They continued to lie in each other's arms, drinking in the moment and finding the comfort the both of them needed to get through the hurt of their daughter being away from them. They knew this was meant to be special and that Peter was meant to be doing things such as learning how to look after his daughter as well as protecting her at all costs and it hurt to realise that it was out of his hands now and that would become difficult over time. They were still fully dressed having fallen asleep in their clothes even though there was still lingering tiredness when they woke. Carla woke first she looked at Peter who was holding her close which made the tears spring to her eyes which she immediately wiped away, she gently nuzzled into his neck and kissed it gently which roused him from his sleep allowing him to take in her presence.

"Hey" he whispers she just lets the tears fall "It's ok, I'm here, I'm going nowhere"

"We should get ready" she sniffles, Peter nods walking over to his bag and pulling out some clothes, Carla's phone goes off causing her to answer "Hello?...Yes, we were just about to leave…we can see her, is she stable? What's happening?...ok that's good, yeah…we'll be there soon, bye"

"Was that the hospital?" Peter asks, Carla nods "Has she had anymore…"

"No" Carla shakes her head, Peter breathes a sigh of relief "We should get going though"

"First we both need to eat," he says as Carla groans in annoyance "And you need to pump"

"Ok! Fine, whatever!" she was clearly annoyed as she makes her way out of the bedroom, she walks into the kitchen and slides two slices of toast into the toaster

"Are you ok?" Maria calls from the sofa as Peter appears from the bedroom sharing a look with Maria

"My daughter is lying in a hospital bed I wouldn't exactly call that feeling great Maria" she snaps before the tears fill her eyes and she wipes them causing Peter to go over to her and place a hand in her back and bring her in for a hug "This is too much"

"I know" he whispers kissing her on the forehead causing her to sigh in response, he pulls away placing her two slices of toast on a plate as then grabbing the butter to butter them before passing her the plate "I want that all gone before I am back"

"Fine" she drones eating her toast and going to sit on the armchair, her phone goes off again "It's Michelle"

"Do you want me to answer it?" Maria offers Carla just shakes her head answering the call

"Hey 'Chelle…you don't need to apologise but yeah it's not looking good…no, no don't come over there's nothing you can do…ok fine yeah I have Peter with me and Maria, Johnny and Jenny it's ok…alright fine come if you want…we need to go anyway because we're allowed to see her…alright bye!"

"I was going to tell you what she said but it didn't feel right so…" Maria trails off Carla just nods reaching over to grab the breast pump so she could express her milk for Ivy, Peter reappears causing him to walk over and kiss her on the head as she smiles

"It won't take long" hse smiles as Peter nods sitting on the arm of the armchair, she grabs his hand and gives it a squeeze "I just hope she's ok"

Ivy was getting better slowly but she was getting there. When Carla and Peter entered her room they immediately went over to Ivy and Carla placed her finger in her hand which made Ivy's little fingers grasp around hers which then brought more tears to Carla's eyes even though she was sure she couldnt cry anymore. Cara protectively watched over her daughter massaging her head gently whilst they watched her sleep until she woke which left the nurse to come in and observe her. The nurse suggested that with the doctor's agreement that Carla could maybe try feeding her daughter this led Carla to push for this even more as she missed that connection with her.

"Ok I've had confirmation that we can give it a try" the nurse smiles entering the room again as Carla nods slowly "She'll still have to be attached to the monitors though"

"Thats fine" Carla whispers glancing to Peter who smiles slightly "Can I pick her up then?"

"Go ahead"

"Come here sweetheart" she murmurs lifting Ivy into her arms and cradling her, she sits back down in her seat allowing the nurse to sort out the wires for her, Carla gingerly lifts her top up allowing Ivy to latch on "There we go, that's better isn't it?"

"She seems happy" Peter whisper watching as Ivy places her tiny hand on Carla's breast, Carla gasps slightly pulling Ivy away "What?"

"She's not swallowing," Carla says as the nurse frowns adjusting Ivy in Carla's arms in case it was her position "Pass us a cloth from her bag"

"Alright" Peter sighs grabbing her a cloth as Carla cleans herself up

"I thought you were hungry sweetheart?"

"Let's try again," the nurse says as Carla guides Ivy's mouth towards her breast again, she immediately latches on "This might be a better position for her"

"Maybe" Carla glances down to Ivy who was trying her best to feed but the same thing happened again she didnt swallow "She's still not swallowing"

"Alright" the nurse sighs taking Ivy into her arms and then placing her back in the bassinet allowing Carla to clean her up "I'm going to call the doctor to take a look at her"

"Ok" Carla whispers glancing to Peter who kisses her on the head "Maybe it's me, maybe...I'm just not good enough"

"No sweetheart I'm sure it's not" he reassures her causing her to sigh and bite her lip "It's probably just her muscles or something"

"How would you know?" she scoffs as Peter looks sheepish all of a sudden "You looked it up didnt you when we were specifically told not to"

"Ok, yes...I was worried" he defends himself as Carla sighs rubbing her forehead as the doctor comes into the room smiling sympathetically at them both

"Sorry to interrupt" the doctor starts as Carla gulps and bites her lip, Peter takes her hand into his "I just wanted to speak a bit about Ivy and why she most likely cant swallow"

"Go on..." Carla sighs exasperated just wanting this living nightmare to be over with

"Ivy's stroke has seemed to have caused a condition called Dysphagia, it's when a person has the inability to swallow and after a stroke, it's quite common to experience struggles I swallowing, drinking, taking medicine

"How is she supposed to eat then?"

"We're thinking about giving her a feeding tube-"

"Can I give her my milk through that?"

"Of course" the doctor flashes her a smile "We'll continue to monitor her for a while after she's discharged to monitor her development but for now she will have to have a feeding tube"

"Right" Carla leans forward letting out a sigh of annoyance "Thank you..."

"No problem, we're going to send her down for the procedure now so I recommend going home and getting some more rest"

"Whatever" Carla mutters standing up and standing beside Ivy's bassinet and kissing her gently on the forehead "I love you so much sweetheart, so much"

"Come on" Peter whispers bringing her in for a hug and holding her close "She'll get better, everything will be ok I know it..."

They went home, Peter decided to get some fish and chips for them both as neither of them could be bothered to cook anything or even make anything with Ivy's news. Carla and Peter decided to go to Ken's knowing no one would be in so that they could have come privacy so they ended up curling up beside each other on the sofa with Peter's hand securely clasped around her holding her close as they tried their best to stomach their food. Carla was distant and Peter knew that it was understandable considering everything that had happened the last few days but he wanted to be there for her but it was weird she just seemed to numb herself over the whole thing and that left him feeling immensely concerned about her and he knew he needed to get her to open up.

"I'll stick the kettle on" she mumbles getting up and flicking the kettle into action, she just stares at the steam coming out of the spout before reaching to pick up the kettle, she pours the water into a mug before gasping "For god's sakes!"

"Alright" he whispers taking her hand and putting it under cool water "You're exhausted Carla you need to rest"

"I know that!" she cries causing him to sigh and grab the first aid box from the cabinet in the kitchen, he wraps a dressing around her burn "I just feel so useless"

"I know you do," he says kissing the back of her head as she turns to face him which makes her cry "Why dont I just hold you whilst you try to go to sleep?"

"I dont know" she responds shiftily as Peter sighs running his fingers through her hair "What if something happens?"

"I'll be here," he says gently bending down to kiss her on the lips, she sighs in response and nods "Come on" he offers her his hand which she takes and he leads her upstairs into the bedroom, he shuts the door and curtains and gestures for her to lie down which she does, he lies down next to her as she takes the opportunity to rest her head on his chest

"Here," he says passing her a blanket which she drapes over them both, his fingers in her hair as she looks up at him, she moves her head forward as their lips touch, they move in sync as she cups his cheek in the palm of her hand, he slides his hand up the back of her top feeling the soft skin under his fingertips

They continue to kiss, she shifts herself on top of his body allowing him to undress her and remove all of her clothes, she works on removing his clothes so their skin was touching. Gently he hooks his finger through the band of her thong and she rolls over onto her back allowing him to remove it before arching her back off the bed allowing him to remove her bra as well, she moans slightly at the sensation of his fingers on her skin and throws her legs loosely around his body. Taking her hand they link their fingers together as he pushes inside of her causing her to whimper. Peter builds up a steady pace of thrusts into her body which makes her moan loudly, he sighs in response kissing her on the lips, they tongues massaging one another's. She moans loudly into his mouth her back arching off the bed as her toes curl and her body writhes causing him to feel a warmth encasing his penis which was buried deep inside of her. Shuddering against her he finally releases which made her moan one last time before he fell on top of her. Rolling off her he held her close as she rested her head again on his chest allowing herself to finally give into relaxation...