Three Years Ago

It was 4:50 AM, and Brian dropped me off at the Emergency Doors of the hospital downtown.  The main doors were locked since it was so early in the morning.  Brian drove off to park the car, and we had agreed to meet on the 2nd floor - Labor and Delivery Triage.

I was scheduled to be induced at 5:00 that morning, two weeks before my actual due date.  Our moods were calm, happy and excited.

I walked through the Emergency lobby, asked an attendant which way the elevators were, and continued down the hallway.  The hallway went on forever.  There were no people around, and sometimes the lights were only dim.  I kept going, but soon felt like I must have missed a turn somewhere.  My surroundings weren't looking like "public access" anymore.

I turned around to trace my steps and see if I had missed anything.  Sure enough, about half-way back, there was a wide hallway to the right that I must have missed.  I turned down it, and on the right-side wall I noticed some beautiful quilts hanging.  I admired them as I walked past.

Soon I found myself in the (dark and deserted) main lobby that I've been in many times.  I knew from there I would be able to find the elevators.  I even saw a sign that said "Elevators" with an arrow pointing, so I followed it.  I wound up walking through the same wide hallway I had just been through, and again admired the quilts, this time on the left-side wall.

I continued down a maze of smaller hallways and eventually found a single elevator.  It was big, so it could fit a gurney in it.  I scanned the keypad for the number 2, and pushed it.  It didn't light up.  I tried again.  No matter what I did, I couldn't get the number 2 to light up.  So I pushed 4.  I waited until the door opened up on the 4th floor, then closed, and then I pushed 2 again.  Nothing happened.  Then I fought back tears.

Meanwhile, Brian has parked the car in the parking garage, grabbed our bags, gone up to Triage on the 2nd floor, and saw that I wasn't there waiting for him.  He assumed I'd already been taken back to get hooked up, so he went to the window and said "I'm here to see my wife".  "No one has checked in here", said the nurse.

Back in the elevator I decide to push the button for the First floor and go back to where I started.  On my way down the hall towards the Emergency Room I again pass the wide hallway with the now-familiar quilts.  Only something happens this time.  Instead of looking at the quilts, my eyes glance to the wall opposite of them.  Where there is a BANK OF ELEVATOR DOORS.

I quickly get on an elevator and push the "2" button without any problems.  The door opens on the 2nd floor and I immediately see Brian and a nurse with slightly concerned looks on their faces.

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it", I choke.

And we headed back to have a baby.



Read about what happened next here, here, here, here, and here.