The Darkest Hour
A/N: Gypsygel gets the virtual cookie! thanks for all the great reviews! In this chapter, I am going to skip through the nine months of pregnancy, because I think that would somewhat boring to write about, so I will get right to the action. Please, read and review.
Chapter 11: The New Addition.
"JOSEPH!"
He heard Clarisse's scream as he ran upstairs after her. He followed her voice until he got into the bedroom. He opened the door and saw Clarisse standing over a puddle of clear liquid that looked like water.
"It's time!"
Joseph hurried over to the closets and grabbed the previously packed suitcases and helped Clarisse down the stairs and into the car. He held her hand all the way to the hospital. When they got there, Joseph got out and got the suitcases out of the trunk and then went to help Clarisse. Joseph hurried into the ER and told the nurse he needed a wheelchair for his wife who was in labor. The nurse hurried outside and helped Clarisse into the wheelchair and wheeled her quickly to the doctors.
The doctors quickly got Clarisse into the operating room. They got her ready for labor and the nurse told her to start pushing. She grabbed Joseph's hand and squeezed hard, making his knuckles turn white.
"You bastard! You're never touching me again!"
Clarisse screamed while pushing. All of a sudden Clarisse heard the nurse say:
"One more push and we will be done with the first baby."
Clarisse pushed one more time. Then she heard the cries and heard the doctor say a girl and told the nurses to go clean her up. The doctor got back down and told Clarisse to push a few more times, but this time, the doctor saw something that could seriously harm the baby. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck.
"Clarisse, stop pushing and breathe for a few minutes. I am going to try to do something."
Clarisse didn't ask any questions, for she knew she was in good hands with Dr. Nash; as was the baby. She looked at Joseph and he looked at her with love in his eyes, even after the things she had said to him earlier. He knew she didn't mean it. The doctor worked and worked to get the umbilical cord off the child's neck. After about ten minutes, he finally got the cord off just enough to where Clarisse could push her out, but she needed attention as soon as possible if they were going to even hope for her survival. Clarisse pushed one last time and the child came out. The nurses were done cleaning the first baby so they wrapped her up in a pink blanket and let Clarisse hold her first baby girl. Clarisse took one look at the little girl in her arms and looked up at Joseph and suggested a name.
"How about we name her Addison Renee?"
Joseph liked that combination of names so he only nodded for the lump in his throat was too hard to swallow. He felt tears in his eyes, and blinked hard to try and fight them back, but looking at the child, he couldn't he let them flow.
Then the absence of crying brought the couple back to reality.
"Doctor, is she okay? I don't hear any crying. Is anything the matter?"
Clarisse asked with no response. She looked up at Joseph who was still holding her hand. He gave her a soft gentle squeeze and shook his head as if he was trying to say 'it's alright, she will be okay.' The doctors worked and worked for several minutes but then told the couple the bad news.
"Clarisse, Joseph, I am sorry to have to tell you this, but the second little girl, didn't make it. When Clarisse was pushing, I stopped her because I saw the umbilical cord was wrapped around the child's neck and I guess we didn't get it off in time. I am sorry."
The doctor went over to the small incubator and grabbed the now dead child and wrapped her up and handed her to Clarisse. She was in shock. How could this have happened? Was she really holding her dead child in her arms? She didn't feel anything, she was completely numb, and then reality hit her like a slap in the face, then the tears came. The nurses and doctors left the couple alone for some privacy.
"Clarisse, honey. It's alright! At least we still have Addison!"
Clarisse couldn't say anything; she just threw her head on her husband's shoulders, and just cried her heart out. She had given birth to one healthy, beautiful little girl and then her sister had been killed. Could this really be happening? Clarisse dried her tears and gave the baby a small gentle kiss on the forehead and Joseph saw something miraculous happen. He thought he saw her foot twitch. He touched it again, just to be sure and was surprised when his thoughts were affirmed. The child was not dead after all.
