A/n Sorry for the wait I hope it is worth it. Warning! You'll need a box of tissues when reading this chapter. I cried writing it. Please read and review.
Two weeks had gone by since Lindsay woke up. After observing her for a couple more days the doctors felt comfortable letting her go home. Lindsay was glad to be home but missed her daughter terribly. She spent every minute she could at the NICU sitting next to her daughter's isolette. A smile curved Lindsay's lips as she saw her daughter with a hand touching a teddy bear the team had given her.
"Morning, Lindsay," Shelby the unit secretary said as she signed in at the desk.
"Morning, Shelb," Lindsay replied.
"Where's that handsome husband of yours?" Shelby asked cheekily.
"He had to go back to work. He didn't want to but I told him I'd be fine on my own," Lindsay explained.
"Go see Kylie and I'll talk to you later," Shelby said.
"See you later," Lindsay called back as she headed for the room where the most critical and tiny micro preemies were being cared for.
"Hi, Michelle, how's she doing this morning?" Lindsay asked the nurse who was adjusting Kylie's IV.
"She's doing okay. She was a bit fussy this morning and didn't want to eat. I'm just about to try giving her a bit of formula in a dropper. If she won't take it I'll have to give it through the feeding tube. As she was speaking, the nurse filled a tiny eye dropper with some formula. Gently sliding the tray containing Kylie out of its isolette Michelle touched Kylie's lips with the dropper. Kylie automatically opened her mouth and attempted to suckle the dropper as Michelle slid it into her mouth. Squeezing the dropper she allowed the milk to squirt slowly into the baby girl's mouth. Kylie took the milk greedily. Lindsay smiled from her place next to the isolette as she held her daughters hand.
"That's a good girl. Mommy's so proud of you," Lindsay cooed.
"That's good that she's trying to mimic the sucking reflex. Babies don't usually acquire it until 36 weeks or so but can try mimicking it earlier. Good she ate all of it. I guess she just needed her Mommy nearby," the nurse commented. Reaching into her purse Lindsay pulled out a book she had brought to read to Kylie. The nurses and doctors encouraged her to read to her daughter. It would help Kylie to thrive hearing her parent's voice. Danny and Lindsay were determined to do everything they could to help their daughter thrive.
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"Hey good to have you back, Danny," Stella said as she walked into the break room.
"Thanks, it's good to be back, but I'm worried about Lindsay and Kylie," Danny admitted.
"I know you are and theirs nothing wrong with that, but you know Lindsay's fine and Kylie's getting the best care possible," Stella reassured him.
"Yeah I know," Danny replied. Just then, Hawkes, Adam, and Mac walked into the room.
"Okay, everyone, Danny you and I have a homicide in Central Park. Stella you have a robbery gone bad on 5th Avenue. Hawkes you and Adam have a body at Grand Central Station. Okay let's get to work, people. Oh how are Lindsay and my goddaughter?" Mac asked turning to Danny before everyone could leave the room.
"Kylie's holding her own, and Lindsay's doing well. She's going stir crazy and can't wait to go back to work," Danny answered.
"That sounds like our Lindsay," Hawkes commented.
"It does," Mac agreed as he turned and headed out of the room with Danny right behind him.
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The sound of beeping alarms and someone crying stopped Lindsay midsentence. Closing the book she looked up. Most of the nurses and doctors were gathered around one isolette. Lindsay's heart sank when she realized it was the isolette that held the Sapp twins, Riley and Miranda. They had been born last week at only 28 weeks. Lindsay had become friends with most of the parents in the NICU. When you saw them on a daily basis you couldn't help become friends with the other parents who were going through the same struggles you were. Riley had been doing fairly well but Miranda continued to fight infection after infection. Lindsay could see their mother Lisa sitting in a chair beside her daughter's isolette. Moving slowly across the room, Lindsay grabbed Lisa's hand and squeezed it.
"What's going on?" she asked softly.
"It's 'Randa, she can't breathe," Lisa explained as she cried. The alarms were still beeping erratically. All of a sudden the erratic beeping was replaced by a loud long terrifying beep.
"Noooo! Not my baby. Not. My. Randa.," Lisa cried as her face crumbled and tears slid down her face. Hoping it would at least provide some comfort to the distraught mother Lindsay pulled her into her arms and began rocking back and forth rubbing her back.
"My husband, my husband, he's in the cafeteria he needs to get back here," she said brokenly. Looking around Lindsay caught Michelle's eye.
"Page Matt, he's in the cafeteria Lisa says," Lindsay mouthed. Nodding the NICU nurse walked over to the intercom and pressed the button.
"Paging Matt Sapp, return to the NICU immediately. Paging Matt Sapp, return to the NICU immediately," Michelle said into the microphone before releasing the button. Matt was back in the NICU a minute later. He looked around the room until he spotted his wife in Lindsay's arms. Dread filled his stomach when he realized the flat line beep was coming from his twin girl's isolette.
"What's going on Lis?" Matt asked as he took Lindsay's place beside his wife and gathered her into his arms.
"It's Randa, she can't breathe," Lisa said.
"Time of death, 11:50 AM October 27, 2008," the doctor said somberly as he switched off the heart monitor and ventilator that had been keeping Miranda Sapp alive. The doctor walked over to the young couple.
"I'm truly sorry for your loss. We did everything we could but this last lung infection was just too aggressive. Is there anyone I can call for you?" he asked compassionately.
"Yes, please, our minister," Matt answered pulling out a card with a name and number on it.
"I'll have someone call him right away," the doctor replied.
"C-c-can we hold her?" Lisa whispered.
"Of course you can, just let the nurse clean her up then she'll bring her to you," Dr. James said softly as he placed a comforting hand on Lisa's shoulder before turning to have Shelby call their minister. Five minutes later Miranda was brought to her parents wrapped in a pink blanket with a white hat on her head. The nurse placed her gently in Lisa's arms. Tears filled Lisa's eyes and fell unchecked down her cheek. Lindsay had moved back to Kylie's isolette to give the family some privacy.
"We'll make sure Riley knows about her sister," Matt promised his wife as tears slid down his cheeks as well. Lindsay touched her daughter's hand grateful that at least for now she was doing okay. Needing a break and wanting to hear Danny's voice she stood up.
"I'm going to call your Daddy. I'll be back soon, Kylie. Mommy loves you, angel," Lindsay said as she brushed her finger across Kylie's arm where she could reach it through the isolette.
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"Got any ideas as to who killed her?" Danny asked as he and Mac began processing the evidence from their homicide.
"I don't know, the witnesses that Angell talked to said that she'd had a fight with a man yesterday over something she was trying to sell him but they weren't sure what it was about," Mac said.
"Hmm, maybe once we get a positive ID we'll be able to go to her place and shed some light on what she sells and who had a problem with her," Danny replied. Mac nodded as he picked up the cards containing the vics prints. No ID was found on her so her fingerprints were the next hope. If that didn't work they'd have to match her through dental records.
"Let's hope we get a match," Mac mumbled.
"MMM," Danny agreed. The sound of a cell phone ringing startled both men. Both of them patted their pockets.
"It's mine," Danny said answering it.
"Hello?"
"Danny?" Lindsay asked.
"Hey Montana, how's it going? How's Kylie?" Danny asked. It was as if hearing Danny's voice was the last straw and the floodgates opened and Lindsay began to cry.
"Linds? What's wrong is something wrong with Kylie?" Danny asked anxiously. Mac turned from where he was watching the computer search for a match to the prints to stare at Danny.
"No, Kylie's fine, Miranda Sapp died," Lindsay said softly.
"What when?" Danny wanted to know.
"About five minutes ago," Lindsay answered. "She couldn't breathe the doctor said the lung infection was just too aggressive," Lindsay explained.
"But you're sure Kylies okay?" Danny replied.
"Yes she's fine," Lindsay told him. Mac breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad that Kylie was okay.
"How are Lisa and Matt holding up?" Danny questioned.
"They're pretty broken up about it. Matt wasn't in the room when she went into respiratory distress and flat lined. They paged him and he got their right before they called time of death," Lindsay explained as she began to cry again.
"Shh, it's okay, Linds. This will be hard but they'll get through it. If nothing else they have little Riley to help them through it. They'll wanna tell Riley about her sister," Danny reassured her.
"Your right, I should let you get back to work but I just needed to hear your voice," Lindsay admitted softly.
"It's okay, Linds I'm gonna try and come by at lunch. I'll see you then. Tell Matt and Lisa I'm thinking of them and that I'm sorry for their loss will you?" Danny requested.
"Will do," Lindsay replied.
"Oh, and tell Kylie her Daddy loves her," Danny added.
"I will, bye Dan," Lindsay said.
"Bye Montana," Danny replied. Taking a deep breath to regain her composure Lindsay walked back into the NICU and settled again next to Kylie.
"I just talked to your Daddy and he says to tell you he loves you. Your Daddy is going to spoil you rotten," Lindsay commented with a fond smile. Now where were we?" Lindsay asked as she picked up the book of children's stories, and, continued reading.
TBC?
A/n, forgive any spelling mistakes I'm typing this while in a car on my way to Oklahoma. Please read and review.