TheTwilight Zone

         Thanks to everyone who has been following!

This is Day 25 our Our Adoption Adventure. If you missed the beginning you can click here to catch up.

This is part of a writing challenge to write everyday for the 31 days of October. If you would like to ready many other great blogs, click here at write31days.com. 

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          On our third day at the hospital we started to lose hope. Emma kept the babies in her room all day. The more time she spent with them, the more we worried she would back out of the adoption. The comfortable relationship we enjoyed with her those months before she delivered seemed like a distant memory. She didn’t want to talk to us and she had family members in and out of her room constantly.  At 10am the doctor checked the babies and said they were ready to be discharged.

         A hospital administrator and a notary needed to read Emma some legal papers and have her sign to release the babies to us. The nurse called them to come to Emma’s room. We were not sure what we were supposed to do. We received all the information second hand from the nurses. They were for us in this adoption plan from the first night we arrived.

         An hour passed until the administrator and the notary arrived at Emma’s room with the paperwork. My husband and I stood in the hallway outside her door. We assumed after she signed we would take the babies home. We could hear talking inside the room, but could not understand what was being said.

         After about twenty minutes the two hospital administrators walked out. They looked at us and said,

“She’s not ready to sign yet. Have the nurse call us when she is ready and we will come back.”

What? We did not understand.

The nurse came out and explained.

“Emma’s mom called and told her not to sign anything until all the family comes back to say goodbye to the babies. They are calling everyone now.”

What was happening? Had we crossed over into the Twilight Zone?

         We left to go walk around. We didn’t leave the hospital because we wanted to stay close in case we were needed or she signed and we could leave. We wished we could go outside and get some air, but it was overcast and had been raining everyday since we arrived.

         Tired of being cooped up in the tiny room by the nursery, we went down to the main lobby. The black clouds outside made the lobby gloomy. We slumped in a couch and watched a custodian place buckets under holes in the ceiling where the rain was dripping in. This certainly matched our mood.

         People we recognized, from the first day in Emma’s room, walked through the lobby to the elevators. This could take all day.

         Two more hours went by.

         The adoption agency called several times to check on us. We explained the situation. One of the social workers made the long drive to help us. I was so relieved when I saw her. Finally, we had someone with experience in the adoption process and knew what to do. She went in and talked to Emma. Emma was ready to sign. A nurse called the hospital administrators. Their secretary said they had been waiting for two hours for the call to come back, but finally left for their lunch break.

         We went back to our room and talked with the social worker. She was upbeat and encouraged us to hang in there. The three of us prayed for God to intervene in the situation. We prayed He would give Emma the strength to make the best decision and for Him to calm our anxious hearts.

         The minutes dragged by. It seemed to take forever. After another hour the nurse called up to the office. The administrators were back from lunch and wanted someone to check with Emma to make sure she was ready before they came down again. The social worker went in to talk to her. Then she came back to our room and said,

“Emma’s mom wants to talk to both of you.”

         This time there was no crowd of people. Emma sat in a wheel chair still wearing her hospital gown. She held one of the babies closely and kept her head down staring at the baby’s face. She didn’t look at us. Her mother sat next to her, in the only other chair in the room. The bassinet with the other baby in it was in front of them. Not wanting to stand on display again, my husband and sat on the edge of the bed facing them.

         The mother began to lecture us  .  .  .

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So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Isaiah 41:10

                       *** Click here for Day 26. ****