hours dragged slowly on as people left and were replace by some of the giant's equally gigantic friends. Until finally the doctor came through the doors of the theatre with a solemn look on his face. A look filled with so much sympathy that for the first time in his life the giant cried. He broke down and cried before shooting up and running through the theatre doors to get to his wife. To at least hold her one last time. But he found the theatre empty. Running out he started searching frantically for her body, tears streaming down his face like rivers. As he rounded the corner he bumped into a woman coming out of her room who screamed out in pain after his retreating figure
"Get back here you big oaf or no bacon for a month"
The familiarity of the voice stopped the giant in his tracks as he turned around to find the feisty little fireball he married on the floor, looking up at him with murder in her eyes. Under that a mischievous smile generated by the prank she had just played on him. Reaching down the oaf pulled her up and into his arms, his tears still streaming down his face even with the smile that graced his quivering figure. Ignoring the movie like romantic moment his wife spoke in a strained voice
"I know you're crying and all but could you let go, I still need to breathe to stay alive"
The giant quickly withdrew his arms, a sheepish smile on his face as he apologized under his breath. Looking at his wife to see the same mischievous smile from before on her face. As they looked into each other's eyes he realized that in this perfectly imperfect moment, he was perfectly happy with the most important people in his life by his side.