Thanks for your review Kelly!
Let's hope we hear that heart beat real soon!
The Chemistry In Darkness
Chapter Eighty-Seven
Monday 3rd March 2025
Elly glanced at Chloe, seeing the hopeful look on her face, pleading to learn the baby was fine, realizing that she had the ability to hear the baby's heartbeat but worried if there was a reason why she hadn't heard it yet.
I've been too distracted…that has to be why I haven't heard the baby's heart beating…should I try to listen for it now? That way I can prepare myself and attempt to prepare Chloe before the doctor gives us the bad news…I need to do my best to prepare Chloe and support her…
Elly took a deep breath before eying Chloe's stomach, trying to ignore the sound of the wand been twirled along Chloe's skin as the doctor tried to find the best image of the baby on the monitor. Elly focused as much as she could to ignore all the other sounds in the room. The clock ticking on the wall. The heartbeats of Chloe, the doctor and herself. The noise from the outside world coming in via the hospital room window and that of the hospital buzzing about with people walking past their room.
All of it became as silent as she could make it so Elly could focus on the one sound that she needed to hear more than anything in the world.
Elly heard Chloe calling out to her but she had to drown the sound out, feeling terrible that her girlfriend might have been needing her support.
Then a smile finally crept onto Elly's face as she heard the sound of the baby's heart beating in a healthy rhythm.
Elly sighed in relief at the sound, then blinked as Chloe's voice broke her out of her stasis, "What are you smiling for? The doctor's saying she's having trouble locating the baby's heart beat."
Elly squeezed Chloe's hand, "I can hear the baby's heart beating."
Chloe's eyes widened as she realized why Elly had been ignoring her before and that her super hearing had heard their baby's heart, "You did? Our baby is alive?"
"Yes," Elly confirmed, pressing her lips to Chloe's forehead.
The doctor stared at the couple inquisitively, "I get you two really want this baby to have survived the trauma you've endured, Mrs. Brennan, but I haven't even located the heart beat so whatever you are hearing, is not likely to be the baby's heart beat."
"I have really good hearing," Elly confessed cryptically before burying her face back to Chloe's neck, feeling like all her worries were beginning to fade as just knowing the baby was alive was enough for the moment.
Chloe shrugged at the doctor, smiling at her confidence at Elly's powers allowing them relief that the baby was alive, confirming, "I trust my girl's hearing."
Still not believing either of them, the doctor continued her search for the baby's heartbeat on the monitor. Finally, after a moment, the baby's heartbeat came through on the monitor loud and clear. Chloe and Elly still reacted to it, Elly lifting her head to look at the picture of the baby on the monitor, both women had tears in their eyes as they watched their baby together for the first time.
The doctor smiled at the pair then after a few more minutes of looking at the images of the baby, confirmed, "I want to run a couple tests on the baby but there doesn't appear to be any damage done to your baby despite been shot in your abdomen. You'll probably be on lots of bed rest for your recovery from the surgery which can only be a good thing for your pregnancy over the next few weeks. I think you two and this baby were very lucky today."
"Our baby is really okay?" Chloe wanted reassurance, which the doctor quickly gave her again.
Elly felt more tears welling up in her eyes at the news the baby was safe, burying her face against Chloe's shoulder. Feeling relief that she hadn't lost two of the three most important people in her world that day, Elly unexpectedly whined gently before making purring sounds, in a decidedly wolf-like, inhuman way.
The doctor raised her eyebrows at the sound.
Chloe could only smile at her werewolf girlfriend, then shrugged at the doctor, "My girlfriend's quirky."
Before the doctor could reply to question it again, Chloe added, "Can I see my family now?"
A few moments later, Aster ran into the hospital room with Mark and Aaron following close behind. Aster ran over to Elly, happy to have her Mum scoop her up into her arms then sit her on the bed next to Chloe. Knowing she wasn't in the position to be able to hug the youngster, Chloe took Aster's hand and smiled at her.
"Aster looked like she wanted to see you once we got word you and the baby made it through the surgery," Mark explained, ambling over to Chloe and kissing her forehead.
"Looks like we might have to get used to the three of you been together," Aaron said of the couple and Aster, squeezing Chloe's shoulder.
"You will," Elly confirmed, smiling at Chloe, "And by the end of the year, it'll be the four of us."
"Yeah…about that…" Mark started to say, still stuck in the confusion of how Elly could think the baby was hers.
Elly continued smiling at Chloe as she reminded Mark, "I told you, Mark. The baby is mine, you don't need to know the details of how this happened, you just need to know it has. Be happy that our miracle baby survived and Chloe and I are going to be the best Mum's to this baby and to Aster, that either could ask for."
As Mark opened his mouth to question it again, Chloe shut him down quickly by saying, "What she said."
Aaron shrugged in confusion but was willing to let it go, "So about this whole…you running away to live on the Island with Elly and Aster thing…? Is that up for negotiation now that Pierce should be arrested and out of your life with a nice long stint in jail?"
Elly gritted her teeth at the knowledge that she was pretty sure she'd turned Pierce into a werewolf and him been jailed for his crimes wasn't an option if they were to keep the supernatural world a secret.
Chloe looked up at her brothers, "Elly and I were planning on coming back after the baby was born when we knew we'd be safe and we know Aster needs to start school next year. Pierce was part of the reason why we wanted to stay away…so I guess…we could be open to moving back here one day soon…but not too soon. I kinda fell in love with living on the Island…life is just so simple there…and it helps having the two people there who mean everything to me."
"Smooth talker," Elly blushed, then agreed, "We'll see about moving back earlier than we'd planned. Long as our family is all together, wherever we are will be home."
Later that afternoon, as it was heading towards the evening, knowing they would need to leave Chloe to spend the night in the hospital on her own and there were still so many people out in the waiting room for her, Chloe begged the nurses to let her see everyone quickly.
Bea and Yashvi had stopped by with Karl and Susan. Elly's Aunt and Uncle immediately jumped at the chance to offer Elly and Aster to stay with them again as long as Chloe was hospitalized. It seemed that at this point, Elly running away all over again with Aster, had been forgiven and they were happy to see that they were both safe and genuinely pleased to hear that Chloe and Elly were back together.
Chloe felt the tension between Bea and Yashvi but didn't have the energy to question what was going on between them.
After Elly's family had visited them, Chloe was slightly surprised to find that the entire family of The Pack stopped by to spend a few moments with her to wish her a speedy recovery.
Romulus had arrived at the hospital not long ago, admitting he was working on trying to find a way into Pierce's case, having been called by Abby and informed what had happened to Chloe's ex-husband. Romulus had already managed to put off the cops speaking to Pierce until the following day, citing an issue with Pierce getting onto his lawyer. He was hoping he could find a way to extract Pierce out of the hospital overnight so they could transport him to the Island and begin to work out whether the newest member of The Pack could survive in his new life as a werewolf or if they should cut him loose for Chloe and Elly's sake and risk Pierce struggling to keep the supernatural world a secret.
Chloe didn't understand why Romulus would want to help Pierce, nobody yet to tell her Pierce had been turned into a werewolf, deciding Chloe needed to focus on her recovery. Not being worried that her ex might continue to be part of their lives for longer than the rest of her life.
Lexa looked like she'd endured a tough day but Chloe wasn't aware that she'd been beaten by Pierce before he made his way to the Island.
Chloe appreciated seeing these people whom had welcomed her into their family so warmly the past few days and felt so accepted by all of them. She was even starting to get used to the family banter they had between them, especially the sisters, Clarke and Raven.
Raven looked so happy when she was sitting on the edge of Chloe's bed bantering back and forth with her sister. Chloe was almost ready to fall asleep, struggling to stay awake, glad the others were entertaining themselves.
Chloe slightly perked up again when Clarke smacked Raven on the shoulder, loudly declaring to the room, "You are way too happy and glowing and everything more than your usual happy-go-lucky self and that's saying something. What's going on with…oh my God, you met your mate!"
The room suddenly stopped their chatter amongst each other and all attention fell to Raven who sat there on the edge of the bed looking incredibly happy, "I guess I did meet my mate…"
"Well, don't keep us in suspense, sis. Who is it?" Clarke smiled happily her sister would finally have what she had with Lexa.
Raven looked around at everyone nervously, "See the thing is…it's a bit complicated because…Pierce is my mate…"
Everyone fell completely silent at Raven's confession, the news hitting them that Chloe's tormentor was Raven's mate left them all rattled and upset.
The silence in the room became deafening.
Chloe finally broke the silence, the shock of anyone wanting to be with her abusive ex nearly had her beside herself, forgetting that little Aster was still in Elly's lap when she screeched out, "No fucking way!"
Raven then planted the biggest smile on her face, "Kidding!"
Then when the room continued to stare at her, Raven scoffed, "You guys, I'm kidding! Pierce isn't my fricken mate, as if! Did you see your reactions? I thought we could all use a terribly timed joke."
"Don't ever become a comedian," Clarke rallied back at her sister, glad to see everyone else begin to breathe again.
Raven shrugged, "I met my mate in the cafeteria just before. Her name is Anya. She used to be a nurse here and was stopping by to catch up with some old work colleagues…although there was this weird moment one of the nurses farewelled her by calling her Katya…I dunno, she introduced herself as Anya to me and I didn't want to question it. She's in town to pay her respects to her dad whom passed away here in Erinsborough over ten years ago. I got her number and we're going for drinks tonight…maybe I can convince her to stay. I mean, I kinda got to, right? She's totally the one for me!"
As everyone else began congratulating Raven for finding her long sought out partner, Romulus teased, "Another ruddy female for The Pack," then looking at Chloe, "I'd very much appreciate it if you could bring a boy into this world."
"Oh, give it a rest, Romulus. You'll love our baby no matter who they are," Elly teased back to him.
A few moments later, Clarke left the hospital room, answering a FaceTime call she had received. The caller asked to speak to Chloe.
Clarke stared at the woman, "I've been trying to get you to do that for months. Chloe's not in a good way right now. She's in hospital. You can call back in a few days."
"Is Chloe in hospital because of Pierce?" the caller asked, her face stricken.
"Pierce shot her, okay? We're dealing with the Pierce situation," Clarke admitted, worried Elly or any of the other wolves would use their super hearing to overhear her conversation.
"Don't you think I can help with that and put Pierce in jail so he can't ever harm Chloe again?" the caller reasoned, "Let me talk to her."
Not ending the call, Clarke put her phone down as the members of The Pack began streaming out of Chloe's hospital room. Lexa questioned the call Clarke was on, then told her they were taking Aster to Elly's Aunt and Uncle for the night and Elly would head back to their place once she spent as much time as she could get away with next to Chloe's bedside. Clarke asked Lexa to stay behind for her for a moment as she wanted to say goodbye to Chloe and would be a couple minutes.
Finding Chloe and Elly staring at one another lovingly when she walked back into the hospital room, Clarke sighed as she interrupted them, "Chloe, I got someone on FaceTime who'd like to speak to you."
Chloe frowned deeply, "Clarke, how do you know anyone that I know that would be calling you on FaceTime to speak to me?"
Clarke walked forwards to Chloe's side, holding up her phone to show Chloe the woman on the other side of the call, "She's an old friend of yours I tracked down."
Chloe tilted her head as she reached out for the phone, staring at the bleached blonde, green eyed woman staring back at her, not recognizing her in the slightest, "I'm sorry, you must have the wrong person. I don't know you."
"Hey Chlo…it's me," came the response from a decidedly familiar voice to Chloe.
As Elly sat there staring between her girlfriend and the woman on the screen, she watched as Chloe's face contorted into surprise.
Chloe was stunned, "Nicolette?"
Chloe's ex-fling…? Don't be jealous…no need to be jealous…it's just the woman that Chloe had one time planned to run away from Pierce with and start a whole new life to get away from him…Nicolette getting back in contact with my girl…is no threat to Chloe and I…right?
Next time - Our resident femme fatale Nicolette Stone is back! And sporting some changes! Is Nicolette back to win Chloe back and cause Elly's jealousy to go overboard?