Happy Birthday: A Novel

“She may go into labor. The baby is fine for now. Your wife’s having some respiratory trouble. The baby may decide to bail if your wife is too distressed.” Mike didn’t know whether to scream or cry. He wanted to shake her for trying to fight the fire herself. How could she be so stupid? But she looked so sick and so frail as she lay there that he couldn’t be angry at her. He just stood there and cried as he watched her helplessly. They worked on her for over an hour, and she finally came around, but she was coughing and throwing up and having trouble breathing. And the obstetrician reported regular contractions ten minutes apart. Her water hadn’t broken, but they weren’t happy with the way things were going. The only good news was that the baby’s heartbeat was staying strong.

They kept her in the trauma unit all night, and Mike sat with her. She was too out of it to talk to him, and she had an oxygen mask on her face, but she knew he was there. They gave her something to try to stop the contractions, and by morning it had worked and they had stopped. April looked absolutely awful, and the stench of smoke was everywhere in the room they put her in to treat her. They kept the oxygen mask on her until that night, and said it was as much for the baby as for her.

Mike had called April’s father, to let him know what had happened. He and Maddie came to see her that afternoon. They had gone by the restaurant and told Mike in a whisper that it looked terrible. But so did April. And that evening Mike called her mother at the Ritz in Paris. April hadn’t wanted him to call her before. She didn’t want to spoil her trip. It was midnight in Paris when he called. He told Valerie what had happened and that April was out of danger. The restaurant was a shambles, but her daughter was going to be okay, and so was the baby. They thought she’d probably have to take it easy for the next few weeks so she’d get to full term.

“Oh my God, how did it happen?” Valerie sounded shocked, and he could hear Jack in the background asking questions. She was upset he hadn’t called right away, but she knew her daughter and how stubborn she was about not upsetting her mother, and correctly suspected April hadn’t let him call.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t there,” Mike said, sounding exhausted. “A pan fire, I think.” Several of the people from the restaurant had come to see her that day. And they said the damage to the restaurant was almost total, as much from the water from the hoses as from the fire. April had done all she could to stop it, including risk her life, but she couldn’t. They had insurance, but it was going to be a huge job to rebuild the restaurant, and he knew April would be heartsick over it. But the most important thing was that she hadn’t lost the baby. All night Mike had feared this would be their punishment for not wanting it, and maybe now they’d lose it, but they hadn’t. He was so grateful that both April and the baby were alive, he didn’t care about the rest.

“I’m coming home,” Valerie said firmly. “I’ll take the first flight out in the morning,” she said, as Jack nodded approval. Mike assured her that April was all right, just slightly burned and very shaken, but he readily understood that Valerie wanted to come home. She asked to speak to April, who took his cell phone from him. They had just taken her oxygen mask off. She barely managed to squeak out a hoarse croak but told her mother she was okay, and didn’t want Valerie to return. She insisted she was fine and promised that Mike would keep them informed. She said they would stay at his place now, and gave Valerie the number. April insisted she didn’t want them to curtail their trip, and said there was no need.

Valerie turned to Jack as soon as she got off the phone and burst into tears. It took her a few minutes to calm down, overwhelmed with terror and relief.

“What happened?” Jack asked her as he held her. From what he’d heard of her end of the conversation, it didn’t sound good. But April was alive.

“The restaurant burned down,” Valerie said as he held her. “April tried to fight the fire herself, and burned herself, and almost had the baby.”

“I’ll call the concierge and get a flight back right away!” Jack said, looking as worried as she did.

“April doesn’t want us to,” Valerie said, still in his arms. “Mike said she’s okay, and he’ll keep us posted. She sounds awful, but she’s not in danger, and the baby is okay too. Maybe we should wait and see how she is tomorrow. It may upset her more if we go home.” She knew her daughter. And she had to admit that it didn’t sound like they needed to leave, but it was certainly upsetting. And she knew April would be devastated about the restaurant. She’d just have to be patient while they rebuilt it.

“I’ll do whatever you want,” Jack reassured her. “Stay or go back.” He kissed her and Valerie nodded gratefully. In the end, they agreed to wait and see how April did in the next day or two before they made the decision.