The doctor saw the expression on Rhett's face and immediately sprang into action.
"Get her bottom half elevated immediately," he ordered. He and Rhett piled pillows under Scarlett's bottom, so that her legs were elevated.
"What happened?" Scarlett mumbled. She was pale and weak but still conscious.
"Everything's going to be all right, darling," Rhett told her, but the expression on his face belied his words.
"Gravity will help slow the blood loss," the doctor told Rhett. "I've seen many cases like this. Sometimes the bleeding stops on its own, and sometimes it doesn't. We'll just have to wait and see."
"Am I going to die?" Scarlett asked.
"Of course not, darling. I'll do whatever I have to to save you, and I won't let you go. I simply refuse to."
"Isn't there anything I can do?" he frantically asked the doctor.
"There is one experimental procedure we can try," the doctor told him. "It's very new and highly experimental, so it isn't guaranteed to be successful, but there has been a limited amount of success in transferring blood from one person to another."
"I'll do it!" Rhett said without hesitation.
From his bag the physician procured two needles and a section of tubing. By now Scarlett was delirious and didn't even notice when one needle was inserted into her arm. The doctor inserted the other needle into Rhett's arm and told him to remain very still with his arm elevated higher than Scarlett's.
In the parlor, Carreen, Adam, and Bonnie wondered why everything had suddenly become so quiet.
"Is my Mommy all right?" Bonnie asked.
"Of course she is, sweetheart," Carreen assured her. "The doctor will be here soon to tell us whether you have a brother or sister."
Bonnie looked as if she were about to cry. "I want my Mommy, now!" she insisted.
"And you shall have her, just as soon as she's finished having the baby," Carreen soothed. "Come here and let me tell you about when Katie was born."
"The labor pains started in the middle of the night," Carreen began. "At first I thought that maybe it was just indigestion and ignored it, but throughout the night the pains just got stronger and stronger. When Adam finally woke up early the next morning, he could tell that something was wrong."
"I told him that it was time to fetch the doctor. The doctor came and examined me and said that I had a long way to go. He had other patients to see, so he left. Adam stayed with me and rubbed my back when it hurt."
"After a few hours the doctor came back to check on me. He said that everything was progressing normally and that the baby should be born by late afternoon."
"Late afternoon arrived and still the baby hadn't come. I was worn out and in incredible pain. The doctor came back and stayed this time. He turned me on my left side, then had me sit up, and at last had me get up on all fours. I was in too much pain to do that by myself so he and Adam had to help me. At last I got the urge to push. I pushed and pushed and pushed and Katie finally slid out of me and into Adam's arms. She was all wrinkled and red, and her head was shaped like a cone, but to Adam and me she was the most beautiful baby in the world."
"I like that story," Bonnie said.
Just then the door opened and the doctor came out. "Everything's fine. You can go in now," he said with a smile.
When Adam, Carreen, and Bonnie entered the room, they saw that Scarlett was sitting up in bed, smiling and holding her baby. Rhett sat beside the bed grinning from ear to ear.
"I'd like you all to meet our son Daniel," Scarlett said.
A/N: In my story Rhett and Scarlett both have blood type O Positive so Scarlett won't suffer any complications from the transfusion.