Disclaimer: I own diddly squat.
After leaving Jane and Charles, Georgiana stumbled back to her apartment in a stupefied haze. The whole afternoon wasn't making sense to her, how could Fitzwilliam have a son and not know about him.
As a fine art student, Georgiana's apartment was littered with canvasses, paints, brushes, newspaper and art books; Fitzwilliam was the opposite of his sister, he liked everything in its place whereas she worked by the philosophy 'Messy desk = ordered mind.' From a young age the weight of the world had been on Fitzwilliam Darcy's shoulders and the pressure hadn't eased off since both of their parents had died, he kept everything in order so that he had some semblance of control opposed to Georgiana who had grown up carefree with a brother and cousin that loved her and a love of chaotic mess - today chaos was overrated.
As she struggled through the canvases that were strewn across the floor of her hallway and lounge she fell into the kitchen, clinging to the counter trying to regain her balance. A nauseous feeling was gurgling in the pit of her stomach; she was suddenly gasping for water, so after filling a glass she tried to let the cool water calm her but it did nothing but ignite the rising anger inside of her.
Her mind was a mess, she paced the apartment, which was a very big Fitzwilliam trait and warred with herself about whether she should tell her brother about William and Elizabeth.
Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours as Georgiana wore a metaphorical hole in the floor with her relentless pacing and bit all of her nails off in agitation, she hadn't been thinking about whether she should tell her brother about William instead she had been thinking of the little boy whose life she had so far missed; it broke her heart. In her state of stupefaction Georgiana didn't notice the persistent blinking of the red light on her answering machine; she wasn't sure she was ready to face the outside world but she wanted to know what was on that message, could it be from Elizabeth? Eventually her curiosity killed her and she tentatively pressed the little red button; never push the little red button.
'Hi Georgie, it's me your big brother, bet you didn't expect two calls in as many hours huh, who's the best brother in the world. I just wanted to tell you that you were right, I called Elizabeth this afternoon and when I'm back from Japan we are going to meet up; you might just see me happy yet porgie. Anyway love you."
That was it grabbing her keys, Georgiana stormed out of her apartment "What a witch!" she muttered as she powered through Oxford Street, not giving a backwards glance as she shouldered through people as they walked past her. "Insufferable, ignorant woman . . . keeping a son from him, what a barbaric, venomous, evil toad." Her blue maxi dress, nearly tripped her up on several occasions but she powered on regardless, she was on a mission, "Elizabeth Bennett, you will pay."
Georgiana practically screamed in frustration as she marched into dArta Software headquarters, on her mission walk to her brothers building several people had stopped to watch the raving mad woman as she passed them but she didn't even notice her mind was reeling from everything she had learnt today.
'like any proud aunt' Jane had said, Georgiana was livid that she had missed out on the opportunity to be a proud aunt, she could have been the one clucking about how amazing William was but instead he had been cruelly kept from his family, "What kind of a woman is this Elizabeth."
Georgiana stalked into the marbled reception of her brothers building and stormed past the security guards, who didn't realise she was there until they were frantically running to catch up with her; after the attempt on Mr Darcy's life a few years ago all the security guards were on high alert in case it was attempted again, it just so happened that Georgiana turning up interrupted 'Come Dine with Me.'
After a jostling struggle it happened to be an unlucky security guard called Michael that darted in Georgiana's way; she was far too annoyed to take the elevator, the walk from Regent Street hadn't calmed her down so she had planned on climbing the stairs in an attempt to take the edge off the raw emotions that were coursing through her veins.
Michael held out his hand in front of him, expecting her to crash into it but instead she deftly moved round him. Automatically he grabbed onto her upper arm and spun her back round; with indignation she slapped his hand away, causing a look of incredulity to spread across his face.
"Never touch me again, now get out of my way." Michael had shoved his body in between her and the stairs, blocking her ascent and when Georgiana realised she growled at him, glaring at him with such vehemence that it made him take one step back from her.
"Miss, I can't let you in without a pass." Michael folded his arms across his chest in defiance and tried to remain professional but his ire was growing, he couldn't believe a goddess like this could be such a banshee.
"Listen to me . . ." she yanked at the name badge on his jacket, pulling him to her "Michael, I am Georgiana Darcy, my brother is Fitzwilliam Darcy, I DO NOT need a pass to enter this building; now stand aside or I will make sure that the only person you will be trying to keep out of anywhere will be the bailiffs from your house." Georgiana spoke through gritted teeth and when she finished she stepped around the brave but stupid security guard and strode to the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Michael stood rooted in place, gawping at the stunning blonde woman as she ascended the stairs; she certainly inherited the Darcy temper.
Georgiana's hair was a tangled mess when she stepped onto her brother's floor, panting to catch her breath; she had never understood why her proud brother never bought one of the magnificent glass sky scrapers in Canary Wharf but right now she found herself distinctly grateful that he hadn't; there were only so many stairs she could storm up without losing her puff.
The twinkle of the London lights at night filtered through the windows, it was such a peaceful night – shame it was the calm before the storm. Georgiana suddenly felt a hint of vertigo and grasped onto one of the door handles to keep herself upright 'What am I going to say to him' she thought 'the truth' her conscience answered and with that she regained her equilibrium and proceeded to storm towards her brother's office with renewed vigour.
Georgiana knew after just looking at a photo of William that he was Darcy's son, so how could her own brother have missed it. He was often oblivious to what was going on around him but she truly believed he was more astute than to miss the family resemblance; it was true she hadn't met Elizabeth so couldn't compare William to his mother but those eyes, the nose, the set of his jaw line, they were all so obviously Darcy's it was hard to believe he could be so stupid as to miss them.
Georgiana practically ran into Mrs Reynolds, who was trying to envelop her in a hug but the young woman simply lifted her hand to silence the secretary and walked into her brother's office without invitation.
Georgiana had riled herself up to such a state that it felt like she hit a brick wall at 100mph when she saw the desperate man behind her brothers desk; it was almost too painful to look at the agony etched on his handsome face.
"Okay Charles, which hospital Charles, CHARLES which goddamn hospital will they be at. Right I'll meet you there." Georgiana stood by the door, watching her brother frantically scribble something onto a pad and call for his driver; not once glancing up to see that she was in the room. Darcy sat back in his chair, rubbing his hands through his hair and breathed out a deep laboured sigh; the moment felt too intimate for her to pretend she wasn't there so she made her presence known.
"Will, what's wrong?" Darcy visibly jumped at the sight of her but he promptly settled again and held his hand out to her; Georgiana acquiesced and moved over to him, taking his hand into hers, studying his red rimmed eyes.
"Will you come to the hospital with me, Georgie?"
"William, what's wrong? Was that Charles Bingley? William talk to me, what's happened?" Georgiana bent down next to her big brother, squeezing his hand; her big blue eyes filled with concern as the silence continued.
"Do you remember the little boy I was telling you about?" Darcy finally spoke, his words coming out slow and clear.
'Yes, that's why I'm here . . .' Georgie thought but nodded her head to encourage him on.
"Well that was Charles, he just phoned to tell me William has been rushed to hospital, he stopped breathing."
"WHAT! Will, get up, GET UP," Georgiana stood up rapidly, forcefully yanking his arm, attempting to make him stand up, "We have to be there, YOU have to be there."
Darcy continued to stare at his sister confused, Georgiana flitted about the room picking up his mobile, his coat and then returned to him, dumping the items in his arms as she pushed him out the door.
Mrs Reynolds stood up from behind her desk; her eyes bulging at the bewildering site of her boss being tugged to the elevator by his younger sister. Georgiana shouted to the elderly woman without even turning round, "We're going to the hospital, don't wait up!" Mrs Reynolds didn't have time to ask questions, the two siblings had stepped into the elevator and were gone; now she just going to be worried all night, who was in the hospital?
Inside the elevator Georgiana danced from one foot to the other, leaving Darcy to eye her suspiciously, she tried to avoid making eye contact with him, it wasn't the right time to tell him about Williams true parentage and she didn't want to slip up so before he could say anything the elevator doors pinged open onto the reception floor and she rushed him outside, ignoring the staring security guards that she had accosted earlier and bungled him into the waiting Bentley and promptly jumped in next to him, instructing the driver to "Fly like a bat out of hell to the hospital." He did.
Darcy couldn't get his thoughts straight, the legal documents in front of him were starting to make his eyes hurt, he hadn't been disturbed in hours so he jumped when his phone started to vibrate violently on his desk; looking to the phone, he glanced behind him suddenly realising that it was dark out, the street lamps were shining brightly in the intensity of the night sky and the stars were twinkling in bright contrast to the ebony night, it brought him back to thinking about the sparkle in Elizabeth's beautiful brown eyes.
"Will . . ." It was Charles, he sounded breathless.
"Charles, whatever is the matter? You've not out drinking again have you because I'm not sending the car again, the last time it didn't come back . . ."
Charles cut him off, "Shut up Will, Jane just called . . ."
"Jane who? Jane Bennett? . . ."
"Darcy will you just SHUT UP! Jane just called she wanted me to tell you that William, Elizabeth's son has been rushed to hospital, he's not breathing." Darcy felt like the wind had been knocked out of his sails, William, my Elizabeth, why, is he okay? So many thoughts rushed between his ears but it had to be serious because Charles never raised his voice to Darcy.
"Well w . . .w. . where where are you?" Darcy fumbled over his words 'come on man this is no time to garble, speak.'
"I'm . . .shit . . ow, sorry just bumped my head!" In the background Darcy heard Charles's car purr to life, he guessed he was en-route to the hospital. "I'm just going to meet them at the hospital."
"Where is Elizabeth?" Darcy couldn't hide the concern from his voice; he couldn't face the idea that she was going through this alone, he had to be there.
"Jane and Elizabeth are with William in the ambulance."
"Okay Charles, which hospital are they at?"
"Hmm, no the traffic isn't too bad on the M25."
"CHARLES which goddamn hospital will they be at."
"Oh sorry, Alex West."
"Right I'll meet you there." Darcy was frustrated as the signal on the other end of the line kept going, he grappled for a pen and took down the hospital name, he recognised it, it would take at least half an hour to get to 'Alex West Hospital.' Having given up with Charles, Darcy slammed the phone down. Why did everything feel like it was slotting into place one minute and then falling apart spectacularly the next?
Phoning for his car, he rubbed his eyes, praying as a non religious man that William would be okay; it was at that point he heard Georgiana. Darcy felt so relieved to see her, she was like a security blanket, an angel and right now he needed someone to tell him everything was going to be okay.
Georgiana had been his one constant when he lost Elizabeth the first time and he was so glad that Georgie supported him now that Lizzie was back in his life; maybe after all this was over they could be the good friends I always hoped they'd be.
As Darcy relayed the situation to his sister it became real as he heard him say '. . . he stopped breathing,' it made him feel powerless, he had all this money but what did it matter when everything was so fragile. The words felt strange coming out of his mouth, they left a bitter taste on the tip of his tongue.
Darcy didn't know what he expected from his sister but her reaction shocked him, he wasn't expecting her to demand they go to the hospital 'YOU have to be there.' Georgiana had always been so protective of him, when she was younger all of his girlfriends had to be vetted by her, so he was secretly relieved that she had embraced the idea of him and Elizabeth.
After bumbling outside in a daze, Georgiana had shoved him into a car and almost immediately the streetlights were blurring past them as the car raced towards the hospital. Darcy glanced across at Georgiana who was staring out the window, twiddling her thumbs; Darcy hated to see people fidget, it annoyed him immensely so he gently placed his hand atop hers for peace and comfort. "Georgiana, why did you come to the office?" A small smile spread across her face as she looked down at her brother's warm hand on hers.
"How long will it take to get the hospital?" Georgiana didn't look at him, just kept staring outside and she saw noted how his eyebrow shot up when she didn't answer the question.
"Georgie, what aren't you telling me?" Darcy couldn't hide his curiosity, it was on very rare occasions that Georgiana visited him at work, he knew she had always hated his corporate world and she had looked like a wild woman when he was standing in his office; her hair stuck out at all angles and a sheen of sweat had coated her forehead, it was definitely not the typical look of a normally perfectly coiffed woman.
"Will, I . . . I was annoyed . . ."
"Why?" Gently Will placed his hand under her chin and turned her face to him, a look of concern on his face.
"You're leaving for Japan and you didn't even tell me until yesterday; you always do this Will, I'm your sister you can't just leave me like that . . ." A look of disbelief spread across his face". . . what I've been stewing on it for a few hours."
"That was what the wild look was about? Georgie you looked positively rabid."
Georgiana gently nodded and took both of her brother's hands in hers "Will, William is going to be okay" She could read him like a book; he was trying to deflect the attention from the important matters.
Darcy swallowed and looked out the window, turning his entire body away from her. He had been trying so hard not to think about where they were headed, it was easier for him to think about his sister than think about little William lying in hospital and his Elizabeth alone; wait what is William's father shows up? Why would it matter we aren't dating?
An ominous silence settled in the speeding car, both Georgiana and Darcy were left to their own thoughts as the car sped out of London and into the countryside; Charles was right the motorway was quiet and within 40 minutes the sleek black car was pulling up outside of the hospital doors.
Before the car even came to a complete stop Georgiana was thrusting the door open but Darcy stayed rooted in place, staring at his driver in the mirror, could he do this? What would she think when she saw him? Did he really want to face what was happening to little Will?
Suddenly his door opened and he was being pulled out of the car by sister, scrabbling with the door to keep himself upright as she bunched the scruff of his jumper in her tight fists. "Come on Will, I think I see Charlie."
With a sharp look Georgiana let go and Darcy righted his clothing, telling the driver to wait in one of the parking bays until they came out, it could be a long night. With that brother and sister rushed to the A&E doors but just as they got there he suddenly stopped staring at the automatic doors which were opening and closing, he whispered "Georgie, do you think William's father will be here? What if . . .?"
Placing her hands on either side of his face she placed her forehead against his, looking into his eyes and whispered "No what if's, we don't need that negativity, there's a little boy in there Fitzwilliam Darcy that fell in love with you yesterday now let's go . . ." She knew exactly what to say to reassure him but he never heard her say "his father is here now."
Together they entered A&E, hand-in-hand, united against what was to come . . .
Back to Jane at Lizzie's house . . .
"Only 20:15" Lizzie groaned, as she looked at the clock to the side of her bed, is that all. "Who dares to disturb my slumber?" Lizzie laughed, as she flipped the covers off her body and rolled out of bed, moving to the window to look down at who was coming to her house so late, it was Jane, that was a relief, could you imagine if it was Mr Darcy. Tapping the window gently to get Jane's attention she smiled and waved down at her, motioning that she would be out in just a second; it was odd for Jane to come round so late, maybe she wants to tell me about Charles, Lizzie thought.
Grabbing her dressing gown, Lizzie padded out of her room and quickly glanced at the mirror in the hall way; a smile spread across her lips, well at least it's not unlike how Darcy's seen me before, her brown hair was in scraggy curls falling about her shoulders and her pyjama bottoms were baggy and worn, well he'd seen her sans clothes – why did she keep thinking about herself and Mr Darcy naked, hmmm?
The house was silent and on autopilot Lizzie went into William's room to check on him, aww he is so beautiful she thought. Staring down at him with loving eyes, William lay on his back sleeping in the crib, his arms behind him and his legs spread out like a star fish; Lizzie leaned on the edge of the crib and watched and waited to see his chubby little tummy rise and fall, it gave her comfort to know he was okay. Unable to resist the urge to feel close to him, Lizzie touched his face moving a curl out of his eyes, 'hmm, that's strange, he feels a bit cold' gently she laid the back of her hand to his forehead, it was still cold.
"William, time to wake up baby." Lizzie spoke softly at first, tapping his shoulder and tickling his exposed tummy, normally this would wake up her little monster but in the darkness there was no sign of movement.
Starting to panic Lizzie, lifted him up, if all else failed this normally woke him up but nothing happened, little William didn't stir, his long soft eyelashes lay shut across his eyes and his head lolled back gently.
"William . . ." Lizzie tapped his face, her voice cracked with hysterics, "William!" she gently tried to shake him but his body was cold, she lay her head across his little mouth but there was no sign of breathing; her mind went blank, screaming she ran downstairs remembering Jane was there and threw the door open to her sister, who was banging on the door after she'd heard her sister scream.
"Lizzie, what's wrong?" Tears were in Lizzie's eyes as she cradled William in her arms, Jane jumped in the door and automatically took them into the lounge area, taking William from her arms and laying him on her arm.
"He's not breathing . . . make him breath . . .he's cold Jane." The words came out in rough gasps as Lizzie looked to William who was lying on Jane's arm.
"Lizzie, call an ambulance NOW . . . I'm going to start compressions." Lizzie didn't need to be asked twice and bolted to find a phone as Jane started children's compressions on the little boy, checking his mouth, she noticed a small object in his mouth and after patting his back a few times she successfully managed to remove the blockage and started trying to get him breathing again.
Lizzie came back into the room, her face white, caked in sweat and tears in her eyes "They are on their way . . . Jane is he. . ." Biting her fingernails, she crawled down beside her sister, taking William from her arms and started to take over the compressions and breathing.
Jane watched with a lump in her throat, as the broken woman that had once been her sister, sat with the limp child in her arms as she tried to get him to start breathing again.
"William!" Lizzie shouted and her hand shot up to Williams face as the little boy finally started gasping for air, slowly he opened his eyes and the two sisters burst into frantic sobs and encouraged the little one to keep breathing.
Choking, William started to cry, howling in shock and pain and in response Lizzie tenderly bought him into her chest, careful not squeeze him "Jane, can you get a blanket? Lizzie didn't take her eyes off Williams face, her eyes were stained with tears and it seemed the past few minutes had aged her at least 20 years.
Jane scrabbled to the airing cupboard and pulled out a blanket, she felt so relieved William was breathing again, she had never seen Lizzie in such a state it was petrifying. Running back downstairs Jane handed the blanket to Lizzie who wrapped it around William, as they waited. Neither sister said anything to one another; they were both still staring at William, who was still crying in his mother's arms, as she lovingly smoothed the back of his hair and neck.
After what felt like forever, they could head the distant sound of an ambulance as it sped to the house and Jane greeted the two male paramedics that ran to the front door.
"Miss, I'm Steve this is Andrew, we're here because we had a report of a little boy not breathing."
"Yes, yes, come in he's through here." Jane led them into the lounge.
"Are you his mother?" The paramedic spoke to Lizzie who was still cradling William to her chest as he screamed and kept his arms around her neck, Lizzie nodded.
"Can we take a look at William for a minute?" The taller of the two men, gently placed a hand on Lizzie's shoulder as he took William from her arms and the other one stood in the doorway with Jane finding out what had happened.
"My sister, came downstairs with William in her arms, she said he wasn't breathing so we came in here and she went to phone you and I was checking his breathing, when I noticed this . . ." Jane pulled the little object that had been stuck in Williams mouth out of her pocket and gave it to the paramedic, it was a pen lid, "I patted him on the back to try and loosen the object and eventually it came to the front of his mouth so I removed it and started children's compressions and then my sister took over . . . as you can see he started breathing . . ." turning to the paramedic with an intent gaze she said "is he going to be okay?"
The paramedic placed one hand on her shoulder and smiled "We're going to take him to the hospital but I think you just saved your nephews life." With that he moved away and both paramedics started talking to Lizzie, Jane was in a world of her own, they had nearly lost William.
After a few more minutes the paramedics managed to reassure the sisters that if William was screaming that was a good sign but they wanted to take him to hospital just in case, so William and Elizabeth got into the ambulance and Jane followed them in her BMW.
Elizabeth sat in the bright clinical white ambulance, holding William to her and gently she pressed tender kisses to his forehead "Mommy loves you William, did you hear that William, I love you." Her whole body was still shaking as they drove to the hospital, it felt like an eternity had passed but Lizzie glanced at the clock and it was only "20:53."
It was a 15 minute journey to the hospital and William spent the majority of it crying in his mother's arms and Lizzie found herself thanking god as he continued to cry on and on and on because it meant he was still alive, it was the sweetest sound to her in the world right now.
As they arrived at the hospital Elizabeth and William were rushed through A&E and Jane followed suit moments later after calling Charles; it didn't take her long to find her party, they were in a nice side room with a nurse who was de-robbing the little boy, so he lay topless on the bed, Elizabeth holding his hand and stroking his forehead.
The minutes ticked by as they waited for a doctor and Jane paced the floor as Elizabeth sat by William, neither sister had said a word in about half an hour when Jane's phone broke the silence. Lizzie promptly shot her sister a devilish look and Jane slinked out into the hallway.
"Charles, where are you?"
"Behind you . . ." Jane felt a pair of arms cross around her and she gently relaxed into them and turned to face him.
"Is William okay?" Charles was dressed in jeans and a jumper, his coat wasn't buttoned and his hair was a mess, it normally would have made Jane smile but the deep look of concern on his face broke her resolve and right there in the middle of a crowded hospital she started crying, big waving sobs of tears; she couldn't believe everything that had happened today.
"Shhh . . ." Charles pulled her into his shoulder and smoothed the back of her hair, running his fingers through her soft golden locks to comfort her.
After a few minutes Jane moved away from him, wiping her tears with the back of her hand, looking at the mascara that came off, a small smile crept across her mouth as she looked at this kind, caring man in front of her. No words could express her gratitude to him but she felt she had to say something "Char . . ." Jane got cut off by a more dominant and manly voice.
"Charles!" Both Jane and Charles turned around, scanning the hospital until they saw Mr Darcy and Georgiana walk into A&E, a look of pure panic on both of their faces. . .
A/N:
I just would like to clear something up the spell check on the PC I use is very sensitive (changes everything without my permission) and so makes a lot of changes I don't ask it to for instance there, their and they're therefore apologies if you think I'm messing up my hononyms but it's the spell check I need to desensitise it.
Anyway thank you for you so much for your reviews, I hope you like this chapter and would really appreciate your comments and views.
Would like your input on what you'd like to see on the next chapter so get reviewing and tell me :)
I'll try write another one as soon as possible, hope your all okay!
Kx