When he walks into his living room and sees Britt on the floor his first feeling is concern. She's breathing heavily and a grimace is spread on her face and he knows she's in labor, but he asks anyways. When Sabrina returns with a snarky comment about baking a cake, he can understand why Britt gets frustrated with the nurse's existence. He makes up something about thinking her due date was later and how he thought they had time, but Britt is groaning and talking about how her son is tired of people yelling at her. He assumes that Sabrina came here specifically to yell at Britt, which annoys him to no end, but he wasn't going to say anything now- Sabrina may be the only one capable of taking care of Britt. He rubs his face in frustration when he realizes the launch won't be able to come back to the island. He regrets living on the damn island when one of his best friends was in labor. He calls for another boat, but it will take an hour, which according to Saint Sabrina is too long.
Britt tries to get up so that she can somehow get herself to the hospital. He walks close to her, just in case she was to fall. He backs off once she leans on a chair to start ranting about how Sabrina will take out her anger and frustration on the baby, but even he knows she's grasping at straws- she's scared. They get her to lie back down and then he's there, holding her hand while she breaths through the pain. Sabrina runs upstairs to get supplies and finally it's just the two of them. She's mumbling about wanting drugs and he feels bad, because of him she won't have drugs to have her baby, but then again she wouldn't have a home without him.
"Nikolas, I'm scared."
"You're going to be just fine and so is your baby. Women do this every single day, Britt, and they're okay."
"Something doesn't feel right, though-"
She pauses as the pain of another contraction rips its way through her body. She planned on drugs and not feeling any of this, but now it's different. She's exposed, on the floor of Nikolas' living room, with no drugs, or other doctors and nothing about her labor feels right to her.
"I know I've never done this before, but I don't think something's right."
"Britt, don't you worry. Everything is going to fine, you're going to have this baby and then we're going to get you both to the hospital. I promise you, I promise, and princes don't break promises."
He tries to make his expression regal looking in order to make her laugh, but it only manages to make her crack a smile in between contractions. He lets her squeeze his hand as hard as she can and he even makes the annoying breathing noises that Epiphany taught them in the one labor class he went to. He was trying with all his might to make her feel slightly better, but he sees the tears welling in her eyes and he knows that it's because this wasn't her plan.
"Patrick was supposed to be here, Nikolas, I mean it's his son. And he probably wouldn't wanna be here anyways, cause it's me and he threatened to take the baby away from me. What if he really does? What if he just rips my little boy out of my arms? No, I have to run, I have to keep my baby. I can't lose him."
She tries to get up, to run from his living room to anywhere else, anywhere that Patrick couldn't take her son from her, but what she didn't realize is that he would not let Patrick take her son from her. He gently pushes her back on the pillows and she groans again as she's hit by another contraction.
"I'm not gonna let that happen, Britt."
His voice is a whisper and he's not even sure she hears him because her eyes are going back and forth around the room. For a change, he squeezes her hand in order to hopefully get her attention. It doesn't work.
"Sabrina needs to get back down here, I need to push, I think, and she needs to be here. Where is she? Where the hell is she, Nikolas?!"
"I'm right here, this place is huge, I got a little lost, I'm back now. Okay let's see what's going on here."
Sabrina puts a blanket over her legs and towels under Britt where she knew she would need to catch the baby. She had only ever watched babies being delivered and this baby was special, he was Patrick's son. If anything happened to this baby she was positive that Britt, Nikolas, and Patrick would all hate her.
"Okay, Britt, on your next contraction you can push."
She looked up Nikolas, who saw the fear in her eyes, but kissed her forehead to hopefully wish away the fear. With his free hand he pressed play on the radio that was going to play the "labor playlist" she had on her phone. Her eyes held surprise and joy as "Wonderful Surprise" came over the airway. She absolutely adored this song.
"Let's meet this little boy, mama."
When her next contraction comes, she's overcome by the urge to push so she does. She squeezes Nikolas' hand as hard as possible and pushes. She pushes because she wants to meet this little boy that her and Patrick made the one time they were together. She pushes because every time he kicked her in the past few months she fell more in love with him. She's in love with her son, even though she never knew what love was before him.
"Good job, Britt! There's one shoulder and the other shoulder. Okay, you can stop, he's here. He's so beautiful."
Britt watched as Sabrina cut her son's cord and cleaned him off with a blue puffy blanket. He let out several loud cries, letting all the adults in the room know that he was perfectly healthy. Britt couldn't help contain the tears that fell when Sabrina put her little boy in her arms. She was mostly unaware of the two others in the room, but she was subtly leaning on Nikolas for support. She smiled down at her son's rounded face, he had the chubbiest cheeks she had ever seen, but he was so small. She felt like a giant with him in her arms.
"Hi, baby boy, I'm your mommy. I love you so much and I'm gonna love you so much for the rest of your life. Your daddy isn't here right now, but he loves you too. We're not together, but we're gonna give you the best life possible, I promise you, you will want for nothing. I'll give you everything you want, within reason, of course. I'll move mountains for you, baby boy."
Nikolas and Sabrina watched, smiling down at the new mother as she bonded with her child, but just as quickly as the moment had begun, it ended. The color in Britt's face disappeared; it was like all the blood in her body was draining. Nikolas felt her slouch against him and immediately grabbed her arm in hopes to rouse her.
"Britt…?"
"Nikolas, take the baby, take him from me."
He does as he's told and watches as Sabrina starts to massage her stomach. He looks questionably at both the women, not taking even a second to look at the newborn, he can't even be concerned with the baby at this point. Sabrina looks frightened and Britt looks like at any second she'll pass out. Then he realizes it when he looks down at the floor, a pool of blood is surrounding Britt. She's hemorrhaging.
"Britt these uterine massages aren't working, I don't know what else to do. Tell me what else to do!"
Britt is passing in and out of consciousness at this point and she can't tell the young nurse what to do. He knows they have to get her to the hospital before she loses any more blood. He makes Sabrina stop and hands her the baby. He stands and picks Britt off the floor, she feels weightless even though she had been housing a human being for nine months. His lips brush against her cheekbone.
"You're going to be okay, Britt, I promised. Come on, Sabrina, we have to go now!"
"Nikolas, you have to take care of him….if I die, I want…..you to take care of him. Stay with him…please."
"We're going to the hospital, you're not going to die."
They rush quickly out of the house and luckily there is a boat waiting for them. Nikolas keeps Britt in his arms, her blood getting all over his dress shirt and pants. Sabrina holds on tightly to the baby with one arm while keeping her fingers on Britt's slowly fading pulse. He tries to gauge her facial expressions so that he can know the fate of the woman he holds in his arms, the one he doesn't ever want to let go of. They're still a good ten minutes away from Port Charles and then maybe two minutes from the hospital and he knows Britt doesn't have that kind of time. He can feel her blood sinking into his skin.
"Sabrina, I need you to be real with me. What's going on?"
"It's called uterine atony, it means that when Britt's uterus was supposed to contract to release the placenta, but it didn't. Britt's uterus didn't contract and her blood isn't even clotting, if we don't get to the hospital soon, she won't make it. It doesn't make any sense, unless she developed pre-eclampsia recently, but it doesn't matter. She needed to be at a hospital thirty minutes ago."
He's not sure why she's giving him such a pointed look. Isn't this what she wanted? Didn't she want a healthy baby boy from Britt that she could raise with Patrick without Britt's interference? He didn't know that Britt was going to start bleeding like this. If he had known, she would've been stuck in the hospital for the last week if it were up to him. Finally the boat reached the harbor and they loaded themselves into the car he had waiting for them.
"Drew, step on it."
His driver slammed on the gas pedal and they started to fly, he didn't care if the cops had an issue with it, he was going to save Britt Westbourne if it was the last thing he did.
"Sabrina, what's her pulse like?"
"It's there, barely."
"Hold on, Britt, we're almost there."
The car came to a screeching halt at the ER entrance. Nikolas didn't even wait for Sabrina and the baby; instead he rushed out of the car and ran into the hospital. Of course, Patrick was the first doctor he saw. At this moment, however, he was thankful for small favors- Patrick would do anything for the mother of his child, Nikolas was sure of that.
"Patrick, we need help here now!"
Patrick freezes in the moment. Seeing Nikolas holding Britt, the woman who was carrying his son, in his arms while covered in blood paralyzed him. Where was his son? What happened? What the hell happened? Why is there so much blood? He finally grabs a gurney and brings it to Nikolas who reluctantly lays her down on it, putting his faith in the doctors. Only a select few had his trust these days and he could say for sure Patrick was not one of them.
"Page Dr. Lee 911, now! We have severe uterine bleeding, most likely caused by uterine atony and maybe an over distension of the uterus."
Nikolas watches at the door as Patrick puts an IV in her arm. He administers a drug into the IV just as Dr. Lee and Sabrina, with the baby, arrive. Blood is hung and administered directly into Britt's veins, but Nikolas can feel her slipping away as the baby starts to cry.
"How much blood do we suspect she lost?"
Dr. Lee's voice is calm as she applies the same uterine massages that Sabrina had done earlier.
"Far too much, we already have two units of packed red blood cells hung. A team is assembling. I just didn't know if you wanted me to administer methergine or not?"
"Yes, we need to staunch this bleeding now or else we'll have to operate."
To Patrick's credit, he has not even laid eyes on his new son, but instead helped Dr. Lee assess the situation. Time seemed to stand still to Nikolas, every thing just moved in slow motion. He turned when he felt Sabrina tap his shoulder and when he did she held the baby out for him to hold.
"I'm going to help with Britt. Why don't you take him up to pediatrics and get him checked out so he's ready for his mama when she's okay again."
"I can't leave her."
His voice is a whisper and he's not sure why he can't leave. Sure Britt was his friend and she had lived with him, but they were completely platonic. It's not like it was Emily lying there on the gurney with a team of doctors working around her.
Finally, when the small baby is in his arms, he takes a chance to truly look at him. He has this super light, blond hair and he wonders where that came from, but the rest of the baby is all Britt. He can see her chin, the shape of her eyes, and her lips all in him. Usually when he looked at babies all he saw was a baby Yoda, but not with this child, not with this little boy. He looked back to Britt, her face was so white, bags of blood and fluid hung on multiple poles that ran straight back to her veins. He can't move, he's barely breathing. If she dies…he doesn't even want to think about it, she brings life back into his house, he wants her and this little boy to stay forever. He's transfixed on her until a monitor sings, scaring the baby and him, but the doctors and nurses move quickly.
"She's tachycardic, we have to get her to surgery now! She's lost too much blood. Patrick, we don't need you in there, conflict of interest anyways."
Nikolas steps out of the way just in time to watch them run Britt to the operating room. Patrick and Nikolas just stand in the room, taking in the blood that is on the floor and the exhaustion smeared over their faces. After what seems like forever, the baby lets out a squeal and Patrick is taken out of his trance. His eyes fix solely on the small bundle swaddled in Nikolas' arms.
"God, I don't know why I'm asking you, but can I hold my son?"
Nikolas nods and hands him over to Patrick. He watches as this new father takes in all of his son's features. The surgeon's fingers caress the baby's cheek and he naturally sways back and forth to sooth the infant when he cries.
"She told me to take him if she died, to raise him, I don't even know why. She didn't even give him a name, and you're his father, but she knew Patrick- she knew something was wrong when she was in labor. This is my fault…"
Patrick looks up at him and Nikolas can see the fear that is behind his eyes. Maybe Patrick was afraid that both of his children would be motherless. It was a terrible punishment to a child; to be motherless at any point in life, but since birth was even harder to swallow.
"Postpartum hemorrhaging happens in only ten percent of women, we couldn't have known Britt would've been one of those women. It's a freak thing and the fact that Kelly couldn't stop the bleeding wouldn't have changed whether she was here or not. Look, I'm going to take this guy to get checked out, you look rough man, why don't you come along?"
Nikolas doesn't say anything, but he follows Patrick out of the ER room and onto an elevator. He doesn't know much, but he knows for sure that Britt would want him to stay with her little boy even though he's with his father. Patrick had wounded Britt, over and over again and the night they had met she was so damaged by him. He didn't blame Britt for not trusting Patrick, even though he was the father of her child.
The pediatrics floor is calm and slow, the total opposite of what was happening downstairs in the ER not five minutes ago. He looks around and the nurses are smiling, wearing some princess scrub sets. He wonders how this floor can be so happy when two floors below Britt is undergoing an operation to hopefully save her life. He tries to focus on following Patrick and her son, the little boy's gurgling fills the hallway.
"Dr. Drake, is this your little boy?"
They somehow manage to find a doctor Nikolas is familiar with, Dr. Silas Clay, the one who is treating his cousin's son, Danny. He actually does trust this doctor and is thrilled that he'll be the one taking care of Britt's little boy.
"Yeah, man, could you maybe do me a favor and check him out? Britt gave birth on Nikolas' island, so he needs his newborn check."
"Yeah, let's go into this exam room right here."
Nikolas watches them start to go toward the room, but he's stuck. He knows that he needs to stay with the baby, Britt practically begged him to stay with the baby before she passed out. But he can't even move, he needs to go wait for Dr. Lee to be done with the surgery.
"Nikolas, are you coming?"
Patrick notices his apprehension and grins sadly at him. He wonders if Nikolas realizes that he's in love with Britt yet, or if he still thinks their relationship is completely platonic. If Patrick was honest with himself, he would realize that he, too, loved Britt in his own special way, because of the swaddled bundle in his arms.
"Why don't you go to the family waiting room down on three and wait for Dr. Lee? I'll be down there as soon as I get this little guy situated in the nursery and we can wait together."
He doesn't say anything, but instead turns on his heel to walk to the elevators. Patrick and Silas make eye contact as they make their way into the exam room. Silas lays the new baby on the scale. Patrick can't keep his eyes off of his new son.
"Six pounds even. All his responses look good, but he's probably hungry, I'll have one of the nurses in the nursery feed him. Obviously, the mom usually feeds him after birth, but my assumption is that Dr. Westbourne didn't get a chance?"
Patrick nods.
"Postpartum hemorrhaging, Dr. Lee took her into surgery, I've never seen so much blood, Silas."
"Do you need to go? I can take care of the little guy; get him all settled in the nursery. I just need a name to put on the bassinet."
"Baby boy Westbourne is what Britt would want. I can't name him or anything yet, we only talked about it once in passing. I was too busy denying him as my child to work with Britt. Thanks for getting him settled for me."
"Well now you have a chance, so don't waste it. I'll bring your hospital bracelet down to the waiting room when it's printed."
Patrick nods and turns to leave the room.
"And Drake?"
"Yeah?"
"Are Dr. Westbourne and Cassadine a thing?"
Patrick laughs a little.
"You would think so, but neither of them think so yet. I'll see you later."
He finds Nikolas in the waiting room, head in his hands. He ends up just flopping into the seat next to the prince. He feels exhausted too. Britt is, after all, a part of his family now with the addition of their son. He needs to go tell Emma, let her know that her baby brother is here, but he'll do it later when he knows how Britt is. He's about to ask Nikolas if any one has come to tell him what's going on, but before he does Dr. Lee and Sabrina walk in. Both he and Nikolas stand up to receive the news. His girlfriend runs to him and hugs him, tells him that Britt is still alive, but he waits for Dr. Lee to speak.
"How is she, Dr. Lee?"
Nikolas speaks before the doctor can actually apprise him of the situation. She grins at him, but all he can see if the blood covering her scrubs, Britt's blood.
"We were able to stop the bleeding without having to perform a hysterectomy, which is very good, but Dr. Westbourne lost a considerable amount of blood. Her body went into shock and she's in a coma at this moment."
"When will she wake up?"
"Nikolas, we don't know if she'll wake up period."
Patrick breaks the news to him as gently as he knows how. He holds Sabrina a little tighter at the thought that his son may be motherless just like his daughter. He had never wished any of this on his children. He watches as Nikolas realizes the gravity of the situation, his friend may never wake up.
"Can I see her?"
He asks after a minute of staring and processing. Dr. Lee nods, a small smile of sadness playing on her lips. Dr. Westbourne was her friend too, they worked in the same department, deal with the annoying patients day in and day out and when Britt thought she may be pregnant after one night with Patrick, she was the one Britt confided in.
"Of course, I'll take you to her room."
Nikolas looks over at Patrick and Sabrina. They could be getting what they wanted, Britt out of the picture and a brand new baby to raise on their own, but it would be over Nikolas' dead body.
"Take care of the baby, don't…don't name him until Britt wakes up."
He follows Dr. Lee to her room and there she is, lying in a bed, tubes surrounding her, but she's breathing on her own and he takes that as a good sign. He notices how weak and frail she looks and laughs to himself- Britt Westbourne was neither of those things, coma or not. He sits down on the chair beside her bed and grabs her hand. He wonders what has made him feel so bonded to this woman. Maybe it was because of her blatant honesty with him or because she had called him batman like one of his other friends had years before or because she never apologized for who she was; maybe it was a combination of all these things that made him really like her. He just knew that he wanted to keep her around.
"Mr. Cassadine, if you need anything just let the nurses at the desk know. Right now all we can do is wait and see what she chooses to do. Her body may just need to rest and regain its strength before waking up again."
"Thank you Dr. Lee."
She exits the room and he just looks at her. Her breathing seems even and the even sounds of her heartbeat fill the room, it lulls him into a trance, it calms him. His elbow rests on the side of her bed and his chin rests in his hand. He keeps hoping to see her eyelids flutter or movement that can give him hope, but there is nothing but stillness and quiet.
He calls Alfred and tells him he won't be home for a while. He also asks him to send Spencer to his grandmother, Leslie. Their conversation was quick, but useful and now that he knew Spencer was safe he could focus all his energy on Britt.
"Patrick and Sabrina are with your son, I know it's not exactly ideal for them to be with him and I know you told me to stay with him, but I couldn't not be here with you. Dr. Lee said it's up to you and I'm just asking you to wake up so that you meet your little boy for more than a few minutes, please wake up, Britt. Spencer adores you and I think you're pretty amazing too. I'm sorry that I live on that stupid island and that it took so long to get you here, I'm so sorry. Please wake up."
He holds his breath, but nothing happens. He now understands that this really is a waiting game.
AN: Hey guys! I've had this story on my mind for a few days and I adore Nikolas/Britt so I had to write this. I'll update soon if there seems to be an interest :)