The couple was a Medcenter One love story, said Courtney Williams, a Medcenter One nurse manager.

"They met here,"Williams said.

The story is still talked about with tenderness.

So what happened Feb. 1 was heartbreaking to the hospital staff, Williams said.

Alain Green, a Bismarck native and former fourth-grade teacher, decided he wanted to be a nurse instead, and so was a student at Medcenter One's nursing school when he met his wife-to-be on his rotational rounds at the hospital.

Tiffany, known for her warm smile and long, flowing dark hair, was a certified nursing assistant and secretary for the hospital's subacute unit.

He graduated in 2007. They married in May 2007, about the time Alain Green started working at Medcenter One as a registered nurse, said Williams, who was his supervisor.

He would later tell Williams that Tiffany taught him how to love. That because of her he was closer to his family as she encouraged him to stay in closer contact, make phone calls to relatives.

"You could see they were very much in love,"Williams said.

"They ate lunch together," Williams said. "They'd walk each other to their units."

And they waited for their little girl, their first baby, to be born.

"They were very excited to be starting a family,"Williams said.

Madyson Tiffany Green was due to be born in mid-February.

The doctors brought her into the world earlier - as her mom was leaving.

On the afternoon of Feb. 1, at her home in Mandan, Tiffany Green began having seizures caused by a brain aneurysm - a medical situation totally out of the blue.

"It was completely unexpected,"Williams said.

Alain Green, who worked a different shift, happened to be home that day and was able to call 911 and get an ambulance.

Tiffany Green never regained consciousness, Williams said. But Medcenter doctors were able to save one life, the baby's.

Madyson was delivered via emergency Caesarean section. Her mother was kept on life support until Feb. 2 and then "passed away after becoming an organ donor to many,"according to a Medcenter statement.

Madyson was able to come home on Feb. 4, and Alain Green has more than 12 weeks of paid time to stay with her because Medcenter employees donated their paid leave time. Some who donated didn't even know him, Williams said.

"I'm really proud to work here," Williams said. She said she grew up in a small town, and the environment at Medcenter is like a small community.

She said she recently heard Green, 33, saying he planned to raise the baby in "Tiffany's spirit,"and that he hoped the baby would have her personality.

Jena Stugelmeyer, a registered nurse who had worked with Tiffany Green for three years, said Tiffany was "always a happy person, excited to be a mom.

"She was always in a good mood, always happy to be around people," Stugelmeyer said.

Alain Green brought the baby in last Tuesday, and there were so many baby gifts waiting for him, he had to go home and get a bigger vehicle.

"He's a very proud father," Williams said.

And he has some help. His mother lives nearby, and Tiffany Green, raised in Turtle Mountain, has extended family here, including aunts who are Medcenter nurses.

Williams said both Alain and Tiffany Green have dedicated their lives to giving, and now it's their turn, for Madyson.

Williams said an account has been set up in memory of Tiffany Green, to help for the care of her daughter. The account is at First Community Credit Union, 425 N. Fifth St., Bismarck, ND 58501. For more information, call 258-2751.

(Reach reporter Virginia Grantier at 250-8254 or at virginia.grantier@bismarcktribune.com)