Chapter 4: Tragedy and a Miracle

If it weren't such a serious circumstance, one might be amused to see a girl eight and a half months pregnant waddling down the street like a duck wearing snowshoes. Teddy realized that at that stage in her pregnancy it was not a good idea to be running anywhere. Realizing that fact, Ted made sure to keep a steady, slow pace as they went down the street. Because of the trees and bushes at each of the houses, they could not tell which house had smoke coming from it. It wasn't until they were stopped by a police officer that the four people could see that the smoke and flames were indeed coming from Teddy's parent's house.

The officer said, "Sorry folks but you'll have to stay back behind the barricade."

Teddy said, "Officer, that's my house. I'm Theodora Spencer."

"Okay folks, you can come in and see the fire chief over there." The officer pointer over to where the chief was standing.

The four people rushed over to the chief. Teddy asked, "Chief, that's my house; where are my mom and dad?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Spencer were just taken to the hospital."

"How bad were they injured?"

"I don't know. You'll have to check with the hospital."

Ted's dad said, "Wait here, I'll get the car and pick you guys up." He then lit out at a dead run to the house to get their car. He picked up the others and sped as fast as he dared to the hospital. They arrived about fifteen minutes later and Ted's dad let them out to go into the ER as he parked the car.

Inside they were met by a nurse who told them that the two patients had just been brought in and they were being looked at. She ushered the, then four people, to the waiting area. Everybody was worried sick, especially Teddy who was concerned about her parents, and on top of it all, was getting very close to going into labor herself.

It was about an hour later when a doctor came to the waiting area to talk with them. "Folks, from what I understand there was an explosion and both Mr. and Mrs. Spencer sustained some serious injuries. They both are being treated and should be going into surgery any minute now."

Ted's dad spoke up, "How extensive are their injuries?"

"The best we can tell, they have broken bones, burns and smoke inhalation. We will know more once we get them into the OR. One of the best trauma surgeons in the state just arrived and will be operating shortly. We'll try to keep you informed as we go." The totally nasty side of Mr. Fate followed the two patients into the OR.

One of the nurses noticed Teddy's condition and came over, "I couldn't help but notice that you're expecting. When is your due date?"

"In about a week but I have been having some light cramping already. My water has not broken yet but I have a funny feeling it could at any second."

"Okay, why don't you all move to one of the examination rooms where you'll be more comfortable and private? I'll check back with you in a bit."

During the next three hours our little group saw many patients come and go. Some were treated and released. Some were treated and admitted to the hospital. A few were sent to the morgue. It was a cross section of what happens when things go wrong in a society. After three hours which seemed like an eternity, the surgeon came in taking off his cotton mask. "Folks, we did everything we could but there was so much internal damage that they did not make it. I'm very sorry for your loss."

It took Teddy about ten seconds to comprehend what the doctor had said. She let out a scream, "OH NO." She then collapsed to the floor crying and screaming. Ted lifted her and placed her on the bed in the room. It took almost a half hour for Teddy to slowly calm down to where she could talk. All of a sudden she said, "Ted, my water just broke." Mr. Fate had struck again. She then doubled over with a massive contraction. Ted's mom hit the call button and a nurse ran into the room. One look was all it took and the nurse called out, "gurney to exam two."

Another nurse pushed the stretcher in. They loaded Teddy up and she was on her way to labor and delivery. Ted and his parents followed them and turned to go into the maternity waiting room. For the second time that evening three people were in a waiting room. All three were saddened at their loss but also apprehensive that Teddy had gone into labor. It was about an hour later when a nurse came in, "Ted, come with me."

"Oh my God, is something wrong?" Mr. Fate chuckled at the possibilities but decided to pass on that one.

"No, she's doing fine. You, however, need to scrub in right now."

Ted heaved a sigh of relief and followed the nurse to the delivery room. He put on the green surgical scrubs and scrubbed in so he could assist in the delivery. Ted and Teddy had gone through classes so they would be prepared for the delivery process. Ted entered the room and went over to teddy. He took her hand and gave her a kiss. Just as he kissed her she had another contraction and almost crushed Ted's hand while she tried her best to deafen everybody in the room. Ted then coached her in a breathe/push routine at the doctor's direction. Luckily, or unluckily, losing her parents made Teddy's labor finish in only about a half hour and she delivered twins thirteen minutes apart. During the delivery Ted got to cut two umbilical cords. Teddy had a very healthy boy and girl who were cleaned up, wrapped in receiving blankets and presented to Teddy and Ted. They decided to name their twins Arthur and Jennifer after the mythical story of Camelot. A new family named Spencer was off to a running start. Another family named Spencer had come to an untimely end that same evening. Shortly later Ted and Teddy got to take their new family home. Life goes on.

One silver lining was that Teddy's parents had a very good homeowner's policy on their house. The insurance company paid to tear down the remains of the original house and built a new house in its place. They also paid for new furniture, clothes, Kitchen goods, appliances, food and household tools and supplies and two new cars. Teddy ended up with a move-in ready house. One thing Teddy had insisted on was that the new house would not resemble her original house in any way other than location. It had a different style and floor plan. She also had the deed updated to include Ted's name.

The explosion in the house was caused by a faulty furnace that was known to the manufacturer but not put on any recall list. In order to save the company money, one of the executives had shut down the recall process and buried the test data. Not wanting the bad publicity, the company came to a sizeable settlement with Teddy. As a result she would not have to work outside the home and could be a stay-at-home mom while Ted attended college on his scholarship.