So here we are again ... I'm back with my new story I hope you all enjoy this. It's a little different to things that have been done before so I hope you enjoy this. Thanks to EastEndersfan444 and 74crazychick who have helped when I've hit several walls with this story !

So here we go...

"Come on baby girl… Just breathe. You can do it… come on, be strong, be strong for Daddy" Max Branning sat by his daughter's side, watching as the doctors worked relentlessly to keep her breathing, his wife at his side waiting in earnest for the piercing screaming alarms of the machinery to stop, to give them a sign their girl would be ok. No life should be taken this soon.

Max was reluctantly pulled away from his daughter as the doctors attached more wires and sensors. Tanya stepped into his open arms sobbing brokenly against his chest. There was nothing he could say anymore that had even the slightest of a chance of giving his wife some hope. They were truly praying for a miracle.

"Mr and Mrs Branning?" the Doctor stepped closer to the couple, the look on his face giving them no indication to how the conversation was going to play out.

"What's happening?" Tanya whispered, turning her tear stained face towards him.

"Mrs Branning I'd like to take this to my office, please" the doctor indicated to the room across the corridor.

Max and Tanya exchanged a glance, Tanya looking up at Max with sad eyes. "We can't leave her on her own. I'm not leaving her alone" she shook her head profusely and moved back to sit in the chair at the side of her daughter. She was seated for a few moments when a hand rested on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. She'd been aware of the conversation between the doctor and her husband, but had chosen to ignore it, her attention needed elsewhere.

"Babe…" his voice was broken. So broken.

"No Max…I won't do it" the tears were trickling down her face, but she made no attempt to clear them, their appearance all too familiar now for them to look out of place. "I can't…"

Max too was crying and he knew his wife had heard what the doctor had told him. Their daughter was ill, seriously ill and they'd reached the point in her treatment where they seemed to be fighting a losing battle. "She's very poorly Tan, they don't know what else they can do for her..." He couldn't finish the sentence, the words too painful to say.

Noticing the state of the two parents, the doctor came back over to them. He lifted the notes and looked over them before sighing and placing them back down. "I know this is a very difficult situation…but we have reached the stage now where we really need to consider what is best. Your daughter has been on life support for over two weeks now, and only with miniscule improvements in her outputs."

"But she's still breathing" Tanya sobbed

"Mrs Branning she isn't…" the doctor walked over to a small machine and pointed to it "This machine is doing it for her. It's effectively standing in for her lungs and her heart…"

"Have you ever been in this situation doctor?" Tanya looked up to the man who was treating her girl. He was smart looking man, someone she was glad to trust her daughter to.

"No I haven't"

"Then you've no idea how impossible the decision you're asking us to make is." Max held her hand tighter as they watched over their daughter. "you see Doctor Reynolds, her heart is still beating, she still has life… I'll do all I can to keep giving her that life."

"There really is nothing more we can do for her Mrs Branning I'm very sorry…"

Max turned to Doctor Reynolds and nodded "if that was your daughter, would you be able to turn off her life support?"

"I don't think I would Mr Branning… no." he whispered softly, empathising with them both. One of the machines started to blare again and a few nurses came to check them. "She's becoming a little distressed"

"Then do something…" Tanya shot "as many times as we are asked Dr Reynolds, we are not ending her life. We're not" he nodded and spoke to one of the nurses who injected a tube that was connected to their daughter with something.

Seconds later the machine had gone silent again and they were left with only the quieter lull of the other systems. "she's stable for now… but I'm unable to give you any time periods in which she will continue this way…the next time this happens we may not be able to…" he trailed off.

"We understand" Max nodded "Thank you" with a curt nod the doctor left them alone. Max stood and pulled another chair over so he was seated next to his wife. He took her hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing it softly. "She needs a name babe…"

They stared at the tiny fragile baby in the incubator, wires feeding into her from every angle. Her tiny head cover with a small white hat, the only clothing she was able to have on. She was still, no movements you'd expect from a baby, just the gentle rise and fall from the artificial breathing of the ventilator.

"Lauren… We should call her Lauren."

so what are we thinking so far ? Leave me a review :) i'll be back tomorrow! Xxx