The relatives' room was a plainly decorated part of the Maternity department. Improvements didn't occur to Michael Beauchamp, who was impatiently pacing up and down the length of the room. He waited anxiously for news on any development on his long term partner's state, following the birth of their baby daughter. Nothing crossed his mind except pure utter worry. Fear even. Fear that she wouldn't pull through any of this. He wanted to stroll back into the theatre where she lay, where people were doing their utmost best to help her pull through the enormous internal bleed she had after the delivery. But he couldn't. He had already been told to leave as her heart monitor began to sound rapidly. Sheer panic struck him. The obstetric consultant had ordered him to leave and he respected his decision. He sat himself down on one of the seats in the room, his mind in deep thought. Flashbacks of the time he had spent with her, ever since they met. The flirting. The obsession. The infatuation. The sex, but most of all, the love.

He remembered her first day, when she was first transferred to cardiothoracics on her rotation, training as a SHO. She was a nervous young woman, who kept matters to herself, unwilling to tell anyone her problems, whether it was personal, or work related. He reminisced their first meeting, the first ever time he set eyes on her. They were both unaware of each other's lust for one another at first, but it was soon clear to the pair of them. Imagining her making her way down to his office in her sophisticated way, he smiled to himself. Every time he thought about her, he couldn't stop himself feeling the same way towards her. Almost besotted with her, but not completely obsessed. By now he knew that if he lost her, he'd be heartbroken. She grew to be a big part of her life over the past year. Nothing would cease him to love her as much as he did. They now were mother and father to a beautiful baby girl, she had to pull through.

He continued to sit there, his mind completely flooded with thoughts about what were to happen if the mother of his daughter wasn't going to be part of her life. The tears returned to his eyes, desperate to burst out, his determination halting them temporarily, before he heard the door behind him click open. It was the midwife, who had come to break the latest news to him. His head swung around to see who it was. He sprung up from where he was sitting quite urgently. "How…is…she?" he stuttered, finding it extremely difficult to find the right words to say.

"She's in a stable condition. Mr Tyler managed to stop the bleed." She announced, slightly afraid of how he was going to react. He breathed a sigh of relief, for he knew she was on the road to recovery. She smiled reassuringly, "Dave'll explain what he's done once he's finished with his next patient." He nodded with the intention of saying thank you, but failing to do so, as his entire mind could only concentrate on the fact that she had survived the risky operation. The midwife swiftly left, attending to the pregnant woman who had just arrived for a regular scan. As the door closed, he closed his eyes in sheer relief, before realising he had forgotten to ask her where Connie had been taken to recover. Deciding to embark on a search to see her, he opened the door, heading down the corridor, where he could spot the main ward. He paused by the first window, his eyes scanning the ward for her petite body. No luck. He continued to the next ward down the corridor, still no luck. His heart began to skip beats in slight panic, worried something else had happened. It seemed that all he could do lately was jump to conclusions, but he couldn't help it. He hadn't experienced anything as much as this before.

"Mr Beauchamp…" called a voice behind him. He turned around, to be faced by Dave Tyler, the obstetric consultant. Outside of hospital shifts, he knew Dave as a friendly person. He was one who was always up for a drink at the bar, and he knew Michael pretty well. The anticipation across his face was formidable. All Dave did was smile reassuringly, just like the rest of the staff. "Shall we talk about this somewhere a little more quiet?" he began, gesturing in the direction of the relatives' room, where he had been waiting for the past couple of hours. He followed Michael as he returned into the room, before closing the door behind him. Michael sat down before him, as Dave sat opposite him. He was sat on the edge of the chair, unable to stand the suspense any longer. Dave cleared his throat slowly, before he began to explain what had happened. Michael listened attentively, taking in every word he spoke. "Connie had a placental abruption following the caesarean; she lost a substantial amount of blood whilst we were trying to find the bleed. I'm sorry to break this to you Michael, but if we didn't she would've bled to death…" He paused, waiting for him to soak in all the information he had told him. Michael was in a kind of trance, which he suddenly broke out of as Dave stopped. Looking up at him, he shook his head, "No…you didn't…"

Dave nodded reluctantly, looking a little apologetic towards him, "We had no choice but to perform a hysterectomy, you know what this means…" He watched on as the cardiothoracic consultant was mentally breaking down right before his eyes. He nodded, signifying he understood what he had just been told. "Do you want some time to yourself?" Dave suggested, clearly knowing that he needed the time to gather his feelings which had been scattered everywhere. He nodded yet again, before Dave got up from his seat opposite him, heading towards the door.

"Our baby girl, how is she doing?" Michael asked as he opened the door. He turned back, smiling a little, but feeling of regret mainly covered his face. He watched on as Dave closed the door again, "We don't know how much damage has been done, but we were having trouble getting her breathing started. Her brain may have been starved of oxygen for too long, causing permanent brain damage. Tests are being done as we speak. I'm sorry Michael." His hand reached for his arm, patting it apologetically, before making his way out of the room, leaving him on his own once more. Slumping down onto the chair once again, the tears finally fell down his cheeks, the recent events now sinking into his mind.