Extinguished

~30~ Catastrophic

Taylor's POV

Ellie loses consciousness as I beg her to keep fighting. Her color is completely gone; She has never looked so white.

One of the paramedics comes over and takes the baby from me. He quickly clamps off the umbilical cord and starts working on wrapping the baby. Then he hands her to me as he goes to help the other paramedic with Ellie. They're desperately trying to stop the bleeding, but it's not working. Blood is pouring out of her like a waterfall. She's going to die.

They get her on the gurney, her lifeless body laying limp and frail. I follow behind them, holding my daughter, letting the tears fall. This wasn't the plan. I wasn't supposed to raise her on my own. I was supposed to have Ellie. I can't live my life without Ellie.

As we get in the back of the ambulance, I call Alex quickly.

"Hello," he answers cheerily

"Get to the hospital with Liam now. Ellie had the baby at home, but she's hemorrhaging. It's bad,"
I say as quickly as I can so I can get my focus back on Ellie.

"On our way," he says, immediately somber. He can tell from my voice how bad it is.

For some reason I have a feeling that I need to call Jake. He's her brother, after all.

To my surprise, he actually answers me. He must've figured something's wrong. I've never called him before.

"What do you want?" He answers angrily.

"Get to St. James hospital. Now. Ellie had the baby, but she's bleeding. Bad."

I don't even wait for a reply, I just hang up.  My focus goes back to Ellie.

The paramedic is desperately trying to get the bleeding to even just slow. It looks like a murder scene in this ambulance. I didn't know the human body even had this much blood.

After what feels like hours, we make it to the hospital. I jump out as quickly as I can, and get out of the way. I didn't catch most of the medical jargon they rambled, but I did catch hemorrhage and critical.

She's whisked back to the OR before I even know what's happening. Someone comes then to take my daughter; They need to check her out. I give her to them and I just crumble—I fall to the ground and sob.  I suddenly feel hands on my shoulders, picking me up off the ground. It's Alex

"Pull yourself together for a moment and tell us what the hell is going on," he says. He looks angry, but I know he's just scared.

"They've taken her to the OR—I don't know anything. She started having contractions at home. It all happened so fast. One minute she's fine, the next the baby is coming. I delivered her, and then seconds later blood starts pouring out. They can't get it to stop, Alex," I say as I choke on his name.

I look at Liam, and he's in complete shock. He isn't processing what I've just said.

"The baby?" Alex asks, heartbroken.

"Girl. She's fine. They're just checking her right now," I say, as I try to remember to breathe.

We all just stand there quietly for a moment, trying to process, when a doctor comes out. "Are either of you the husband?"

"No. Neither of us," I say quickly.

"Are you related to her at all," she asks desperately.

"This is her son," I say, pointing to Liam.

"How old are you?"

"I'm almost 18," Liam says, barely above a whisper.

"You're only 17?" She asks, despair in her voice. "We might have to make that work. Are there any other family members here who can make decisions for her?"