Caught in the Flames

Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Four

As always, none of this is mine. I'm just the perv who want to make our beloved Twilight characters swear, drink, and go at it like horny rabbits. This story will be a combination of love, suspense, some violence and steamy, sweaty sex.

*Tissue Warning*

Chapter 164

BPOV

I was tossed onto a gurney and my dress was removed from my body. I was in so much pain. Dr. Popper was cursing loudly from between my legs and when she stood up, her hands were bloody. "Bella, I'm sorry, but we're going to have perform an emergency C-section."

"What? What's wrong?"

"You are bleeding from your placenta, a placental abruption. If we don't remove the baby and stop the bleeding you'll die. Your baby will die," Dr. Popper whispered, her eyes staring at me.

"How did this happen?" Edward asked, his face pale and drawn. His fingers threaded with mine. I never saw Edward look so scared. "Dr. Popper?"

"My guess is that when you fell, it caused you to go into early labor. The medications stopped it, but the placenta, somehow, is now separated from the fetus. We have to go. Bella, we're going to put you under," Dr. Popper said, soothing my hair back. "It'll be easier on you and the baby." She closed her eyes, blowing out a breath. "If there are complications, where we can't stop the bleeding ..."

"Do you want to perform a hysterectomy?" I asked, feeling sicker by the minute. Dr. Popper nodded, her lips set in a grim line.

"Save her," Edward whispered, his hand tightening around mine and his voice cracking in agony. "I can't lose both of you. Bella, if you want more babies, we'll adopt. I can't ..." Tears tracked down his handsome face. "I don't want to raise our daughter alone. Please." He was growing hysterical, sobbing against my shoulder. My own tears trickled down, but I was too weak to do anything else but cry.

"Do whatever you need to do," I whispered, reaching to soothe my fiancée. Edward choked out another sob, his fingers tracing my face and his nose buried at the sweet spot by my neck. We stayed locked in an awkward embrace until Dr. Popper cleared her throat, needing to separate us so she could deliver our daughter.

"It's time. We'll do everything we can to spare your uterus," Dr. Popper explained. "Edward, I'm sorry, but you have to stay in the waiting room. This is going to be fast. We have to work quickly and we can't have a frantic father in there." Edward whimpered, his eyes moving to mine and they were panicked. Tears were flowing freely. I tried to wipe them away, but seeing him so scared made my heart clench. I was so terrified of what was waiting for me. "We have to go. The OR is ready."

"I love you, Bella. So much. You are everything to me," he choked out, his fingertips running up and down my face. "I love our daughter, but you are ... I can't lose you."

"You won't," I cried, my hands weakly reaching up to his disheveled hair. He crushed his mouth to mine, desperation and need abundant in this kiss. Abruptly, he pulled back and the gurney was moved from the room. I was crying, afraid of the surgery, afraid of losing Marie and afraid of not waking up. Rolling into the OR, an anesthesiologist explained what he was doing, but he sounded like the adults from The Peanuts cartoons, a muted trombone. I nodded and had an oxygen mask placed over my face. The sounds around me began to fade away and a cold dread filled my belly. My eyelids felt heavy. With each blink, it was more difficult for me to pull them back up. I drifted off, unaware of what was going on.

The next time I woke up, I was in an ICU cubicle. My entire body was numb and I was freezing. I was shivering uncontrollably when Carlisle came in, covering me with a warm blanket. His eyes were drawn, looking so incredibly sad. Marie ... No! No! No! Please, no! It can't be! "Where's my baby?" I asked, panic clear in my voice.