The Broken Fairytale
Chapter 10 - Lucky.
Blurry.
Everything was so blurry.
Had she been out the night before and had a few too many vodka and cokes?
Had she taken some pills again? Or tried… Surely not… Ruth squeezed her eyes shut and tried to think back. What had happened?
She was struggling to recall her last memory.
She was walking down a corridor.
In oversized scrubs.
She was tired.
Energy zapped by the large weight she was carrying.
Her stomach was so big she couldn't see her toes. She hadn't seen her toes in just over four months.
Her hand immediately fell on her now much flatter stomach and as she realised how flat it was she began to panic. She had been pregnant, seven months pregnant. Her stomach should not be flat.
She sat up violently tearing the wires and tubes form her body blood dribbling from her arm. She didn't care she only cared about her baby. Where was it? She flung herself form the bed and collapsed. Her vision blurring once more and fading completely she began to fit.
Jay returned to the eerily familiar ICU after dropping River off with Jessica and Adam. His heart stopped as he stepped in his wife was lying on the floor fitting violently. He had never ran so fast towards a patient. But he was panicking and found himself totally unable to recall any medical knowledge, it was a relief when two of the ward nurses came over and stabilised her. But he knew this could potentially be very bad news.
As the nurses and a porter lifted his wife back onto the bed and reconnected all the wires, cleaning her up in a rough manner that he would never use even on the most irritating of patients. He glared at the nurses and grabbed her cold hand as they left the bed unwilling to remain under his glare a moment longer. He turned his attention to the beautiful girl in front of him.
"Oh Ruth, Please don't do this to me sweetie. You have to be ok. Keep fighting Cinders" He said gently tears pouring from his eyes. "Our Little girl needs you."
She was very lucky. Those were the only four words Jay managed to take in from what the Doctor was telling him. The fit was caused by her sudden movement and disconnecting of the wires and a subsequent lack of oxygen. Jay's arrival had been only second after the fit had began, meaning that luckily she hadn't been left for too long. She was also extremely lucky she hadn't hit her head on the way down the second time.
Jay had never been so relieved to hear the word concussion in his entire life as he considered the other types of damage the fall could have caused to her head.
He sighed sadly as the doctors left.
She was due to wake up soon and boy did she have a lot to wake up to.
The past few days had been a blur.
"We have too choices Jay." Adam said bluntly "We deliver the baby prematurely by caesarean to give them both the best chance of surviving this or we risk it and treat Ruth and hope the baby is a fighter. I would recommend the first."
"Then do it. I trust you Adam. Ruth trusts you." Jay said looking up into the eyes of the wise doctor who nodded
"Can we get someone from maternity down her as soon as possible! Lets sort this mess out!" He yelled giving Jay's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before he turned to help the team.
Half an hour later she was born.
Jay had nicknamed her 'Lucky', she was the single smallest and most fragile thing he had ever seen before and she was completely stunning just like her mum.
He had been splitting his time between Ruth and his little girl. Ellie had returned early from University to look after River as soon as she had heard of the incident. Jay had already seen to it that his mother had been arrested, let out on bail and given a restraining order. Thankfully the hospital CCTV had shed some light on the situation, capturing a confused Ruth engaging in a none threatening conversation with his mother which suddenly turned into her being pushed deliberately backwards and falling. Jay hadn't enjoyed watching it. It had been one of the most disturbing things to see but to have his mother on restraining order was nothing short of a relief.
He had not reacted like he had when his Nan had collapsed and was in a similar situation. Originally he had frozen up, his thoughts solely on Ruth but then as he saw his little girl, as he held her…
Adam hurried over holding the small bundle of blankets.
"I shouldn't… she needs to go to intensive care as soon as possible but I thought…" He said emotionally.
Jay nodded and took the small girl in his arms looking down into the blankets to see a familiar button nose as sprinkle of dark curls.
It was only a couple of seconds he held her but as he headed the bundle back to Adam who rushed his daughter over to the midwife he already felt the strong overwhelming urge to protect her.
Something changed, reality hit and the desire to be strong for his daughter and wife over powered the desire to shut the world out and worry for them.
Days it had been now. Days since she had been pushed down the stairs, Days since she had first woken from her self induced coma only to collapse once more. Jay was beginning to get worried. He knew the longer she was out the worse the possible damage.
His head was in his hands when he heard it. The splutter beneath the mask.
He jerked to life hardly daring to look at her face as she spluttered and choked her eyes flying open. Full of fear and panic.
She reached out slowly at first like she was unsure of how to use her arms but then as she neared him her hand picked up speed and she snatched his wrist gripping it tight with her nails digging into the back of his arm.
"Baby." She muttered her eyes wide and fearful.