Chapter 11 – Take Her Away

The double doors of the Lenox Hill Hospital emergency room swung shut, and Blair and the EMS staff disappeared, leaving a helpless Serena standing in the lobby. The moments after Blair passed out and she had called 911, all seemed very surreal to Serena, like everything was happening too fast for it to be comprehended. Someone grasping her hand broke through her trance, and Serena turned to find her mother, Lily, standing by her side.

"Where is she? Is she alright?" Lily asked with concern. Lily had been at a fundraiser but as soon as Serena had managed to tell her what was happening over the phone, Lily had Serena's brother, Eric, on his cell phone calling for the car, before she had even hung up with Serena.

"They took her for an emergency ultrasound to make sure the baby is alright and I don't really know what else is happening, they didn't tell me, but they –" Serena babbled, until Lily gently interrupted her.

"Shh, slow down…have you called Eleanor yet?" Lily questioned as she put her hand to her daughter's cheek trying to calm her a little.

"No! I'm sorry, I didn't even think of it because she's in Paris, I thought it would be better to call you first!" The blonde exclaimed, feeling stupid for not even calling Blair's mother, when she had called her own.

"It's okay, you did the right thing, Serena. Now, I want you to go sit down…" Lily gestured to the empty waiting room. "I'm going to step outside and call Eleanor, it will only take a few moments."

"Okay…" Serena answered obediently. She was too busy being worried and scared about Blair to really make any decisions for herself anyway.

Once she sat down, she jammed her hands in her jacket pockets and crossed one knee over the other. Her foot was bobbing up and down rapidly as she tried to relieve some of her nervous energy. Blue eyes flitted back and forth between the main entry doors and the double doors they had taken Blair through, waiting for either her mother or Blair to reemerge, but knowing who she would see first.

Just as she thought, Lily reentered the hospital a few minutes later, tucking her cell phone into her Prada hand bag. Serena looked at her mother expectantly as she crossed the room and sat down next to her.

"What did she say?" Serena asked.

"She's worried, of course," Lily explained, "…but I told her not to leave Paris because we don't know what is happening yet. I told her I would call her as soon as we know."

"Alright…" Serena replied quietly.

After a while, a woman wearing dark green scrubs, and holding a clipboard and paperwork approached Serena.

"Could I have you fill out this information for Miss Waldorf while you wait?" The woman questioned and held the clipboard out to Serena.

"Um…sure, but-"

Lily, already annoyed with the fact that they hadn't been updated on Blair's condition, took control of the situation. "When are we going to find out what's going on? There obviously isn't anyone else here." Lily asked curtly and gestured to the empty hospital lobby.

"I really can't say, I just do the paperwork." The woman replied and then walked away.

Lily threw her hand in the air in exasperation as the nurse turned around and then just gave up, turning to look at the paperwork. Serena was attempting to fill in the blank lines on the paper, but she could hardly keep her shaky fingers still to write.

"Let me do it, sweetheart." Lily said softly as she took the papers from her daughter. She set the clipboard on her legs and then slipped her other hand into Serena's, before she finished filling out Blair's information.

"Mom?" Serena suddenly broke the silence in the room.

"Yes?"

"Does this happen sometimes? I mean…will they both be okay?" The younger blonde asked, referring to Blair and the baby, as she kept her gaze fixed on the waiting room carpeting.

"This sort of thing happens for different reasons. I suppose there's a chance that she could…" Lily paused, "that she could be losing the baby."

"Don't tell me that…" Serena answered darkly and turned her face away.

"Serena, I don't want anything to happen to Blair or the baby either, but I just want you to know…it…it may happen." Lily replied, trying to answer Serena's question honestly.

Serena turned back towards her mother and a single tear fell from her watery eyes, tracing over her cheek. "I'm so scared…" She whispered and her voice cracked with emotion.

Lily embraced her daughter and tenderly stroked her hair back. "I know, Serena, I'm sorry they're not making this any easier for you."

"Yeah…" Serena sniffled as she sat back in her chair, not really wanting to talk.

As if the hospital staff could sense that Lily was near demanding an explanation, suddenly a doctor came through the emergency room doors and strode towards them. His facial expression was emotionless and this served in unsettling Serena even more. Lily kept her supportive grip on Serena's hand, knowing she would need it if the doctor was about to tell her daughter something tragic.

"Miss van der Woodsen…" The doctor stated, holding out his hand for her to shake. "I'm Dr. Rossman, I performed Blair's ultrasound and ran her other tests."

"Yes, how is she? Is she alright?" Serena asked hopefully, as Lily waited expectantly for the answer.

"I'm glad to say that Blair and the baby are both fine, but she could have easily lost the baby…we need to go over a few things." Dr. Rossman told them, his expression still harboring something serious.

Serena's stomach flipped in excitement as soon as the word 'fine' had slipped from his mouth, but the rest of the sentence had thrown off her relief. "Alright…"

"Has Blair been undergoing a lot of stress lately?" He asked plainly.

"Um, yes…yes, she has…" Serena answered truthfully, feeling guilty even though the cause of the stress was not her fault.

"I figured she had been. Stress is actually a pretty common factor in the cause of pregnancy complications, but that doesn't make it any less serious." Dr. Rossman explained, "Luckily, she and the baby weren't harmed in any way, but she is at high risk for more complications, premature birth, and if she doesn't take care of herself properly…she could lose the child completely."

"She'll be taken care of…please, just tell us what we need to do." Serena asked. She wanted to hear the rest of the information, but she was also becoming extremely impatient; she needed to see Blair and her daughter for herself.

"Blair needs to be in a stress-free environment for the remainder of her pregnancy and she shouldn't be doing anything strenuous. For the last month of pregnancy she should really be on bed rest…actually she should try to rest as much as possible until the baby is born. If she does this, there's no reason why she shouldn't be able to carry the baby full term and have a healthy delivery." Dr. Rossman informed Serena and Lily.

"That doesn't sound too bad…I'm pretty sure Blair will love staying in bed all day, but I'll definitely make sure she does." Serena replied, even smiling to herself at the thought of Blair sitting in bed, ringing a little bell for Serena to fetch her anything she wanted. Whatever it took, Serena would be willing to do anything for Blair.

"Oh, I'm quite sure she will love that!" Lily smirked.

"Well then it sounds like everything will be fine." Dr. Rossman laughed and then picked up the clipboard and finished paperwork from earlier.

"Are we able to see her now?" Serena quizzed. She was about ready to run through the hospital until she found her girlfriend anyway.

"Yes, you can see her, but she is sleeping. We gave her a mild sedative because she did end up waking and she was a little confused, so she gave us a bit of a struggle. It will be…um, it will be good for her to rest anyway, and she'll wake up in a few hours." Dr. Rossman finished somewhat uncomfortably, before turning to guide them to Blair's room.

When he was facing away from them, Serena raised her eyebrows at her mother, in a what-did-she-do-to-him expression. Lily just shrugged and stifled a laugh, and then she and Serena followed him into the emergency room. Leave it to Blair Waldorf to whip the doctor with his stethoscope or perform some other form of torture while he tried to take care of her.

Once they reached the door of Blair's room, Serena thanked Dr. Rossman, and then he quietly let them in and closed the door behind them. When Serena took the few more steps into the room and finally saw Blair, she felt like a weight had been lifted. The last time Serena had saw her, her head was lolled to the side as she lay on the stretcher, now she was propped up and sleeping contently in her hospital bed. Blair's face was pale, but she looked just as peacefully beautiful as she did when she fell asleep after Serena made love to her or she simply dozed off with her head in Serena's lap as they watched a movie.

The blonde pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down, before gently taking Blair's hand in her own and resting it on the side of the bed. She used her other hand to rub the expanse of Blair's belly. The moment couldn't have been more perfect when the baby decided to give Serena's hand a single kick. Serena burst into sobs and set her forehead down, crying tears of relief onto Blair's hand as she kept her own over the baby.

*****

Hours later, a sleepy Lily was nodding off in one of the chairs, while Serena remained wide awake watching Blair sleep.

"Serena, you should rest too…" Lily advised.

"No, I want to be awake when she wakes up, so she's not frightened." Serena replied, even though she was tired from being awake for nearly a whole day, Blair was more important.

Lily nodded approvingly and gave her daughter a proud smile. "You are going to be such a good mother…you and Blair both will, I know it."

"Thank you…" Serena shyly responded, smiling at the compliment her mother had just given her.

Suddenly an idea crossed Lily's mind and it seemed like a good solution for Blair's stress-free environment for the rest of the pregnancy.

"Serena?"

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you and Blair stay in Ridgefield for the summer?" Lily quietly suggested. The van der Woodsen's owned several houses, one of which was located in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

The young blonde's face brightened as she let the idea sink into her head. "Really!? You wouldn't mind!?" Serena asked excitedly.

"Of course not, take Blair away…get her away from the city and the gossip for a while. You'll have the house to yourselves, you can relax, and when her due date gets closer you can come home and she'll have the baby." Lily explained.

"That would be perfect! Thank you so much, mom!" Serena gushed.

Lily gave her a motherly smile. "You're welcome, darling. I'll call and have your luggage packed, and I'll let Dorota know to pack Blair's as well…" Lily stated and then glanced at the clock. 3:37 AM. "You can leave later this afternoon after Blair is discharged."

"This is going to be amazing, Blair will love it!" Serena exclaimed. She couldn't wait to tell Blair that as soon as she was released from the hospital, she was whisking her away to Ridgefield. Away from everything that was making their lives hell in the city, which was mainly Chuck.

"Do you want the house staff there for you?" Lily questioned.

Serena didn't have to think twice. "No, we'll be fine…just make sure the landscaper is there to take care of the garden and the pool." Serena could cook and clean if she wanted to, but yard work was something else.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I already knew that…"

"Yeah, I figured…" Serena responded with a spoiled smile, "Oh! I'm going to text you a list of things we're going to need at the house, so you have it."

"Alright that's fine." Lily replied.

Serena punched buttons on her phone rapidly for a few minutes and then finally hit 'Send' and shut her phone. "Done."

"Okay, I'll have all of it sent to the house." Lily yawned while putting her head back against the chair and then closed her eyes.

Blair was still sleeping soundly and Serena carefully slipped her hand into her girlfriend's hand once more. Leaning forward, Serena rested the side of her face on Blair's hip and after only a few minutes her eyes had fluttered shut.

*****

Blair's eyelids felt heavy as she tried to open them and fight the sleepiness. She could feel a weight against her side, pressing into her stomach softly, and she leapt forward as she remembered what happened. The sudden movement jostled Serena and she quickly sat up, realizing Blair was awake and trying to sit up. Her brown eyes were flashing in bewilderment and darting around the room until the settled on Serena.

"Is she okay? Is she okay!?" Blair cried and her face crumpled with emotion.

"Shh, she's okay and so are you, everything is fine…" Serena said reassuringly as she gently held Blair's shoulders and laid her back down. Blair was still looking into Serena's eyes as if she wasn't convinced.

"The baby is okay, I promise." Serena told her again, and then she pulled Blair into a hug.

A few tears escaped the brunette's eyes, but having Serena's arms around her made her feel a little better. "I thought, I thought that I los-" Blair gasped, until Serena cut her off.

"I know, but everything is alright now…shh, don't cry…" Serena whispered and wiped away her girlfriend's tears.

Blair shook her head and stared up at Serena, looking dazed. Her eyes were bleary and bloodshot, and Serena could tell that she still needed to rest after going through so much.

"I want you to go back to sleep, so you can rest, okay?" Serena told her softly, brushing her hair back. "I love you…"

"Love you too…" Blair whispered quietly and then she closed her eyes, giving in to her exhaustion. Serena continued petting Blair's hair until the soft sound of her breathing became slow and even once more.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I had to update quickly because I felt bad keeping everyone hanging! Thanks for reading!