Jason had to duck out as the Spencer's filled the room, he felt the walls closing in on him. He needed a trip to the roof top to get some air, and try to recollect his thought. He sat on the ledge thinking about Carly, the girl he met at the bar. The one that knew him as a person before knowing the brain injury. She was the one who taught him to see pictures. The person that taught him what family was. He couldn't remember a time when she wasn't a part of his life.
"Jason, do you mind?" Monica asked.
"No, not at all." He said, brushing away the condensation on his cheek. "Have we heard anything?"
"Her baby girl has been born, and is doing great. Bobbie went to the nursery to sit with her."
"Have we heard from Jax yet?" Jason didn't really care to see the Aussie, but it was his daughter that Jason saved.
"Bobbie said that Carly and Jax were supposed to have a date tonight and then he was taking his jet to Manhattan for work. Olivia has been trying to reach him for hours, last I heard, no luck."
"That sounds about right, just when Carly needs him, he takes off."
"She needs you, Jase. Truth be told, I think you need her too."
"Is she being prepped for surgery?" Jason asked. Now that Dr Lee was done with her part it was up to Patrick to do the life saving part, hopefully, it wasn't too late.
"Yes," Monica being the chief of staff had its advantages. She knew everything going on in the hospital, and was the first to hear of any updates while she was on duty. "I'm not going to lie. This is a lot of stress on her. Going from the c-section to the clot removal. Her organs have already been compromised."
Monica could see that Jason already knew everything she was saying. His heart was breaking. "I know, but I don't think she would have survived recovery if she would have lost the baby."
She was devastated after her last miscarriage, he wanted so badly to celebrate this pregnancy with her. Unfortunately it was clouded by the deep fear that he could lose his best friend or 'essential person' as Carly would say.
Monica knew the devastation that came from losing one person after another. Over a year ago her husband died from a heart attack. That one stung especially hard because she was the one operating on him. Allan was her best friend and partner, and although they seemed to be always fighting, they knew that they always had each other's back. A part of her died when he did. Shortly after the unthinkable happened and she lost her daughter in a brutal manner. Emily's death sent Monica's life in a tailspin. She pushed Jason away, the only child she had left, blaming him for Emily's murder. She found the only way to get through her day by day existence was to pour vodka into her water bottle. Carly's own personal hell came when she lost her first baby with Jax. Shortly after Michael was shot and the family was told he was never going to wake up. Monica wasn't sure which was worse knowing your child was gone but relieved that they found some peace in the afterworld or knowing the child was stuck themselves, much like Jason was several years earlier.
"I wouldn't blame her." Monica confessed. "But, thanks to you her baby is safe and well. Michael is awake, Morgan is healthy. She has a husband who loves her, and a best friend that would move heaven and hell to make her happy."
Jason took in everything Monica was saying, he couldn't help but give in the helplessness he felt now. "What if it's too late? Just as she's about to get everything she's ever wanted, her world goes tumbling down?"
"Carly wouldn't give up on you, so please don't give up on her."
Jason smiled. He knew that was true. If it were him instead she'd be causing a scene in the waiting room, throwing anyone out that had even the tiniest shred of doubt that he wasn't going to make it. "I'm not, not really, it's just that number, less than five percent."
"What do you feel? You two have a connection stronger than anything I've ever known. What is your heart telling you?"
"All it's telling me is that I can't handle losing her."
***********
Bobbie sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the nursery cradling her granddaughter. She fell instantly for the beauty, her piercing sapphire eyes starred back inquisitively as if she was coming up with some elaborate plot. Just like her mother, and just like her mother she was sure to be a handful. She was tiny, 5 lbs 15 ounces, seemingly helpless, but in the perfect position to wrap anyone she wished around her baby-doll finger. Bobbie glanced up at the window, and motioned her brother to come in.
Luke, whose eyes always proved he was up to something, looked sullen. "I wanted to check on my great niece." He lied.
"You wanted to check on your sister." She corrected.
He flashed his dazzling smile, "maybe that too."
"I have no reason not to believe that she's not going to make a full recovery."
"You're right." Encouraged Luke, "but..."
"But nothing. She wouldn't bring this child into this life and leave her."
"She's going to need a name." Luke insisted.
"And Carly's going to name her."
Luke took a moment to reassess his strategy. Bobbie was right, there was a shot that Carly could pull through, and his sister had every right to hang onto that. He just needed to be there for her if she didn't. "Her hair color is stunning."
She had strawberry blond ringlets at the back of her neck and fuzz on top her head. Bobbie commented, "She has her grandmothers' red hair, hopefully she doesn't grow out of it like Michael did."
"Yeah, Lulu was almost jet black when she was born. I almost didn't think she was mine." He teased.
"I remember Laura's baby girl. Laura always wanted a girl, like Carly did. There's a special bond between a mother and her daughter. I'm glad I got to share that with Carly." Bobbie felt herself slipping into nostalgia, "and BJ, however short it was. I would have never traded that time, even for all the pain her death caused."
Luke tried putting his arm around her. Bobbie had made a tough choice when she gave her firstborn up for adoption. Later, after a relationship bloomed with Tony Jones, Bobbie adopted his children BJ and Lucas. BJ died very young due to a car accident on the school bus. Not long after that Carly came back in her mothers' life, turning everything Bobbie knew upside down. It took time, but they were finally able to have the relationship that Bobbie wanted with her daughter. Bobbie pushed Luke's hand away.
"That's not happening to Carly. She's a fighter, a survivor. A Spencer."
Luke remembered the day when that catchphrase really meant something. Spencer's defied the boundaries of mortality. It wasn't until his own heart rebelled against him and two operations later that he realized that even the strongest must succumb to the laws of nature.
