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Chapter Fifteen

"My baby... Is she okay?" Holly's eyes were glued to the ultrasound screen whilst her unsettled voice fills the room. Ryan's elbows leaned on the edge of her bed, one of his hands covered his mouth at the tense atmosphere around him. The doctor nodded, briefly resting a reassuring hand on Holly's shoulder, "Her heartbeat is a bit quicker than we'd like. You have a condition called placenta previa, where it can fall from the lining of the uterus, that's what caused the bleeding." Ryan was hanging on her every word, not understanding any of it. But he was still interested. "We'll keep an eye on you both overnight. Just try and relax, okay?" She smiled, it was genuine but even the doctor was uncertain of the outcome the morning may bring. Ryan noticed, and his hand dropped down to take hold of Holly's, bringing it up to his mouth so his lips brush over her skin. She laid her head back on the plumped up pillows behind her, sighing at the touch of Ryan's lips. "You should go home and get some sleep." She squeezed his hand gently, tilting her head up again to look in Ryan's direction. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

The words were spoken in vain, soon Ryan was asleep curled up on the chair beside her bed. Leaning his fist against his cheek, they didn't know what time it was but that wasn't important. Time didn't matter when he was with her. Nothing did. As long as they had each other and she was close by. Holly had managed to nod off for a few hours too, the doctor advised her not to lay down, but the pumped pillows behind her were comfy enough to rest on. The seering pain flicked on inside her like a switch, and suddenly she was awake, whimpering as she sat up and clenched forward. There was a pressure she'd never experienced before, and the cramps accompanying it were agonising. What was happening? Holly's petite hands pressed up against the sides of her belly, the best she could do whilst wanting to hold onto her baby; to make sure she was okay. Ryan soon awoke to her crying, but it wasn't like her usual hormonal outburst he'd been witness to the past few months. These sounds were distressing, a mix of worry and pain, she was practically writhing and he instantly stood up. "Hey.. hey.. what is it?" His hand lightly squeezing her shoulder as he spoke, the machines beeped intensely around them. The noise grating on Ryan's stress level. "It's just cramps..." Holly hissed. And then he fled the room to find someone, anyone to help her.

"Doctor.. Doc!" Ryan chased the woman in the white lab coat down the empty corridor, she turned to him, startled. "She's in so much pain, please.. do something." Ryan stumbled over his words, encouraging her with his shaky hand movements to follow him. The doctor's intuition pricked up when she heard the distant sound of quickened beeping and Holly's cries of pain. The duo ran back the way he'd came, and the doctor's eyes widened at the sight before her, blood rapidly staining the white sheets underneath her patient. Holly thrashed around, like she was trying to escape the agony overcoming her body. "Alright, it's okay.." The doctor's persona remained calm, but when she examined the problem, her voice changed and yelled for some assistance. As much as it hurt him to see her tormented, Ryan stepped back, letting them do their jobs. "We're going to have to do an emergency c-section. I don't want to risk putting the baby under anymore stress. Okay? She's going to be okay, you both are." Holly cried through the torture, like she'd never cried before, she couldn't control it. "My mom.." She sobbed, pink eyes meeting the doctor's. "Please, I want my mom." The doctor nodded and her staff helped to take her into surgery. Ryan followed out the room, watching until everything that mattered in his life disappeared round the corner. Soon there would be so much more at stake. He couldn't speak, he couldn't move. It was like someone had their fist around his heart and was squeezing it.

~•~

It wasn't long before hurricane Gail Grier came flying down the hallway knocking everyone and everything in her path, and almost passing Ryan sat on the metal waiting chairs. "Where is she?!" She anxiously onto her handbag, looking around for any sign of a nurse or doctor to approach. "She's just gone into surgery." Ryan leans back, taking his elbows away from his knees. Holly's doctor rushed out the room, dressed in clean operation scrubs. "Are you, Mrs Grier?" A strong aroma of disinfectant filled the corridor alongside her voice, enough to make Ryan's head ache. "Yes, where's my daughter?" The doctor handed Gail some scrubs and told her to follow her and put them on quickly. "We're just getting her prepped for a c-section. She's had–" They acted like he wasn't even there, until Gail glanced back at him with an obviously forced smile, the doctor's words too faint for Ryan to make out as they disappeared around the same corner Holly had.

Ryan clock watched religiously for the next hour. How long was it supposed to take? All they had to do was take the baby out... Right? What if something was wrong? He clasped his hands together, before standing to place them on the back of his neck, pacing; his anxious mannerisms were a display of what was going on in his mind. Overthinking was probably his worst trait. With a deep breath, he sat back down for another half an hour. It was 8AM now, and the sunlight coming through the nearby window made his eyes sting. He had hardly slept, and every time he closed his eyes all he could hear was Holly's distressed cries, and his blood-stained sheets. He couldn't sit still until he knew she was alright. She had to be.

Ryan's eyelids immediately pinged open at the sound of incoming footsteps, he'd slumped asleep on the cold chairs with his arm folded. When he opened his eyes, he saw Gail Grier stood nearby in silence, listening to everything the doctor was saying. He leant forward, hoping to get his ears in the conversation, but Gail only looked at him. "Mr Reynolds, is it?" The doctor turned from Gail, sitting beside the exhausted man just about staying awake. Ryan nodded as Gail took a seat opposite him. "They're both doing good. Holly's sleeping at the moment, she's going to be very tired and sore for a while. The baby's incubated for now, she's still a little undeveloped but she's healthy." Ryan swallowed, nodding every time the doctor finished a sentence, he glanced over at Gail adjusting her shirt. "So, she's–" Gail shook her head. "No, she's staying with us. I'm not letting my grandchild go anywhere. Holly's her mom, she belongs with her." This outburst from the protective parent settled Ryan's conscious and his overactive thoughts. His heart suddenly swelled with pride, and finally a smile curved upon his lips again. Holly was a mom, and he was so proud of her.