Intervention

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from the show.

Summary: Something goes wrong with Abby and Luka's baby.

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"Abby, I think it's time we went to the hospital. Your contractions are five minutes apart."

Abby, who was sitting on the couch, shook her head and returned her focus to breathing through the contraction. She panted as it ended and looked up at her husband. "I'm not going in until they're three minutes apart or my water breaks. I'm not going to spend hours sitting around in a hospital waiting to push."

Luka sighed at his wife's stubborn nature. "It would make-"

"Oh!" Abby cut him off.

He was at her side instantly. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Contraction," she grunted through her teeth.

Luka glanced at his watch. "They're four minutes apart now," he told her.

She cast him an angry glare, but her face quickly changed, her eyes widening in surprise. "My water just broke."

"Are you sure?"

She gave him an incredulous look. "Am I sure! … Just check and make sure it's clear."

She unceremoniously hiked her skirt up to her hips and he knelt in front of her to help her remove her underwear.

"Abby, I'm going to call for an ambulance," he said, standing up and reaching for the phone.

"What's wrong? Did the cord prolapse?" Abby had already been through fifteen hours of labor, plenty of time to run through all the worst case scenarios in her head.

"It's nothing serious," Luka tried to reassure her, "there's just a little meconium in the fluid."

"A little?"

"Not much at all, not thick. I'm just going to call for an ambulance and then call Dr. Coburn." Luka tried to keep his voice calm and even, but he was worried. Meconium was a bad sign.

"I don't want to have my baby in an ambulance," she told him as he started dialing.

"You won't, honey. You've still got a few centimeters left to dilate."

While he talked to the 911 operator another contraction hit Abby. She held her belly, leaning forward slightly and silently willing her baby to be okay.

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The paramedics arrived at their house in six minutes. They checked Abby and found that she was eight centimeters dilated and that her contractions were still about four minutes apart.

"Take me to County General," she told them as they helped her onto the stretcher, "my doctor's waiting for me there."

"Okay, ma'm," the first paramedic replied. Abby didn't recognize him, and he looked to be about 22.

"I am not having my baby in an ambulance," she told Luka again.

"I sure hope not," the young paramedic said softly.

The second paramedic checked the baby's heart rate. She pronounced it to be 135 and radioed all the pertinent information back to dispatch.

"Do you know what you're having?" she asked them as they took Abby out to the ambulance.

"We're not sure," Luka told her, "but we think it is a boy."

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"Come on, Abby, push! Just one more push and the head will be out."

Abby put her chin to her chest and pushed as hard as she could while Dr. Coburn counted. She was desperate to get the baby out, to make the pain stop. She screamed as she delivered the baby's head into the doctor's waiting hands.

"Okay, Abby, the hard part is over," Dr. Coburn said, "now just pant, don't push for a minute while I unwrap the cord and suction him, okay?"

Abby nodded, panting like she was instructed to.

Luka kissed the top of her head. "He's got your nose," he whispered, and she could hear his smile in his voice.

"Okay, Abby, ready to push again?"

"Yes," she told her. She had been in labor for seventeen hours now, and she was exhausted.

"Once more, then, and you'll have your baby!"

Abby put her last bit of energy into the final push, falling back against the bed in relief as she felt the baby leave her body.

"It's a boy!" Dr. Coburn said enthusiastically, holding him up so Abby and Luka could see him before handing him off to the pediatrician.

"Is he breathing okay?" Abby asked nervously, watching them suction him again.

"He is," Dr. Coburn replied, "it's just a precaution because of the meconium."

After a few second he let out a loud cry and Abby and Luka both relaxed. One of the nurses wrapped him in a blanket and carried him over to meet his parents. They both started to cry as they got their first real look at their new baby.

"How much did he weigh?" Luka asked.

"7 pounds, 3 ounces," the nurse announced.

Abby had started to maneuver her hospital gown so she could breastfeed him for the first time when she noticed that there was a blue tinge to his lips. "Janet!" She called, fear creeping into her voice, "he's… he's not breathing right. He's not getting enough oxygen."

The smile immediately left Dr. Coburn's face when she saw the baby. He was breathing in quick gasps and his lips had started to turn purple. She picked him up off of Abby's belly and whisked him back to the warmer.

The pediatrician frowned as he listened to the baby's chest with his stethoscope. "Good breath sounds, his lungs should be just fine. Start him on O2, and someone page NICU down here, STAT!"

"What is wrong with him?" Luka called over to the doctor.

The pediatrician look up and shook his head. "I can't say for sure."

Abby grabbed his hand and hung onto him desperately as she watched them work on the baby. Even with the added oxygen his color was getting worse. "Oh god," she whispered as realization hit her. She'd seen babies like this before. "There's something wrong with his heart."

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A/N: My first ER fic, woo! Please R&R.