"Is there any reason why he won't feed?" Harry asked Dr Rose a few minutes later after Leo had fetched the young doctor.
"It sometimes takes a while" Dr Rose told Harry as he looked Arthur over carefully and tried to give him the bottle again, but as before he refused. "as long as he has taken a bit. Yes?"
Harry nodded, glancing at his son with a worried look on his face.
"As long as he takes at least small amounts often he should be okay until your wife is ready to breastfeed him again" Dr Rose informed Harry and handed the tired baby back his father who hugged the tiny being to his chest and pressed a kiss onto his soft blonde hair.
"You're very hopeful" Harry whispered and Leo placed one hand on his arm.
"Dr Cunningham from what I have seen of your wife she is a very strong person. Not many people would take themselves off morphine after an operation like that even to feed their child"
Harry just nodded and buried his face in his son's head, pressing another soft kiss onto him and closing his eyes against his tears.
"Do you know anything?" he then asked "About Nikki"
"I'm afraid I don't" the doctor told him with a shake of his head "It's not my section I'm afraid"
"Thank you" Harry nodded and Dr Rose inclined his head before walking from the room. Harry then sat down on the bed with a sigh and ran his hand gently down Arthur's soft cheek. "Are you going to be a good boy and drink for daddy? Mmm?"
Leo couldn't help but smile at Harry. He had never seen him act like this for anyone in all the years he had known him. Fatherhood definitely suited him, as did married life.
"What are you smiling at?"
Leo was brought out of his thoughts by Harry's voice and he just shrugged.
"Nothing. Now I should be getting to work and you should be calling your mother"
Harry sighed loudly and nodded, standing up and placing his sleeping son in the cot by the bed as he did so.
"Will you be okay?" Leo asked in concern and Harry smiled and nodded again.
"I'll be fine Leo. I'll call you when there's any news"
----------
"Harry how much has Arthur drunk today?" Sylvia asked a few hours later as they sat in Nikki's hospital room waiting for news. She looked down at the baby in her arms who had just had a small bit of milk from the bottle but was refusing any more.
"Just small amounts each time" Harry replied quietly as he took the bottle from his mother and put it on the bedside table as she placed the baby on her shoulder to burp him "He won't feed properly unless it's from Nikki. I'm really worried about him mum"
"Maybe you're just being stubborn like your daddy was when he was your age" Sylvia cooed to her grandson "You never used to feed properly from the bottle, and I couldn't breastfeed you because you wouldn't take to me either. It took a while for you to feed"
Her mobile rang suddenly from inside her coat pocket and she felt Arthur jump slightly before starting to cry.
"I'm sorry" she whispered to him as Harry stood up and took his son from his mother's arms and started to calm him down as Sylvia answered her phone. "Yes?...oh hello Mrs Jenson...no I'm at the hospital...no it's not me it's my daughter-in-law...yes that's fine, I'll come round right now...bye" she then hung up and rolled her eyes "Mrs Jenson seems to believe that as soon as she gets a small cough or sneeze that there's something seriously wrong with her"
Harry smirked slightly and pressed a kiss onto his son's soft head where he was supporting him against his shoulder.
"I can stay if you want"
"No it's fine" Harry shook his head and Sylvia walked over to him and pressed a kiss onto his cheek before doing the same to Arthur.
"You be good" she told the baby then looked back up at Harry "Keep me informed?"
"Of course" Harry nodded and kissed her on the cheek before she turned and walked out of the room making Harry feel suddenly very alone. Harry then turned his head to observe his son who was still laying on his shoulder, Harry supporting his head and bottom. He saw that there was a definite dark brown tint to his little boy's eyes and realised that his son was definitely going to take after his mother looks wise. Harry didn't know whether he would be able to look at his son if Nikki died, he reminded Harry too much of her, he bit his lip when he thought this, it was too painful to even think about it. Harry suddenly hated himself for thinking that he wouldn't be able to look at his little boy and sat down abruptly on the chair, bringing Arthur in front of him, still supporting his head and back.
"Whatever happens to mummy, I will always..be..here for..you" he sobbed and a few of his tears fell from his face and onto Arthur's baby grow. "I love you so much"
-----
"Dr Cunningham?"
A voice broke Harry out of a dream he was having, well a nightmare, which involved him standing at Nikki's graveside with a five-year-old Arthur explaining to him who Nikki was and how much she had loved her little boy. He sat up quickly and a small sob escaped his lips, then he realised it wasn't real and he had fallen asleep in Nikki's hospital bed.
"Dr Cunningham are you alright?"
Harry turned to see Dr Jones standing in the room with a concerned look on his face and nodded before standing up and walking over to the cot that held his son, sighing when he saw that he was still asleep, his tiny chest rising and falling.
"How is Nikki?" Harry asked as he reached into the cot and gently pulled on a mitten that had come off one of Arthur's hands.
"Your wife once again lost an awful lot of blood, but we have been able to stabilise her and give her a blood transfusion. However the chances of Nikki being able to conceive again are very very low, I'm sorry"
Harry just nodded when he heard this, it was a blow to him, and knew it would be an even bigger blow to Nikki. Both of them had wanted a large family, something they had never had. He ran a finger gently over Arthur's cheek, he never wanted to curse his little boy with the fate of any only child, one he himself and Nikki had had to endure.
"We will bring her in here but she is still heavily sedated and weak from the loss of blood" Dr Jones added "It is highly unlikely that she will wake in the next twenty four hours. Maybe you should go home and get some rest"
"Not until I've seen Nikki" Harry responded "and who's going to look after my son" he didn't like the thought of nurses looking after his little boy when he was perfectly capable of doing so. Dr Jones seemed to sense this and thought Harry had been through enough.
"I'll go and inform Dr Rose of what is happening and he can come and speak with you"
"Thank you" Harry nodded and smiled gratefully at the other doctor who smiled back and then walked out of the door again.
It just gets more angsty from now on :D
xxx
