SCENE 1:

[_In a hospital birthing room. It has all of the beeping and monitors that come from a normal hospital room, but much larger and with a large white board with all of the measurements required for a birth. There are two boxes at the bottom that say “Epidural” and “No Epidural” with the epidural box checked. There is an array of circles with centimeter measurements on them labeled above as “Dilation”: 7 cm is circled. Lastly it lists the baby’s name “Elora”, the Nurse’s name “Rebecca”, and the midwife “Laura”.Throughout the right side of the room there is a number of personal belongings: a suitcase, a lunch box, a change of clothes sitting on the floor, and water bottles. In the room there are two beds: one for the patient _(MATILDA)_ and a cot for the patient’s partner. The partner (_ALLY_) is soundly sleeping on their bed, the patient is restless, unable to move except for her shoulders and up. She has a light blanket and sheet covering the back half of her body. She’s hooked up to a large heartbeat monitor that lies on her stomach. She sighs, trying to roll over, with no luck. Besides the light coming from all of the monitors, the room is dark. One of the many beeping noises stops for a moment. _REBECCA _enters the room, and without addressing _MATILDA _or _ALLY_, she checks the apparatus that is hooked up to the wall._]

REBECCA: Alright, mama. I’m going to have to look at that monitor of yours.

MATILDA: Okay, sure. 

[REBECCA _reaches under the sheet and grabs the monitor, pulling it hard to maneuver it where she wants it to go. As she’s moving, she’s looking at one of the computer screens._]

REBECCA: Sorry, this thing is just not wanting to cooperate tonight.

MATILDA: Yeah, I got that impression.

[_After one swift move, the beeping starts back up again. A monitor in the corner shows “150 BPM”_]

REBECCA: Okay, we are back online. Are you doing okay? Do you need anything?

MATILDA: No, I don’t think so. 

REBECCA: Are you sure? You hesitated a bit.

MATILDA: I just can’t get comfortable.

REBECCA: Want me to move you? I can be quick.

MATILDA: No, I don’t want to mess with the monitor. I think I’ll be alright.

REBECCA: Gotcha. Well, if you need anything, you know how to reach me. Alright?

MATILDA: Alright.

[REBECCA _exits._ MATILDA _shifts her weight one more time._]

[_pause_]

MATILDA: Hey, Ally? Ally? Are you awake?

ALLY: Halfway. What’s wrong?

MATILDA: Nothing. I just can’t sleep.

ALLY: Hopefully that means tonight’s the night.

MATILDA: Hopefully. They just keep coming in to fix the monitor.

ALLY: Yeah. I’m sorry. 

[MATILDA _sighs, leaning back into bed. _ALLY _quickly falls back asleep._ _There is a long pause, and the clock in the room moves to show that time has passed. The monitor shows “150 BPM” consistently and the beeping maintains rhythm with the beeps. All of a sudden, the number starts to drop quickly. _MATILDA _hears this and shoots up._]

MATILDA: Oh no. No, no, no, no!  

[_Four nurses and _LAURA_ all rush in, gathering around _MATILDA. ALLY _quickly wakes up and stands, watching as everything unfolds_.]

NURSE 1/NURSE 2/REBECCA:

It’s okay, just keep breathing. Keep breathing./Get on your hands and knees. Now!/Roll over, 

  Mama!

[MATILDA _tries to get on her hands and knees and struggles, falling over herself as she can’t stable her legs._ LAURA _holds _MATILDA _up on her hands and knees._]

LAURA: What’s the BPM?

NURSE 3: 50. Wait, 45. Wait-

REBECCA: It’s plummeting!

LAURA: Matilda, listen to me. Okay? I know you don’t want to do a C-section, and it’s the last 

thing you want to do. But we have to get you-

MATILDA: Do it. I trust you. Do it. 

LAURA: Good. 

[LAURA _looks over to the rest of the nurses and nods._ _The nurses maneuver _MATILDA _onto her back. A nurse crosses over to _ALLY]

NURSE 2: You’re dad, right?

ALLY: Right. 

NURSE 2: Here’s what's going to happen. I’m going to bring you a gown in a minute, then you 

can come into the OR. I’ll walk you down. Okay?

ALLY: Understood. 

[_The bed gets wheeled out of the room, and all exit, leaving _ALLY _alone._]

ALLY: Jesus Christ. 

SCENE 2:

[MATILDA _lays upright, groggy, in a much smaller room. On the left side of the room hangs a curtain, indicating that it’s a post-op room. _ALLY _is sitting next to her. They are alone. _MATILDA _shakes her head and opens her eyes slowly._]

ALLY: Oh! You’re finally awake.
MATILDA: Am I?

ALLY: No, good point, you’re actually asleep. This has all been an elaborate dream.

MATILDA: She wasn’t crying.

ALLY: No, she wasn’t. Listen, I’m sorry I left when I did. They were just taking her and-

MATILDA: No, I wanted you to follow her. She needed her daddy.

[ALLY _nods, looking down at the ground._]

MATILDA: How was the surgery? Did you get to see any of it?

ALLY: Oh yeah, I got a front row seat. You should have seen that surgeon, he was like the 

Swedish Chef, except he was throwing around your organs.

MATILDA: Damn. And you didn’t record it?

ALLY: Alas. 

MATILDA: That surgeon though. They talked to me after the surgery-apparently he’s the best surgeon for C-sections in the region.

ALLY: Wow.

MATILDA: Good thing he was up here at 3 AM.

ALLY: No kidding.

MATILDA: He even talked to me a bit.

ALLY: Yeah?

MATILDA: Yep. He said that I had a good team, because if we had gotten her there just one 

minute too late, we would have lost her.

[_The air feels heavy. A pause._]

ALLY: Well it’s a good thing that the monitor worked then.

MATILDA: Right.

[_There’s a knock on the wall, a doctor with a badge that says “PHYSICIAN” on it enters and sits down next to the bed._]

DOCTOR: Hello. How are you feeling after the surgery?

MATILDA: I can’t even feel it, so I’m fine.

DOCTOR: For now, at least, right? Well, my name is Doctor Booth, I am the physician presiding 

over the NICU that Elora is staying at right now. I have some good news and some bad 

News. The good news is she is stable. She is breathing well with the assistance we have 

provided for her. The bad news is we believe that she has taken a significant hit from not 

receiving enough oxygen at birth, and there is a high chance of pronounced 

developmental delays. She is currently on a cooling mat to prevent any further damage, 

and we will have an MRI for her later this week where we will be able to find out more 

about her future prognosis. But, like I said, she is stable. What questions do you have for 

Me?

[MATILDA _and _ALLY _look at each other for a moment, scrambling in their heads for words_]

MATILDA: Do we know what the scope would be for her disabilities?

DOCTOR: That is what the MRI is for, but I would say nothing is ruled out as of right now.

MATILDA: I mean, I already work in special education. If you can’t fathom being a parent of 

     someone with a disability, I believe you shouldn’t be a parent at all.

DOCTOR: That’s a good mindset to have.

ALLY: Do we know what caused the hit?

DOCTOR: Only guesses, we can’t really determine the cause. We just know that she 

experienced a long period of time without oxygen and it’s causing problems.

MATILDA: When can I see her?

DOCTOR: That is up to your nurses and physicians. We’ll make sure you’ll see her soon 

Though.

[_beat._]

DOCTOR: Alright, if there’s nothing else, I will leave you two to process. 

ALLY/MATILDA: Thank you./Thanks.

[DOCTOR _exits. _ALLY _holds _MATILDA’s _hand. Blackout_.]