The Squad finished their search of the area. They found no fires, smelled nothing resembling smoke. So they returned to the truck.
"Another false alarm." DK said
Jimmy looked around, aggravated. "It's illegal to pull alarm boxes when there's no fire!" He yelled
"This is what, the fifth one this week?" Walsh asked
"Something like that." Lombardo said
"It's getting old." Mac said
"Tell me about it." Logan responded
"Alright, let's go." Jimmy said
They climbed up into the cab as Jimmy's cell phone rang.
"Hello?" He asked not recognizing the number, "Hey Kim what's up?"
He listened to Kim on the phone, looking around at the guys. Then he got a concerned look on his face.
"Wonder what's up." DK said
"I don't know." Lombardo said
Jimmy turned to Walsh.
"Billy, we need to go to Mercy." Jimmy said
Walsh didn't put two and two together at first as everyone else looked at him.
"Jimmy, tell me it's not Alex." He said
Jimmy looked down
"Tell me that there's nothing wrong with my wife!" He said sternly
Logan guided the truck through the streets on the way to Mercy. Walsh put his head in his hands while Lombardo and DK tried to keep him calm. Walsh looked up.
"What is wrong with my wife?" Walsh asked almost yelling in anger
Jimmy turned to him, "Billy, I wish I knew but Kim just told me that they had to take her in because something happened. I know this is tough but you gotta stay calm."
It was hard for any of them to think that something could be terribly wrong with Taylor. She was so tough, almost losing her life on her wedding day- but she was a fighter. Now they were on their way to Mercy once again and they had no clue what was wrong.
Jimmy watched painfully out the front windshield of the cab as Mercy came into view. As soon as Logan pulled the rig to a halt Walsh jumped out and rushed inside. The rest of the Squad just watched in silence.
Walsh rushed in and saw Kim, who had tears in her eyes. "Where is she?" He demanded
Kim led him over to the trauma room.
"Oh God, Alex!" He exclaimed as he watched through the glass
Kim put her hand on his shoulder. The rest of the squad stood behind him. Carlos and Grace joined them.
"What the hell happened?" Walsh asked
"Dr. Fields thinks that she has an abruption to the placenta. It caused her to pass out." Kim explained
"Oh God!" Walsh's eyes filled with tears
Dr. Fields looked up and saw Walsh in the hall. He quickly exited the trauma room to talk to him.
"Mr. Walsh." Dr. Fields said, "You're wife's condition is critical. We need you to consent to surgery to save her life."
"Surgery?" Walsh asked
"We need to do an emergency C-section to deliver the baby. If we don't do it soon, we'll lose both of them." Dr. Fields said
"What about the baby?" Walsh was concerned knowing that it was still early to deliver the baby
"If we don't do this operation soon, we'll lose BOTH of them." Dr. Fields emphasized
Walsh nodded and quickly signed the forms. He watched as they wheeled Taylor towards the elevator. He put his hands over his face, this hurt him- a lot.
Jimmy quietly walked up to Walsh.
"Is there anything we can do for you?" He asked
"Pray." Walsh replied, "I need to go call her mother."
Walsh turned and walked away leaving a stunned Squad behind him.
"What happened?" Jimmy asked Kim as he brushed his hand through his hair
"I don't know, we were out checking the unit when we heard a noise in the bay. We saw her lying at the bottom of the stairs." Kim explained
"Did you put the units out of service?" Jimmy asked
"Not yet." Kim said
"Take as much time as you need, she's your best friend." Jimmy added
"Thanks. Billy can use all the support he can get right now." Kim replied
"I should have never agreed to let her work today." Jimmy said
"Don't blame yourself for this Jimmy, she'll be fine." Kim had a tear in her eye, "Alex is tough."
Walsh walked over to the phone in the lounge. He picked it up and slowly dialed the numbers. He heard the phone ring and then finally the answering machine picked up.
"Hey Beth, it's Billy." He paused, "When you get this, you need to come to Mercy. Something happened with Alex." He stopped again to avoid sobbing, "She might not make it."
He hung up the phone and sat down on the couch. He couldn't control himself and he let his tears flow.
"God, I can't lose her. Please don't take them both from me." He sobbed
Grace quietly opened the door to check on him. Her eyes filled with tears listening to Walsh ask God not to take Taylor from him. It was bad enough that he had lost his child, but to lose his wife too- that was devastating.
"Billy." She said softly
He wiped his face before turning around.
"They're looking for you upstairs." Grace said
"Okay, I'll be right there." He replied
Grace stood still for a moment. Walsh walked over to the door.
"She'll be okay." Grace insisted
Walsh looked at her, "Thank you." He said before he walked out of the room.
"You're welcome." Grace replied
The waiting room was filled with members of the Squad. Carlos was nervously pacing by the window; Kim and Jimmy were holding hands. DK was quietly praying while Lombardo was trying to read a magazine to take his mind off things. Mac and Logan returned to the room with a whole bunch of coffees. Word had reached Captain Johnson who was now sitting there as well.
Walsh walked in and everyone watched in silence as he talked to one of the doctors in another room.
"Mr. Walsh, I have some good news for you." He said
"Is my wife okay?" Walsh asked
"Your wife's condition is very serious." The doctor replied, "Your son's condition is serious as well, but he should be able to pull through."
"My son?" Walsh asked confused, "I thought that they said he died in the ER"
"We had feared that your son was, but once we got in we found that your son's heart was working fine. He's going to have to be in the Neo-natal ICU for some time in an incubator, but in a few weeks he may be healthy enough to go home." The doctor added
Walsh didn't know what to say. It was a relief to him that he had a son, but he was still very worried about Taylor. He turned and saw everyone in the waiting room watching him. He also saw Beth Taylor enter with Carly. He rushed out and quickly hugged them both.
"Billy what happened?" Beth asked as she wiped away tears
"Apparently, Alex's placenta ruptured. She fell down the stairs and Kim, Grace, and Carlos brought her here. They thought they were going to lose both of them. But apparently, I have a son." Walsh smiled briefly, "But I still don't know what's going on with Alex."
Beth fought back tears as she hugged Walsh tighter. Then he bent down to Carly who didn't totally understand the situation.
"You have a little brother now." He said as he hugged her
She was excited.
"Can I play with him?" She asked
"Not yet honey, he's very sick right now." Walsh said as they walked to some chairs in the waiting room.
"Brings back a lot of bad memories doesn't it?" Kim asked Carlos
"Yeah. But it also makes me realize how lucky I am to have a family like this." Carlos replied
"Let's just hope that the results are different this time." Kim sighed
"Yeah, Taylor's a pain in the ass but she's a good firefighter and a good medic. And from what I can tell she is one hell of a great mom." He said looking over to Carly
"She loves that little girl as if it were her own." Kim said
It hurt them to see the pain in Walsh's face as they awaited word on Taylor's condition. It had been 3 hours since they had gotten her to the ER. They were all waiting restlessly to find out Taylor's condition. And soon they got what they were waiting for.
A doctor in blue scrubs walked out to the waiting room.
"Mr. Walsh." He said gently
"Yes?" Walsh looked up
"Can I have a word with you privately?" The doctor asked
Walsh handed Carly to Mac, who was sitting beside him, as he stood up. He looked at Beth.
"You come too, she's your daughter." Walsh said
Together they walked back the hallway to meet with the surgeon. Walsh's heart was racing and he was nervous as to what the surgeon needed to tell him. They walked into a little room and the doctor closed the door.
"Mr. Walsh, I'm Dr. Garrett. I operated on your wife." The doctor said
"How is she?" Walsh asked
"The surgery didn't go exactly as planned. She lost a lot of blood. We managed to get the baby out safely and he is in the N-icu right now." The doctor paused. "Your wife is going to have a long road ahead of her, but I think she'll bounce back and make a full recovery." He smiled
It was like a huge weight had been lifted off of his chest.
"Can I see her?" Walsh asked
"Yes, but only for a few minutes." Dr. Garrett said
"What about my son?" Walsh asked
"The nurse will show you to the N-icu." Dr. Garrett smiled
"She's a lucky woman Mr. Walsh. Dr. Garrett said
"No, she's a strong woman." Walsh smiled
He looked over at Beth.
"Go on, tell her that I am here and that I love her." She said
Walsh nodded as a nurse led him back the hallway to a bed with a person attached to all kinds of monitors. It really didn't look like Taylor lying in the bed. She had a breathing tube and an IV. She was hooked up to a heart monitor and she even had some wires attached to her head. As the ventilator breathed for her it clicked, and there was a steady beep from the heart monitor. Walsh leaned down and gently took Taylor's hand. He ran his fingers over it.
"Hey honey, it's me. The doctor said that I can only be back here for a few moments. You had everyone scared. Your mom said to tell you that she loves you." He wiped a tear from his eye. "Carly's all excited to have a baby brother. We had a boy honey. He's in the ICU, but we have a little boy." He paused again. "I love you baby. And I need you to wake up. We have two wonderful children to raise." He smiled
The nurse came back in. "I'm sorry Mr. Walsh." She said
He nodded. "Okay honey. I'll be back. I love you baby. And I miss you." Walsh kissed his wife and then left her beside. The nurse led him down to the N-ICU.
In a little incubator was a tiny little child wrapped in blue garments. The tag on the incubator said "BABY BOY WALSH." He wasn't much bigger than a child's baby doll. His skin was slightly red, and he seemed like he was sound asleep. They gave Walsh a sterile gown to wear and then led him in to see his son.
"You may hold him for a minute." The nurse said
Walsh was tentative as he approached the plastic box that his son was in. The nurse carefully took the little boy out. She showed Walsh how to hold him and carefully handed him over to his father.
"Hi little guy. It's Daddy." Walsh smiled. "You're so tiny. But Daddy's here to help you get big and strong."
Walsh took his index finger and touched his son's hand. It was so little compared to his own. He kissed his son's forehead and handed him back to the nurse. Then he returned to the waiting room where everyone was still waiting. Beth hadn't told them the news yet. They watched him as he moved into the room.
"Thank you all." He said, "Alex is resting in the ICU. My son is resting in the N-ICU. But we're not out of the woods yet. They both have a long way to go. So if you have time, maybe you can say an extra prayer for them both." He looked up
Captain Johnson was holding his Rosary beads in his hand. "Consider it done." He said
"Thank you all so much for being here to support me through this. It means the world to me, you don't even understand." Walsh added
Jimmy got up and walked over to Walsh, hugging him. "Don't worry about a thing Billy, we'll help you through this." He said as he walked away
One by one each member of the Squad filed by Walsh, Carly, and Beth. They each gave a couple words of encouragement as they prepared to leave.
Kim approached and gave Walsh a hug.
"Thank you Kim." He said trying not to cry
"I wasn't giving up on her." She said
Walsh nodded as Carlos shook his hand.
"She'll pull through." Carlos said as he walked away
Grace hugged Walsh as well.
"Thank you too." He said
"We're all one big family Billy. And we fight to help each member of that family. In the back of that bus, Kim and I were not about to lose that fight. Taylor means a lot to all of us. She's like a sister to me. If you need anything please call me. If it means taking Carly for the day or the night, don't hesitate to ask. Brendan won't mind. We're going to help you through this. We will get you through this." She said
Walsh's eyes had filled with tears again. "Thank you Grace."
Captain Johnson was the last one to walk over to him.
"Taylor's a fighter. You know that Billy. And she's going to come through, and together you two will raise two beautiful children. But you gotta take care of yourself too Billy. Don't forget that. Being strong for them won't do a bit of good if you don't take care of yourself. I know that you'll want to be at this hospital every minute until they both get out of here, but you have to keep life as normal as possible for your daughter too. Get some rest son, you'll need it." Capt. Johnson said as he hugged Walsh
"Thanks." Walsh replied
"You can call me anytime." Capt. Johnson added
Walsh nodded and sat back down in the chair. Carly climbed into his lap. He hugged her and then took a moment to thank God.
"Thank you." He said as he looked up
"Billy, I'll keep Carly tonight so that you can get some rest." Beth said
"Thank you Beth." Walsh said
"Don't mention it. Please call me if anything changes." She said
Walsh nodded his head. He kissed Carly as Beth took her hand and then headed home. Walsh then leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes to get a little rest.