A/N: Heyy, this chapter I really couldn't write from Dana's POV, 'cause it would really give it away, and you'd cry a lot less. This chapter is muy sad, I apologize, but I got a great idea for it while trying to fall asleep last night! And you might cry reading it, a forewarning, so get tissues, lol. Okee-dookey, here goes nothing, sad chapter, not from Dana's POV. & This chapter talks a lot about praying and God, but if you don't believe, just please go with it, I was trying to be impartial, but since I believe, and it kind of requires it, I in no way mean to make anyone feel bad, lol.
And I don't own Gary Thorpe from What I Like About You, lol Nor do I own Wesley Jonathan, who plays him, but it'd be cool if I did though…but I wish I owned Vince, lol. And I don't own Bridget Flanery (Lila Fowler number one from the series Sweet Valley High) who Margaret is supposed to look like, lol. And I don't own Jersey Girl, lol.
-Love,
Lizzie
Despite the fact he desperately did not want to, Brad had to attend his college classes the day before he shipped out, assuming he wouldn't be able to return there after he came back from overseas, because most likely by that time, Dana would have had the baby, and he'd need to devote all of his time to them.
He had managed to make it through his first three classes when he got to his least favorite: World Philosophy. Not only did he hate World Philosophy, but he really didn't care for the professor, either. Professor James Alistar Rivers is the meanest, toughest, most frightening human on the planet, let alone at Boston State. Dana takes his class also, but she doesn't hate him, she finds him brilliant.
Professor Rivers is old, and British, and reminds everyone of George Feeny from Boy Meets World. Mostly because they look and sound alike, but he also calls everyone Miss, and Mr. instead of by their first names. Sitting through his class is always a bore because (a) Philosophy isn't the most fascinating subject, and (b) He paces when he talks, especially when he lectures, which if you stare at him constantly starts to make you dizzy.
But certainly trying to stay awake during his class when you've got, leaving your pregnant girlfriend to go out to sea, and worrying she'll have the baby while you're gone on your mind made staying awake easy, but paying attention impossible.
"…With philosophy, things come together, the world begins to make sense without it, nothing would make sense or connect in any way." Professor Rivers droned on monotonously.
Brad had etched a few notes on what he was saying down, but most were opinions, so taking notes on Professor Rivers' opinions were almost pointless, unless, of course that's what the test was on…
"…When you go through life day to day, philosophy surrounds you, regardless if you know it or not. I could go on and on, but I know you all like when I lecture, so I'll cut it short…"
"Braaaad!" came a hissing whisper from the back of the lecture classroom.
Brad didn't hear it though, he continued to half listen to Professor Rivers.
"Braaad!" it came again.
"Brad Windsor!" this time louder.
Still, Brad didn't hear it.
"Ay yo BRAD!" the person this time shouted.
Brad turned around and was almost shocked at who he saw. His best friend, Gary Thorpe.
Gary is the type of person that barges into your Philosophy class, stands at the back of the room at the door, and calls your name. He's also the type of person that doesn't care. Professor Rivers is the least of his worries and fears. He's actually the only one who's ever stood up to him, and lived. Gary is also never seen without cornrows, or his copy of Roots. He and Brad have known each other since they were at least seven, and have never really fought about anything.
Brad immediately turned forward and tried to think of what to say to Professor Rivers.
"Mr. Windsor," Professor Rivers said, immediately stopping what he was saying, then glanced at Gary in the doorway.
"Mr. Thorpe! Why on Earth are you here?"
"Professor, sir, can I please just have a word with him…?" Brad asked
"If you must, by all means. This class couldn't get anymore disrupted!" Professor Rivers said
"I can dance to Thriller if you'd like." Gary offered sarcastically.
"No, that won't be necessary, Mr. Thorpe. Whatever you must discuss, please make it quick."
"Of course, sir." Brad said, dashing up the steps to the classroom door, "What are you doing here!" He whispered loudly.
"Look, man, I don't know how t'tell you this…" Gary started
"Tell me what?"
"Dana's in labor,"
"WHAT! Labor! But she's only six months pregnant, how can she be in labor?"
"The baby's gonna be born premature, and she's doing really bad, they don't know if she'll make it."
"Dana or the baby?"
"Dana."
"Oh my God. Where is she?"
"At the hospital, Phil, Keely, and Margaret took her."
"I don't believe this, when did this happen?"
"An hour ago, they just called me and told me about it, I got here as soon as I could. My abrupt exit from American History was sure a sight. I got a text message from Margaret, and I jumped up and yelled, 'SHIT!' then I ran all the way here."
"But American History is on the other side of the campus…"
"I know, now come on, you gotta get out of here, we have to see her,"
"Okay." Brad said as he ran down the steps and grabbed his things as he said, "I am so sorry, Professor Rivers, but my girlfriend is in labor-"
"Labor? Your girlfriend? My God, Man, what are still doing here? Go!" Professor Rivers said
"Thank-you," Brad said as he turned and dashed out of the class, while everyone, even Professor Rivers, told him 'Good Luck.'
He and Gary weren't in the hallway five seconds before they started talking again.
"I still can't believe this, what's going to happen if she doesn't make it? It'll be like 'Jersey Girl,' I'll have to raise this kid all alone,"
"Hey, that's how she felt when she first found out, she thought you'd leave her,"
"Well, yeah, but I wouldn't. And a totally different sense, here. It's not like if I did leave her she'd never see me again, in this case, I certainly won't see her again,"
"Look, my mom is going with us, and that woman is the most God-fearing woman on the entire East Coast, she'll pray so much God'll have no choice but to listen, and he knows we need her here with us."
They didn't talk much after that, mostly just digesting what was going on trying to not freak out at the situation, though, it would have been very easy to do.
They sat alone in silence in the waiting room of the hospital, they weren't allowed to see Dana without Mrs. Thorpe there.
Mrs. Thorpe finally arrived, she came charging into the hospital and stopped at the front desk.
"Ex-scuse me, I am Mrs. Coretta Thorpe, and my good friend Miss Dana Diffy is a patient because she went into labor three months early. And my son, and his friend, or Miss Dana's uh…well, the father of the baby should be here, and it is to my understandin' that they can not see her unless I am present, so here I am."
"Yes, Mrs. Thorpe, they're right over there," the nurse at the front desk said, pointing to Brad and Gary sitting in chairs with their backs to her, they hadn't noticed she'd come in, they were too worried about what was going on.
"A-hem," Mrs. Thorpe said
They both turned around, "Oh, hey, Mom." Gary said
"Son, this is a mess. A big, gigantic mess."
"Believe me, we know." Brad said
"Bradley, I am so sorry about all this, but we need to see her, now."
They all stood up, and Mrs. Thorpe, who was dressed for a special occasion, in a lavender dress with burgundy roses on it, a lavender pill box hat, embellished with a burgundy rose and a square of lace, lavender pumps, and short white gloves that stopped at her wrist, glanced at the nurse at the front desk.
"She's in room 124, right down the hall," she said pointing.
"Thank-you very much," Mrs. Thorpe said as she lead them down the hall.
They were both more nervous than they had ever been walking in that room. But what they expected to see, and what they saw, were very different. Dana didn't look good but she looked better than they had imagined, she was breathing very heavily, and looked like she was in a great amount of pain. She didn't look like herself at all, she was sweating and slightly pale, her cheeks were flushed from the pain and she looked nothing like people usually do when they're in labor, she looked like she was nauseous, and didn't look well at all, not a good sign. And her usually always perfect espresso brown hair was pulled back off her face in a very un-neat fashion, nothing about Dana Amanda Christine Liliana Diffy (sorry Brit, the middle name Mandy wasn't workin for me!) was un-neat. Ever. Another bad sign.
"You're…here," She managed to say through breathing heavily.
"Of course," Brad said, he stood next to the bed and bent down to hug her. He almost started crying, but he didn't. He couldn't, nothing had happened yet. He leaned his head against hers and whispered 'I love you,' in her ear.
As he leaned back, she stared at him perplexed and said, "I…love you, too."
Mrs. Thorpe and Gary were off to the side, next to Margaret, Phil, and Keely.
"You know, I need to take Bradley and my son to see something, and we'll be right back," Mrs. Thorpe said
"Where are you going?" Margaret, the nosy, but loveable, rich, and sometimes air-headed red head, and Dana's best friend asked.
"Oh, it's not important," Mrs. Thorpe replied as nicely as possible.
Margaret smiled a sarcastic smile and made a 'Hmph' sound. Margaret was usually like this, she never liked it when people didn't tell her what she wanted to hear, she had dark red hair, almost brown. She always wore it shoulder length and the ends curled up. She was never seen without large sunglasses, and her designer handbags. She and Dana had been best friends for a very long time.
"Well, we'll be off then," Mrs. Thorpe said, taking both Brad and Gary by the arms and escorting them out of the room and down the hall.
"Where are we going?" Gary asked his mother.
"Boy!" She started, she was obviously upset, "You'll see." she finished.
They walked down endless corridors and through many doors until they finally reached one that had a plaque next to it that read, 'Chapel.'
"Chapel? They have these in hospitals?" Gary asked
"Yes, son." she said, almost through her teeth, "For occasions such as these," she pushed the doors open, crossed herself, then stepped in.
When she turned around to find that Brad and Gary hadn't followed, she tilted her head to the side and sighed, "What? You never seen a place like this before?"
They didn't respond.
"Y'all cross yourselves and get in here," she said
They did as she said and stepped in. The chapel was a little strange, they had never been inside one at a hospital before, it was like a mini church. It had about three pews on each side, a podium with a large cross on it, a stained glass window, and a cross hanging in front of that. Mrs. Thorpe was no stranger to hospital chapels, obviously, she assertively sat down in one of the pews and patted the seat next to her, where Brad sat, and Gary sat to his other side.
"Now, I trust you believe, Bradley." Mrs. Thorpe asked him
"Oh, yes, of course, Mrs. Thorpe." he replied
"Good. Now, we're each gonna say a prayer aloud, then each a silent one, then a prayer all together, then we're gonna sing." she looked to them like, 'Got it?' and they nodded in reply. (This is the part that'll get you:'(.)
"If no one minds, I'd like to go first," Mrs. Thorpe said, as Brad and Gary nodded in agreement, "Lord," she started, her voice loud, like she was trying to get His attention, "Now, you must understand, we all need Dana here with us, we realize you'll need to take her one day, but do not let that day be today, she's going to have a baby, and that baby can not survive if she doesn't have a mother at this stage, and she's a preemie. Lord, please listen, you can't take her from us, not yet, we all love her, and most of all, this baby loves her. So in the name of the Father, Son, and The Holy Spirit, Amen." She glanced at Brad, "Alright, son, you next."
"Um, I would really prefer to go last," Brad said
"Alright. Gary," Mrs. Thorpe said
Gary nodded, "Lord, Dana's been through a lot these past six months, and so have Phil and Keely, taking her away from them would be…horrible. I know that she'll have to go with you one day, but not today, she's too young, and Phil and Keely don't need that right now, please Lord, we need her here, don't take her away yet. In the name of the Father, Son, and The Holy Spirit, Amen."
Gary and Mrs. Thorpe looked at Brad, who cleared his throat and tried to collect himself as he said, "Lord. Please do not take Dana away from me. She's the only thing that makes sense in my life, and without her, the world doesn't make sense, I need her. But more importantly, our daughter needs her. Without her, I don't know what I'd do, I need her more than anything else in the world, please, please don't take her away yet, the world needs her, God." He stopped to collect himself again, and finished, "In the name of the Father, Son, and The Holy Spirit, Amen."
Mrs. Thorpe patted Brad's hand, then she took it, and told him to take Gary's as they all said silent prayers, very similar to the aloud ones. When she was sure they were all finished, they continued to joining hands as Mrs. Thorpe said, "Alright, now we're going to say the Lord's Prayer. You know it?" she directed the question to Brad.
He nodded in reply.
"Alright," she said, and said in the same loud voice she'd used before, very loud and powerful, and they all could tell, God was listening. She began, and shortly Gary and Brad joined, "Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thyne is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen."
The three of them stayed silent for a few seconds before Mrs. Thorpe began again, "Alright, now we need to sing,"
"Mama…" Gary sighed.
"Son." she started, "Trust me,"
He just nodded, but truthfully, he didn't. He was sure Dana's fate was sealed.
"We are going to sing, 'Lord I Lift Your Name On High,' okay?"
After singing, they all felt, somewhat better. They didn't know what it was, but they did feel a little better.
Back by Dana's hospital room, everyone was asked to leave the room, apparently her condition was too critical for anyone but doctors to be in there.
Gary and Brad returned to the rest of the group without Mrs. Thorpe, she felt she should stay in the Chapel.
Phil and Keely were sitting together on a bench outside Dana's hospital room door. Keely's head was on Phil's shoulder as she cried hysterically, but Phil was too furious to cry. He kept thinking how this situation wouldn't be happening if it weren't for Brad. It was his fault, if Dana hadn't met him, none of this would've happened.
"It's because of him." he said quietly.
"What?" Keely asked
"If Dana hadn't met him, she wouldn't be here, and this wouldn't be happening,"
"Phil, you can't think like that. Sooner or later, she would've met someone, be happy it's someone who cares about her so much, and not someone who didn't."
"Didn't?"
"Doesn't. Phil, you need to stop this, she isn't going to die-"
"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT!" Phil roared, "You don't!"
"Phil! Falling apart like this is not going to get us anywhere, everyone is upset and a wreck right now, but turning on each other isn't going to help any of us, especially Dana."
Phil completely ignored her, and went into an even more savage rage when Brad and Gary came around the corner.
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" He roared again.
"Wh-" Brad started
"Phil, stop it." Keely said
"If she hadn't met you, if you hadn't been all over her when she wasn't even legally an adult, if you two hadn't fallen in love, if you'll even call it that, and if you hadn't been banging her this whole time, she wouldn't be in there fighting for her life!"
"PHIL, stop!" Keely yelled this time.
"I've never really cared for you, Bradley, but I must say, at least I respected you, but now that you've put our daughter in this condition, I don't know what I feel other than hatred."
"Phil, God Damn you, STOP IT." She said, stepping in front of him.
Phil glared at Brad, then sat down on the bench and burst into tears. Phil hadn't even shown an inkling of acting sad that entire day, what he was, was mad. Mad and solemn. And now, all of sudden, he was crying. Keely turned from Phil, to Brad, "I am so sorry, he's really upset right now, and he's also mad, and taking it out on you."
"It's okay, I know," he answered
Keely smiled, then turned back to Phil. She sat down and leaned her head on his shoulder, "Honey, I think we should find Coretta,"
Phil didn't answer he just stood up and he and Keely went down the hall and around the corner.
That left Brad, Gary, and Margaret alone in the hallway. No one spoke for a while, before Margaret said, "You know, he didn't mean any of that, he's just really-"
"I know,"
Margaret nodded, and again there was a long silence.
Phil and Keely didn't talk until they reached the door to the chapel, only to find Coretta inside, praying aloud.
"…Y'know, Lord, I feel so bad for Phil and Keely right now, Phil knows Bradley is an honorable man, and he loves Dana with all his heart, but he can't act like it. He goes around actin' like he stand to be around him. And what is the most horrible about this, Dana's never gonna know he feels that way."
Phil suddenly turned to Keely and said, "She's right,"
"What?" Keely asked
"She's never gonna know, she's going to die thinking I hate Brad,"
"Phil, don't talk like that."
"Keely, seriously, I mean even if she doesn't die today, I'll never be able to tell her, but I would like to have the chance,"
"She knows."
"What?"
"She knows you don't hate him, she knows you just are having a hard time adjusting to them, still. But she's not stupid, she knows. Trust me."
She smiled at him, and they proceeded in after Coretta finished her prayer.
"Hey, Coretta." Keely said
"Hey Keely," she answered, "Phil,"
"Coretta, what are we going to do?" Keely asked
"Keely, you can't think the worst, if you do that, no good will come from it, you have to be positive."
They talked a little while longer and they headed back to the uncomfortable hallway. Margaret, Brad, and Gary were all sitting on the bench in silence. Coretta looked from one to the other and said, "Alright, my goodness don't y'all look miserable, look, you may all think this is crazy, but I think we should pray, all of us." Everyone seemed to agree. "You believe Margaret?"
"Yes, ma'am." she answered.
"Alright then, let's all join hands."
They did as she said and said the Lord's Prayer again, but as a group of seven, it seemed louder, stronger.
From inside Dana's hospital room, her heart rate was dropping, she was losing more color in her skin, and it didn't at all look like she would make it.
But just as the seven finished their prayer, more sunlight shone in the window of her hospital room, and all of sudden, she felt like she had the strength to have this baby, and to go on longer, she had the strength to live.
Quickly, her baby was born and the doctors could not believe what had just happened. Dr. Evans held the baby girl, one and a half pounds, seven inches long. The doctor who looked to Dana, who already looked so much better, and asked, "Do we have a name for her yet?"
"No, not yet."
"Alright, we'll just call her Baby Girl Diffy,"
"Oh no, Baby Girl Windsor-Diffy."
"Alright," Dr. Evans said with a smile, then she looked back at Dana and asked optimistically, "Are you feeling better?"
"Yes! And I want to see my family!" she answered smiling.
"Well, let's make sure you're stable-" Dr. Evans said as she glanced at Dana's readings, "My God…this is amazing…" she motioned for one of the seven other doctors in the room to look with her. "I've never seen this happen before, her heart rate's skyrocketed to normal…she's gonna be fine,"
"But that's impossible…" argued the other doctor, taking the papers from Dr. Evans and examining them more closely, "We were sure she wasn't going to make it,"
"Yeah, but aren't you happy she is?" Dr. Evans asked
"Well, of course, I'm just doubting Harvard, and why they gave me a degree…"
"Oh, stop it." she joked. Then turned to Dana, "I'll tell them they can come in,"
"No, wait, let me." the other doctor said
"Why…?"
"Because. Look, just let me."
"Alright." she turned to Dana, "They can see you once we get you to the Recovery Room, alright?"
Dana nodded as the other doctor headed out to break the lovely news to everyone.
The hallway was silent, with the exception of people still sniffing from crying so much, no one talked, no one wanted to talk. The other doctor, who's name was Dr. Phillipstien (steen, not Styn, haha), entered the hallway of silence, or the sea of tear-stained faces. Everyone was instantly afraid when he came to talk to them, because he didn't look happy. He was doing that on purpose, evil human.
He sighed heavily then looked at Phil and Keely who were staring at him, "She's gonna be fine." he said with a smile. The entire room sighed with relief, as he continued, "I don't know how it happened, but she's fine, her heart rate's normal, she's breathing normal, it's like…a miracle."
"When can we see her?" Keely asked
"Umm…very soon, Annie want her in the Recovery Room before you can see her,"
"Okay, where's that? So we can like wait there,"
"Down the hall and to your right, she'll be in…seven-oh-four."
"Alright, thank-you."
Everyone kind of all hugged one another, and all ran to the Recovery Room.
A/N: Okay, this chapter was getting a little too long, but I didn't want to butcher it up, but it looks like I'm gonna have to, the next part of this verrry soon!
Love,
Lizzie