The crew helping Carla asked Peter to leave the premises whilst they bring Carla out, who was attached to many wires and she lay on a stretcher. He didn't want to leave her side not for one second but thought that the less he restricted, the quicker she'll be out.
He walked out of the remains of the factory, grey dust covered all of him and he was coughing a little whilst wiping his eyes.
"Peter!" Michelle yells, running over to him as he goes under the police tape. "Is she alright? Have they got her out?"
"Peter, how is my daughter?" Johnny cries.
"She Erm...she had to be resuscitated-..."
"Oh god..." Johnny sobs. "Has she gone?"
"They managed to save her but it's not looking good. S-She was speaking so negatively, she asked me to save the baby over her." Peter weeps. "And she told me she was scared and didn't want to die...she was terrified and there was nothing I could've done."
"But Peter, she's fought for you and her family to survive and she's alive. She'll be okay." Michelle reassures him, pulling him into her tight embrace.
"What about the baby though? The baby was crushed...there's no way a little tiny baby can live after that."
"Oh look, they're taking her out." Kate tearfully pipes up, pointing the the lifeless body being wheeled towards them.
"Oh my god." Johnny mumbles. "She's so pale."
"We need to get her to hospital as quickly as possible, one person is aloud to come." A paramedic says.
"I'll come." Peter announces, going into the back of the ambulance and holding Carla's hand tightly.
"You and the baby are going to be alright, d'ya hear me? Absolutely fine." He adds, taking in the array of bruises and the dry blood streaks on her face.
The ride to the hospital had been a long and uncomfortable one, Peter was frightened that Carla would be taken away at him at any second. But as the ambulance jolts to a stop, the crew rush Carla out.
"Where are you going? I want to be with her!" He shouts.
"I'm so sorry but no one can go through past this point. If you wait here, we'll do our very best to help her." They say sympathetically, before quickly leaving.
"Oh god. No, no, no. I can't believe this. No." Peter mutters to himself, taking a few deep breaths.
"Peter!" Johnny alerts his son in law, rushing over to him. "Have they said anything?"
"No."
"How did this even happen? Why did the roof fall?" Kate says.
"When I see Gary flamin' Windass...you wait until I see him." Peter growls. "I'm gonna kill him."
"That's not going to help anyone is it?" Michelle questions.
"It'll help me. It'll get my anger out. Because of him, my wife and baby could die!" Peter yells.
"Don't shout at Michelle. I know you're upset but she's done nothing wrong." Kate defends her cousin.
"Oh what are you even doing here Kate! You're not fooling anyone, you've never cared for Carla! It's always been Kate this, Kate that with you!"
"Peter, that's enough. Just concentrate on Carla and your son or daughter right now. Don't blame Kate." Johnny pipes up, putting a hand on Peters shoulder as a sign of warning.
"What's Gary even done?" Michelle says quietly, sitting down and putting a hand through her hair.
"He told us the roof was bad and when we asked him to sort it, he strictly refused and said it wouldn't fall. He literally told us that it wouldn't fall and that it was a minor problem that will be fixed easily. And now? Now, I could loose her 'chelle. I can't loose her...or the baby. I wouldn't cope." He sobs, falling into Michelle's arms.
"Oh my god." She gasps, now she understood Peter's anger towards Gary and couldn't help but encourage it.
"Did the paramedics say anything about the babies condition? Do they think it'll survive?" Johnny croaks.
"Um...they weren't sure but...but there was a large part of the roof on top of her whole middle. A-and She was in so much pain. She couldn't breathe."
"My poor daughter. No way, I can't loose her...not after Aidan..." Johnny pants.
"She made me tell her my vows." Peter says, eyes glistening ahead of him as Michelle breaks out a sob. "After I said it...she went."
"Bless her..." Michelle says.
"And...she said something else too..."
"What?"
"She named the baby." Peter admits.
"But you don't know the sex?" Kate narrows her eyes.
"She came up with two names. A boys and girls name."
"What were they?" Johnny leans forwards.
"Aidan and Lily." He announces, watching Johnny's face crumble.
"Oh god." He whispers.
"Why Lily?" Michelle narrows her eyes.
"She said Aidan's favourite flowers were lilies...she wanted him somehow involved in our child's life."
"Carla Connor's family?"
"That's us." Michelle stands, followed by the other relatives. "How is she?"
"Mrs Connor suffered severe injuries because of the collapse. Minor injuries include multiple cuts and bruises and broken ribs. Also she was having symptoms of a concussion so we'll be doing a CT scan as soon as possible but that's not the worst, it's not looking good I'm afraid - we're done a X-ray because we're almost sure theirs a fracture in her spine. Obviously with her being pregnant, she's priority. She's in critical condition though I'm afraid." They explain, watching everyone's faces drop.
"Oh my god...what are you going to do?" Johnny cries.
"We have reason to believe it's a stable fracture which means it's nothing overly serious right now but we don't know much until we wake her up."
"Is she gonna wake up?" Michelle interrupts.
"We've put her into an induced coma right now. Her body has been through a lot today and is under a lot of strain, the rest she'll be in whilst being in a coma will hopefully help her recovery and give the baby a greater chance of life."
"What...what about the baby?" Peter pipes up.
"I was just getting to that. It's a miracle...baby still has a heartbeat but seems rather distressed. We're going to be keeping an eye on it and if the baby gets to a point where they're too distressed, we'll perform a c-section and immediately look after the baby as it would be premature." She explains softly.
"Oh god..." Peter mutters. "It pains me to say this but...but you have...you have to save the b-baby over her."
"Mr Bar-..."
"No listen to me. It might've been the last thing she's ever asked me alright? I need to do this for her. You save the baby if it comes down to it alright?" He weeps.
"Okay." The doctor nods hesitantly. "We'll keep you updated."
Hours went by; it was 2:40am and they hadn't heard anything. Peter was still snapping at anyone and was walking round the small enclosed room very shakily.
"Peter, sit down. You're making me feel sick." Michelle mumbles.
"Why haven't they come out yet? I want to see her!" He snaps.
"They're running tests .."
"How is she?" Johnny immediately questions as the doctor from before reappears.
"We're keeping her stable. It's confirmed that unfortunately, Carla does have a break in her spine. Now, theirs not much we can say about that without Carla being awake so we're going to bring her round in the next day or so. She also has a concussion but we're not overly concerned for that; worst case scenario is that she has short term memory loss." She explains.
"The...the baby?"
"The babies heartbeat is still strong, which is extremely surprising. Your family seems to be made out of strong stuff Mr Barlow. We will still be watching the baby extremely carefully incase it's in danger but right now, it's stable."
"Thank god." Peter sighs in relief. It was really a miracle they have both managed to stay alive throughout such an awful ordeal.
"What about her back though? If it's broken, won't she be paralysed?" Kate panics.
"We think it's a stable fracture which means it'll hopefully not cause any long term damage but we won't know anything for sure until she's awake. When she's awake, we'll do a number of test to see whether she feels movements in her legs."
"Stable. Stable. Stable." Kate rolls her eyes.
"That is a good thing." The nurse says.
"I can't believe this is really happening." Peter gasps. "Can I see her?"
"Erm...I'll allow it. Only you though. It's late so visitors aren't usually aloud at this time but I understand this'll be for the best." She smiles. "Follow me."
"Thank you so much." Peter replies.
"Oh, baby," He whispers, walking into Carla's hospital room.
She was led on a bad, looking like a small mouse surrounded by so much medical equipment. There was no pillows underneath her head as it could worsen her back injury so she had a neck brace on. A ventilator was attached to her, along with many other wires placed on her chest, arms and an IV injected into her hand to keep her hydrated. Multiple cuts and grazes were dotted along Carla's head as well as dry blood matted into her hair which was yet to removed. Bruises started forming on her face and arms too but Peter was sure they'd turn out darker in the morning. You could see the swell of their unborn baby underneath her hospital gown. This sight made Peter heavily cry, he sunk down to the ground and rocked himself.
He sat there for 5 minutes before crawling up and sitting in the seat next to Carla's bedside. Gently taking her hand into his, he repeatedly kissed it and stared at her lifeless expression.
"Carla..." He croaks, placing a strand of hair behind her ear delicately. "How's this happened to us ey?"
"You've got to keep fighting. Fight for us, fight for our baby..." he places a hand on her bump. "Are beautiful miracle baby. I can't loose both of you, I wouldn't be able to cope."
"Stay strong, little one." Peter leans down and kisses her bump gently before sitting silently with Carla for the foreseeable.
Very content heavy; I honestly really struggled with this chapter. I wanted to get it right and make it realistic but had to take into consideration that she is pregnant but also has to have a fair amount of damage if a roof has fallen on her! More twist and turns will be happening soon, don't think this is it! Please review xx