Why did they have to leave things like this?
He asked himself this question over and over in the car on the way to the hospital. There was something awful about the situation and boy did he need a drink. All the strength dissipated into nothingness but when he saw her lying in those stark white hospital bed sheets he grimaced at her body. Cuts lining her face, grazes, bandages and bruises covering the entirety of her body causing the tears to fall from his eyes. As soon as he entered he saw the bodies dancing around the room and it caused even more tears to fall from his eyes.
"No!"
And then it happened, the heart rate monitor perking up and she was alive once more. In a coma but that was better than nothing at all. Sitting down beside her he gently took her hand and looked at her chest rising and falling to the rhythm of the monitors which were keeping her alive. Somehow it hurts to realise that things could have been different that they could have been happy and that was something he wanted. Being happy with her.
"Peter" Johnny brings him out of his trance offering him a bag which contained Carla's stuff "The doctor gave me this"
"Thank you" he mumbles opening her bag and pulling out the rectangular box which was in there, his eyes widening "Johnny…"
"What?" he questions taking the box off him and gasping "I'll get a doctor"
"This can't be happening" Peter shouts as Jenny walks over to him and calms him down "How could she not tell me! How?!"
"I don't know" Jenny comments picking up the box and seeing it was open "It's open"
"Give it," he says, opening the box and pulling out the contents "No!"
"Ok, it's ok" Jenny whispers reassuringly as Peter cries, Ken enters the room and takes over
"Mr Barlow" the doctor enters the room offering a small smile "We have been running tests on your girlfriend-"
"Is she pregnant?"
"Carla is indeed pregnant" the doctor informs him causing Peter to crumple into a fit of tears once more, Ken comforts him the best he could "Carla's condition is critical right now, our priority is making sure that she and the baby are ok"
"Do you know how far along she is?"
"A matter of weeks, we will do more precise tests soon. Our priority right now is making sure that we understand the extent of Carla's injuries"
"Ok" Peter nods looking rather bewildered as he looks at Carla "Oh baby…"
"I'll leave you to it, just ask anyone if you have any questions" the doctor nods before excusing themselves, Peter walks over to Carla's body and holds her hand
"How did we get here then?" he murmurs holding her hand up to his lips and kissing her skin ever so softly, he gently places his hand over Carla's tummy "We'll keep you both safe-"
"Peter" Ken warns "That might not be your baby"
"I know that" he snaps back before sighing "I can hope though, I can hope"
The thing about hope is that it was a way of getting through the deepest and darkest of things. This was the thing that would get him through but there were nagging thoughts in his head. That baby might not be yours, his father's words sat with him and it made him shudder at the thought of Carla carrying another man's baby and that was enough, that thought alone. The burning liquid. He guzzled it down until his throat felt numb and he was unable to function anymore until he heard the muffled voices around him.
"What the hell do you think you're playing at?"
"Sorry, she's gone" he whispers, Adam sits down beside him and puts an arm around his uncle's shoulder "She's gone!"
"No she's not" Adam reassures his uncle "She's still here, they'll get her better"
"What if she's never the same?" Peter exclaims as Adam pries the bottle of whiskey out of his hands and places it on the floor beside the bench
"Even if she's not you're so lucky Peter, you are. You have memories"
"They'll never be the same as the real thing!" he cries as Adam tries to soothe him "She's pregnant"
"What?" Adam pulls away narrowing his eyes as the realisation sinks in "Is it yours?"
"I don't know," he says quietly sobbing through his sentence, Adam places his hand over Peter's hands which were clasped on his lap "I don't know what to do"
"You need to be there for her Peter, you need to help her through this. She won't be able to do this on her own she's going to need you when she comes around-"
"What if she doesn't come around?"
"She's strong," Adam says not wanting to shoot down any hope "She's so strong Peter"
"What do I do if she doesn't make it?" Peter chokes out another sob, Adam brings him in for a hug and soon enough Daniel joins them with Bertie
"There's nothing to say that she won't" Daniel reassures him sitting on the other side of his brother "But first I think we should sober you up. You won't be any use to Carla if you're in the hospital as well"
"Yeah, sorry" Peter mumbles, Adam sighs helping him stand up and holding him upright "Sorry"
"Come on we'll take you back to mine," Adam says quietly, Daniel smiles slightly helping as well "I'll be fine Daniel"
"Alright well call me if you need anything?" Daniel confirms, Adam nods guiding Peter over to his flat…
"You will look after her if the worst happens?" Johnny questions Jenny who nods in response "If I get sent down…"
"Of course I will, she's my stepdaughter and everyone will want to help" Jenny assures him "We have to stick together at times like this"
"Yeah" Johnny whispers taking hold of Carla's hand and kissing it softly
"I'll give you a minute" Jenny smiles squeezing her husband on the shoulder, he offers her a smile before returning his gaze to his daughter
"Oh, love" Johnny whispers gently allowing the tears to spring to his eyes "You can do this, I can't lose you, I can't lose you, Carla, please"
"Johnny"
"Come here," Johnny says beckoning Peter into a hug and holding him "It'll all be ok, we're going to get her better it'll be hard but we'll get there and whatever happens we'll have each other"
The beeping of the heart rate monitor became a startling realisation of what the future could hold. Peter watched as tests were carried out on Carla and it sickened him to think that she could be taken away from him at any point. There was something about this situation that made him laugh in jest at the situation in front of him. Peter knew it would be up to them to make the decisions on behalf of Carla, he had Adam drawing up documents as they spoke just in case they were needed. The horrible thing was that they would have to put themselves in Carla's shoes and position and that was harder now than ever because there was another person involved, another being. Her baby. There was no way Peter was going to put her through the possible stress of finding out the paternity not when she was in this condition that she was in right now it just wasn't fair. Sometimes in life, there was a mass amount of pain and this was one of those occasions where they would have to decide amongst himself and her family what to do if it came down to it and whether Carla would actually want this baby. His immediate thoughts were that she would, ever since she was pregnant before she wanted to be a mother and he was convinced she would want to keep this baby. The more he thought about it though the more he second-guessed himself because of that cloud hanging over the baby's paternity but the more he spoke to his father, Johnny and Jenny over the situation and that was when he thought that he could maybe bring the baby up as his own but they were unconvinced.
"They're not sure" Peter mutters groaning slightly at the headache he had, Adam places a coffee down on the desk "I mean it's the perfect scenario, isn't it? Carla's going to take ages to recover from her injuries apparently so it just makes sense for me to bring the baby up doesn't it?"
"You can see where they're coming from though" Adam responds gingerly raising his eyebrows before sighing
"No, I really can't"
"Peter right now you're hardly a stable bet, neither is Johnny and I doubt Jenny would want to bring up a baby. You heard the doctors. Carla won't be a fit mother for at least a year after that baby is born"
"I can still bring it up though-"
"Peter, you're drinking" Adam hisses slightly, Peter breaks down causing his heart to soften "I'm sorry but its the truth, you can see how Johnny may feel unhappy about it"
"I'll stop-"
"And it's that simple. You're sweating" Adam points out, Peter just grumbles "You need to speak to Johnny and Jenny about putting a plan in place, a realistic one at that"
"What do I even say?"
"You have to question if all goes well and Carla gets into a stable condition who will look after than baby when it's ready to be born"
"Me"
"No, Peter" Adam sighs, shaking his head "Have you spoken to any other family members?"
"Like who?"
"I don't know, Michelle? Kate maybe?"
"I'm not going behind Johnny's back-"
"I'm not saying you have to" Adam sighs taking his uncle's hand and closing his eyes "Speak to Johnny about Kate and Michelle, he will understand, he will"
"What if that baby isn't mine?"
"As harsh as it sounds it's going to be something you will have to deal with," Adam says quietly, Peter closes his eyes "We want to help Peter please don't push us away"
"I need to protect her" he whispers, Adam bites his lip "I have to, it's the way we work and she would want me to, so that's what I'm going to do, protect her-"
"Peter no!" Adam groans watching Peter leave his office and sighing at how much a mess this all is…
"Johnny" Peter enters Carla's hospital room, Johnny sighs "We need to speak"
"I've said all that I need to say, you're not stable enough right now to bring up Carla's child. I'm sorry Peter"
"So what do we do then?"
"I don't know but we have time to decide if you get sober and I'm convinced enough that you will stay that way then I may consider it but right now I'm not convinced enough-"
"Michelle and Kate" he states, Johnny, frowns "Come on Johnny you're hardly a stable bet are you and Jenny probably doesn't want to bring up a baby does she so those are the only other choices I can see here and I don't want Carla's baby going off to some foster carer I want that baby to be brought up in an environment around its family"
"Fine" Johnny laments "Ring Michelle but please be mindful of everything she's experienced, I'll ring Kate as she deserves to know as well"
"Thank you" Peter mutters, throwing a glare towards Johnny who pulls out his phone as well, Peter leaves the room and leans against the door before walking down the corridor to go outside so he could ring Michelle…
"Hey, sweetheart" Peter whispers quietly taking Carla's hand into his and kissing it softly "We're sorting everything out for you, we are, only if you could hear me eh? We're going to look after you when you get out of here because you will, you're strong baby and we're going to get there, it's going to be a long road ahead but we're going to get there all of us. I spoke to Michelle about the baby, this little one in here"
Peter places his hand over Carla's lower abdomen and smiles
"She said that if it came down to it and I wasnt up to looking after the baby then she would if no one else could, everyone's stepping up and we're going to make sure you're ok, I promise"
He glances to the bedside cabinet and frowns gently before standing up and walking over to the plastic cup which had a singular black rose situated in it, he picks the rose up and hums
"Who got you this then?"
Peter asks thinking she could answer, he places it down in the cup again and smiles at it. He walks over to the door of the room and bites his lip before leaving knowing tomorrow would be another day...
