Sineater asks: For Whumptober, 31. Bedside Vigil - Virgil living up to his name.
Characters: Virgil, Kayo (romance)
Warnings: Pregnancy complications, Pre-eclampsia, Emergency caesarean, Coma, Hospital Treatments
He held the hand gently but as if it was an anchor to his soul. It was. She was.
Kayo was his world and at the moment his world was tipping off its axis.
Virgil was kicking himself. He knew the signs. Had watched his wife like a hawk, enough that Kayo had snapped at him several times and finally set his Grandma on him. Virgil held his hands up and backed off – and told EOS to back off too.
How had he missed it?
The doctors had said that pre-eclampsia can hit suddenly, but Kayo had only one risk factor – this was their first child – and none of the others. She was in excellent health and had all the regular checks that had never shown anything. Thank goodness they had already been on their way to New Zealand when it had happened.
Virgil had seen many people having seizures but witnessing his pregnant wife having one was not an image he'd ever get over. Landing at the hospital, having to stand back and watch as medics rushed Kayo off, having to wait for answers…he hated every single second.
Hours passed.
His family had arrived quickly, Scott flying them over in Tracy Two. John took over Kayo's role, making sure that security was tight and EOS had the media on lockdown. The rest of his family kept him company, and Virgil couldn't have needed them more.
Eventually, though, the doctor and their midwife appeared. They looked tired but not sad and Virgil grabbed that with both hands.
The sudden onset of pre-eclampsia had led the surgical team to deliver a healthy baby boy. Two months early but they were lucky they had been so close to the hospital. The child had been taken immediately to NICU and the midwife had said that he was doing well. He was a good weight for his age, and they hoped that he wouldn't need to stay very long hopefully if there were no complications.
Kayo, though, Kayo was another concern. She'd had a seizure shortly after arriving that had made the decision for them to deliver her baby. After the caesarean she'd had a bleed that had taken time to find and stop. Then her lungs had filled with fluid and her body began to shut down. The surgeon had said that if she hadn't already been sedated with the breathing tubes already in place they wouldn't have managed to get them in in time.
Medically induced coma.
All Virgil knew was he was lucky to have his family here around him because those three words made him go weak at the knees and he was caught by the collective hug of his brothers.
The doctor was apologetic and explained that tests were being run to determine the cause of her sudden health complications.
Now he sat at her bedside and held her hand.
Three days now and there had been no change. There were no more complications and the doctors had found a cause. The pregnancy hormones had caused a very rare reaction in the way her blood clotted. Now their son had been born and the hormones were beginning to settle there should be some improvement.
The plan was a week in the coma and then a gradual wakening. Grandma had set a schedule so that he wasn't left alone at any point, and currently Alan was curled up beside him, head on Virgil's thigh as he slept.
The one brother conspicuously absent was Scott, who had appointed himself to spend as much time as allowed in NICU with his nephew. No one had commented on it, knowing exactly how Scott was with babies.
One week.
One week in and still no change. Virgil felt like he was stuck while life carried on around him, like an island in a river. Today they were going to bring his son down and lay him on Kayo in the hope he would trigger some reaction. God knew Virgil wasn't able to elicit a reaction and that was just eating him up inside.
He'd been down to the NICU with Scott every day to see his son, but Virgil had refused to name him without Kayo present. It wasn't as if he was superstitious but it didn't feel right to say it out loud without his wife beside him.
Scott brought his nephew down, flanked by two nurses and two iR security. In the week he'd been in NICU he'd put on good weight and there had been no complications more serious than jaundice. His skin was beginning to look better, albeit still yellow, and the nurses were very happy with his progress.
Carefully the baby was passed to Virgil. He held his son gently but as tightly as he could before laying him over Kayo's heart, keeping a hand gently on his back so he wouldn't slip. They watched with bated breath but nothing happened.
Then the baby let out a wail.
The immediate uptick in Kayo's heart was clear to all. Blood pressure reduced and vital signs began to stabilise.
Virgil didn't realise he was crying until Sally reached across and wiped his face gently.
From that moment on Kayo improved in leaps and bounds. The doctors reduced her medication immediately, their baby now spent as much time as possible with her, and within a week she was awake.
There was some residual weakness that would require physio, but tests revealed that there were no lasting effects. They would need to be careful with any subsequent children, but for now they were happy to release her into the care of Dr Tracy as long as she took it very, very easy.
Fifteen days since they had left home to go shopping for baby essentials Virgil entered the lounge in the villa, Kayo's hand in one of his and their son in his carry chair in the other.
There were streamers and a welcome sign and food that had obviously not been cooked by their Grandma. The family crowded them, but they didn't mind. They were a close-knit family and Virgil smiled widely as he settled on the couch with his wife snuggled on one side and his eldest brother cradling his son on the other side.
'So, are you eventually going to tell us what you've decided to name our nephew?'
Trust Gordon, but Virgil couldn't blame him. He looked to Kayo and she nodded.
'We would like you to meet Ishraaq Scott Tracy.'
There were happy murmurs and Scott actually blushed. Virgil didn't need to say anything, but he knew how much this meant to his brother and he reached across and squeezed Scott's shoulder. His brother turned and smiled at them both, and Kayo reached across to give his arm a pat.
'Ishraaq means sunrise.'
There were lots of even happier murmurs. Gordon reached across and took his nephew from Scott and piped up.
'So…Izzy…'
'Definitely not!'
'But..Izzy…'
'At a push I would let you call him Isha.'
But Kayo was sure this was going to be a losing battle.
Especially when it was Alan's turn to hold his nephew and could be heard cooing over the baby.
'Izzy. Hey Izzy, nice to meet you. I'm your uncle Alan.'
Izzy blinked at him and smiled.
And Virgil's world was back on its' proper axis.