2nd instalment

As he is gently drawn away from the place which had been his home for the past nine months, he has no idea that in another eighteen months he’ll be fighting for his life and wishing he’d never been born.
He can’t fight the perpetrator grabbing at him, she’s too strong. He feels as though some vast entity is pulling him in; he is powerless to stop it. He can immediately move legs and arms more freely than before, but he doesn’t like the sudden, unfamiliar freedom of this new place.
The room he has entered is overly bright, the air cool and unwelcoming. He had grown accustomed to his warm and secure space, albeit increasingly cramped. He lets out a scream and continues until everybody in the room, and beyond, knows that he’s less than impressed with the whole episode; he doesn’t like this noisy and unfamiliar place at all.
The sounds outside are quite incredible…, like the ones he’d heard when he was in the other place but much, much clearer and louder…but he feels that something is missing. Where is the gurgling and the rhythmic beating of his warm cosy space? He’s gripped by confusion and fear; he wants to go back inside but somehow, he knows that’s not possible now.
He is being carried around the room, everything is blurred, he feels dizzy and nauseous; he wants the nightmare to end. The blanket, hurriedly but skilfully wrapped around him, gives him back the feeling of security which he’d lost upon entering the new place.
He hears a familiar, comforting voice…and within seconds his anxieties disappear, as quickly as they’d appeared; she whispers his name, tearfully. Ricky is relieved; he thought he’d lost her.
Mother cradles baby with a look of pure joy. The look speaks volumes and is made from the love of every single cell in her body. She will always have it. She feels lucky to have it. Ricky hears another, deeper, familiar voice; he feels much happier now, the memory of his recent traumatic journey, slowly fading away.
The humbled father looks at his son as he gently strokes his delicate head; the elation is as pure as the tears rolling down his cheeks. He thanks god for being blessed with a beautiful healthy child, already looking ahead to the things they will do together as only father and son can. He feels grateful to be able to look forward to these things.
Ricky was born at The Fortuna Clinic’s state-of-the-art maternity ward in Kent, England on January 12th to overwhelmed parents Frank and Laura Travis. He weighed in at approximately six pounds and fifty centimetres in length; statistics which gave no cause for alarm.