It's Time |A.I|

03

Chapter Three

Present Day

"Ashton Irwin?" A man that looked about thirty made his way into the ICU waiting area, carrying a clipboard between his fingers. His hair was graying slightly at the sides of his temples; along with a stressed out expression captivating his face.

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked, struggling with my words as my voice cracked. I was trying to remain calm, but how could I when the one I loved was probably dead, or if not, dying in a hospital room where she couldn't be seen?

The man, Joey as I now know, answered hesitantly. "She's stable for right now. But, she is in a coma. We really don't know when she'll wake. For all anyone knows, she may not wake up at all." Joey put a hand on my shoulder, sincere sadness etched onto his face. The bags underneath his eyes became noticable as he frowned. "I am very sorry," he said. "You may see her when you're ready."

I made my way slowly to her room, counting each tile as I crossed them. "One, two, three," I whispered. I finally reached the heavy door and hesitantly opened it. She lied motionless on her hospital bed. Tubes were attached to each arm, a small tube was inserted skillfully in her mouth giving her the oxygen she needed to live. Adelaide's skin looked like a porcelain doll's; fare and pale. Everything about this moment screamed 'fake'. I wanted it to be fake, God only knows how much I wanted it to be. The monitor next to her was beeping slowly, the sound blocking my thoughts as I sat down in the chair located in the corner of the left side. It made a loud, creaking noise as I hastily pulled it to her bedside. "Adelaide, please wake up. I need you, what will I ever do without you?" I whispered, brushing strands of hair from her forehead; tears streaming freely down my face. My heart was no longer whole as I continued to stare at her lifeless body. She was sick, sicker than I thought. It angered me that I had not noticed. Even though she was, she was still beautiful as ever. Honestly, she looked even more beautfiul than when we married, if that was even possible. "You promised, baby. You promsied that you'd be alright. Why did you lie?" I laced my fingers with hers, wanting to feel something other than this numbness that was soaking into my every bone. Her hands were cold against mine, and I immediately closed my eyes. "Please don't die on me, princess. We were supposed to have a family together, we had everything going for us. Don't you still want to be with me?" Goosebumps arose on my skin as I felt a cold breeze pass me. "Baby, I love you... So much." I kissed her forehead gently, "God knows you are my light. Please God, don't take her from me."

"Excuse me, Sir. I don't mean to bother you, but we have some news." A nurse I didn't know entered. She had brown hair that went past her shoulders, and sparkling light blue eyes. She was pretty, but not as pretty as my Lemonade.

"Wh-what is it?"

"Sir, are you Ashton Irwin?"

I nodded my head, yes. I was confused, what was this woman trying to get to? If she was here to tell me Adelaide needed to come off life support, I wasn't having it. I still had hope left in me. "Sir, well.. Well, it seems that... This doesn't normally happen. I cannot tell you how this happened, it's defintely a miricle. Doctors are shocked with such an outcome."

"Okay lady, will you just get to the point!" I raised my voice, aggravated witht his woman for stalling and not telling me fast enough. If it has to do with Adelaide, I want to know right now.

"Well, it seems Mrs. Irwin is... Um, well, she's seven months pregnant."

Seven months pregnant. Seven months, pregnant. Seven.. Pregnant. The words swirled around inside my head, echoing off the base of my skull. "I'm sorry," I crossed my arms over my chest ready to laugh. "That is not even remotely possible."

Was it?

The blue eyed lady, sighed. The look on her face was priceless. "Sir, I ran over the tests over and over again. Believe me, we are more shocked about this than you are." She contined, "During chemo therapy it is very uncommon for a woman to be pregnant. One in three-thousand breast cancer patients have it happen to them. The fact we haven't caught it sooner is very worrisome. We won't know if the baby will survive without doing an ultra sound."

I ran my fingers through my hair, taking a fist full of it between my fingers. "So, what do we do now?" I asked, putting my head into the palms of my hands. My back ached from sitting constantly with bad posture.

"Well, I suggest we bring her in for an ultra sound."

I nodded my head, signalling her to do whatever she needed to do to get this done.

❅
❅
❅

"Do you want to know the sex of your baby, Mr. Irwin?" The woman at the monitor looked over to me and smiled. We were in a small, dark room. The only light coming from the monitor screen she was looking at. She held a weird looking device in her fingers, going over clear jelly she had spread on Adelaide just a few moments before.

"Y-yes." My voice cracked. This was something I always wanted, but I didn't want it by myself. I wanted Adelaide to enjoy this with me. Instead, she was in a coma, unconscious, still connected to tubes at this very moment; not aware of the thing that was growing inside her. The heartbeat on the monitor was fast, but Melanie, the nurse, assured me that it was normal and our baby was doing quite well for the circumstances the baby was in.

"Mr. Irwin, congratulations. You're having a baby girl!"

My heart skipped a beat. A baby girl, I was having a baby girl. Tears gathered in my eyes as it just hit me; I was going to be a dad. All I need now is my first baby girl to wake up. Cleaning off the petroleum jelly from Adelaide's stomach, Melanie released Adelaide back to her ICU unit. The brightness of the hospital lights were blinding coming out of a dark area. The thought of being a father put a smile on my face. I'm having a fucking baby.

I stared at Adelaide's lifeless body for what seemed like ten-thousand times. She still looked so fragile. "Adelaide, honey. Guess what?," I sniffled. "We're having a little baby girl. You need to wake up now, she needs you. I need you. We need to be a family... Together." I wiped the freshly shedded tears from my cheeks. This was all too much. A knock on the door startled me.

"We need to talk about the new found baby." Joey made himself known as he walked through the threshold.

"Okay?"

"Because of the circumstances, with Adelaide being in a coma, the baby will not be able to survive. She is not getting the nutrition she needs. We need to do an emergency cesarean section. It's most commonly known as a c-section. It's a dangerous process for both the mother and the baby."

The smile that settled onto my face fell away. "Oh... Just do whatever it takes to save them both." I pleaded.

"This is just a document stating that you agree to let us operate on her." Joey handed me a packet of stappled papers.

Slowly, but surely I scribbled my initials in the designated spot and sat down where I was before; next to Adelaide.

•Edited•

*1,319 words*