Baby May

Three Lives

Thank you guys for all the comments on the last chapter, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's definitely one of my better-written chapters for a while.

Brian's world feels like it's spinning, Toby has been rushed to theatre to remove the bullet and hopefully save his life. Alyssia is in labour, 7 weeks too early and has a bullet wound at the top of her left leg that cannot be removed until the baby is born, Anita is with her.

All he can do is sit in the waiting room with Ivy on his lap cuddled into him, he rang Sarah and Jenna telling them to be on the next flight out for fear that Toby might not make it.

"Papa?" Ivy whispers, looking up at him.

He brushes her curls back to see her eyes, she looks very scared and tired, "Yeah?"

"Mama, Dada okay?" Tina, the gun, seeing her mum and dad get shot, is a good reason to be scared, he is too.

"They'll be okay," He really shouldn't say that because there is the chance of losing all three of them, but he doesn't want to scare her any more than she already is.

"Brian," He looks up as Roger approaches, "Are they gonna be okay?"

"Toby is in surgery," He covers Ivy's ears, "He was shot just below the heart so even if they remove the bullet there's a high chance he won't make it. Alyssia was shot in the leg and has gone into labour, Anita is with her, they can't remove the bullet till she's given birth."

"Christ," Roger sits heavy in one of the chairs head in his hands, "But she's only 33 weeks."

"That's the worse part, there's a high chance of losing all three of them," Brian can't lose any of them, living without Alyssia again is unthinkable, Toby is a son to him now to lose him and his unborn grandchild would be too much for the family to cope with. And to think that Ivy could lose her mum, dad and sibling is unbearable. They sit silently and wait.

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"On the next contraction you need to push, Lissy," Megan tells her.

"But it's too early," Alyssia couldn't care less about her own life but her unborn child needs longer.

"Hey," Anita gently holds her face, "I give birth to you early and you survived because you were a fighter. With parents like you and Toby, this baby will be a fighter too. I know you're scared, but keeping this baby in is can only hurt the baby now because the amniotic fluid that acts as a cushion and protection is gone so you need to push."

Listening to her mum's words, she nods adjusting her position so she can bare down, gripping Anita's hand she pushes with the next contraction, "Good, that's it, Lissy," Megan encourages, "I can see the top on baby's head, keep going."

Baring down, Alyssia feels the burn down below crying out with it, "It hurts, I want Toby, what if he..."

"Don't," Anita cuts her off, "Don't think about that, he'll be fine. Concentrate and push."

Screaming as she pushes a few more times, she gasps relaxing back in relief, "She's here," Megan grins, "You have another beautiful baby girl."

"Is she alright?" Alyssia sits up desperate to see her, "She's not crying."

"Give her a moment," Megan rubs the baby's back, clearing the airway, a small cry leaves her body. It's not the strong loud wail that came from Ivy when she was born but it's a cry.

"She's small, but there doesn't appear to be any abnormalities," She lifts the baby onto Alyssia's chest, "But she will need to go to the neonatal ward for observation and a little extra oxygen."