-Warning this story contains slash, mpreg and limited use of profanity. If you don't like it turn back now. No flames, rude or derogatory comments as they will all be ignored and forgotten. However as always productive criticism and positive feedback is welcome.

Chapter 4

"Lucas is alive and stable at the moment" The doctor was quickly cut off by Brayden

"What happened and why? Where did all the blood come from?"

"Almost all of the blood appears to have come from his head laceration it went down to the bone unfortunately it did end up fracturing his skull. This has caused his brain to swell, as well as what's called a subdural hematoma. Which means that blood has pooled in the space between his skull and brain, it is a form of traumatic brain injury. The blood loss was substantial however as I'm assuming your mother has told you, the pregnancy has worked in his favor as his overall blood volume has increased, without that he most likely would have bled out before reaching the hospital. However he still required a transfusio…" she was again cut off by Brayden when he shot up from his seat and shouted

"Transfusion He's A negative!...we are both A NEGATIVE here TAKE MINE! As much as you need TAKE IT!" he franticly began pushing up his sleeve not thinking clearly, then proceeded to thrust his arm into the doctors direct line of vision with an impatient and panicked expression, exposing the pale flesh and blue veins that lay beneath.

"Mr. Kirey"

"BRAYDEN!"

"Ok… Brayden" still holding the intense eye to eye contact to be sure he understood what she said next

"That will not be necessary we type and cross every emergency patient's blood when they are first admitted its standard procedure to ensure we always have enough type specific blood on hand. He is in the middle of receiving the transfusion as we speak" The doctor took a short pause seeing how defeated Brayden looked as he plopped back down on the couch and pulled at his hair. The one thing that he could have done for Lucas had already been taken care of. He was briefly brought back to reality, when the doctor placed a hand on his shoulder and continued to address him directly.

"I know all of this is incredibly frightening and stressful but you have to pull it together and stay strong not only for Lucas, but your unborn child."

'Traumatic brain injury… Skull fracture' these words filled his head, along with the disbelief that this was happening he was supposed to protect Lucas, he had one job ONE! And he had failed. With his mom being a nurse he knew enough to know how serious these injuries are.

"He's going to be ok though, right?" his eyes pleading that the next words out of her mouth would be 'yes' or 'of course' instead she paused and took in a deep breath

"This… is a very serious injury."

With that Brayden felt as though all the air had been sucked from the room.

His mother saw the look on her sons face while he was doing his best to process the information being given.

Every time he tried to speak or ask a question his mouth felt as dry as the Sahara desert all he could manage was to ironically look like a fish out of water but no sound would come out apart from the occasional squeak, finally he stopped trying all together. His mother sat helplessly as she watched her son begin to lose all comprehensive thought, his brain shutting down from the overload of thoughts and emotion. She soon saw his eyes glaze over and knew he was unable to continue the conversation at this point in time but knowing he would want answers, she took over.

"Is he going to need surgery?"

"I don't have an answer to that at the present time, it all depends on how his body reacts to the injury. If his brain continues to swell or the hematoma continues to increase in size, we will have too. Mostly likely it will involve removing a small part of his skull to evacuate the clot, or possibly remove a larger portion of the skull to allow the brain room to swell without causing further damage. All of this depends on how his brain reacts and heals."

"What do you mean by further damage?"

"Unfortunately he has yet to regain consciousness; he also has had no response to painful stimuli and has not shown any purposeful movement. There is no way to tell when or if he will regain consciousness, with these type of injuries we just… don't know how it will all play out I'm sorry. We do know that the next couple days are critical. I also need to inform you that the longer he remains unconscious his chances of waking up and making a full recovery decrease significantly. Hopefully the next few days will give us more insight into the extent of injury and I can provide a more accurate prognosis, but for now all we can do is wait and see."

"Do we know why he was seizing in the first place?"

"We still don't have an answer as to what caused the seizure. It could have something to do with the pregnancy, but as of right now we don't have many answers, I'm sorry."

Brayden snapped out of his horrid thoughts long enough to ask one question

"Did we…did we lose the baby?" it was said in a hushed tone much like a whisper all the while his gaze fixed on the floor. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer but knew Lucas would want him to ask

"He has not miscarried and the fetus' heartbeat is strong."

At this Brayden's façade completely crumbled, collapsing on to the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest and face buried into the space between them with arms crossed as to hide any hint of emotion. He sat there letting out tears he had been holding back, tears of fear, heartbreak and elation. He was beyond happy that his love and unborn child are alive, but at the same time terrified he might soon lose them both.

The doctor gave a slight smile which may have seemed inappropriate in that moment but she was happy to see that even though they were young and the baby was most likely un-anticipated it was neither unwanted nor unloved. They truly loved each other which is a rare find in this day and age, for a person of any age or orientation.

Brayden knew he needed to be strong for Lucas' sake and his own. He knows that Lucas has a long and difficult recovery ahead, but is a fighter and lives by a quote from Winston Churchill 'Never give up, never surrender'. It is something he never forgot to remind Brayden of when times were tough. He resolved to follow that to the letter for Lucas, he wiped away the tears with the heal of his good hand and returned to his seat on the couch awaiting whatever else the doctor had to say.

"The Sub-Dural hematoma requires close monitoring. Unfortunately we are unable to give him a majority of the medications we would normally use for this type of injury because of the pregnancy, we are doing all we can to keep on top of everything."

"I don't mean to be rude, but you did not exactly answer my sons' earlier question?"

"That is because as I stated earlier this type of injury is very unpredictable, I cannot tell you what the outcome will be or what the next couple of days or even hours will look like" at this the doctor started to turn and leave but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

"Wait, can I see him?"

"I am afraid not, he is too unstable for visitors at the moment I will let you know when things change but as for now… I suggest you both go home and get some rest. OB will be coming first thing in the morning to do an ultrasound, Brayden may be present during the exam and after we can re-evaluate his visitation status." With that and a nod of her head, the doctor dismissed herself.

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BACK AT THE HOUSE

Getting Brayden to leave the hospital was needless to say, like pulling teeth without anesthetic. The second they got back to the house he locked himself in his room not that he could or was planning on sleeping. Instead he spent his time alternating between sobbing into one of Lucas' jackets, staring off into space with a blank expression or screaming at the top of his lungs.

'SCREAMING'

"You can't do this, you can't! You hear me you cannot have them and I am gonna fight like HELL to make sure you don't get me either. But If you have to take someone you can have ME got it ME, but you CAN NOT have them!"

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THE NEXT MORNING

7 a.m. bright and early Brayden was pacing the entrance to the intensive care unit looking like he had been run over by a mac truck but anxiously awaiting the ultrasound techs arrival so he could see Lucas. Even if Lucas didn't know he was there he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he had missed the first ultrasound. The techs finally arrived, 22 minutes late but he didn't want to forfeit his one chance thus far to see Lucas. He followed them into his room, the frustration and anxiety forcing him to bite his lip so hard it began to bleed all the while not making any audible noise though his heart was breaking at the site of His love in front of him. He almost didn't look alive his normally rosy cheeks were ashen his lips white as the sheets he was laying on. Most all he could see was equipment and tubes having no knowledge of the function most of them perform yet knowing that Lucas needed all of them just to survive at the moment was enough. It made him weak in the knees wanting nothing more than to collapse next to his love and never get up. He resisted this urge knowing he owed it to all involved to keep strong and persevere through these unbearable times.

BRAYDENS' THOUGHTS

'How can I keep breathing knowing that at any moment his may cease, how can he do this. What will I do without him… what if he never wakes up and I am lucky enough to be around to raise this baby and it's without him, could I bare it? Raising our child without him, then again how would he feel waking up to raise this child without me. I mean I am sure mom would help but it isn't her responsibility it's ours… we are supposed to do this together dammit.

REALITY

He was snapped out of these thoughts by one of the ultrasound technicians who had noticed his absent minded gaze and compensated with a louder tone of voice intending to do just that, shock him back to reality.

"Do you want to see?" It took him a second to realize what the tech was referring to, he looked at the transducer pressed against Lucas' lower abdomen then to the tech holding it there, when it clicked. He silently shook his head 'yes' wiping away a few tears he hadn't known had fallen, then followed the tech who had approached him to begin with, over to the screen. To the untrained eye it appeared to just be a series of moving black, white and grey images before the technician began to elaborate as to what he was looking at.

"This black circle right here (encircling it with the mouse) is the embryonic sac and that there (pointing to grey mass inside of it) that is your baby." Brayden's eyes were fixed on the screen now waiting for more information.

"Ok, you see that? What looks like flickering… that's the heart, would you like to hear the heartbeat?" again shaking his head to the affirmative as he couldn't seem to summon the words from within himself. After a few clicks and a quick repositioning of the transducer the small room was filled with what in his inexperienced opinion was an extremely fast rhythmic wooshing sound. Knowing that was the heartbeat immediately struck fear into his already fragile heart and soul. His resolve at this point was all but gone and hanging on by a thread at best, if something was wrong with the baby it would most assuredly snap.

"One moment let me separate Lucas' heartbeat from the baby's so it's more defined" after punching what he could only assume was directions for the machine he heard it, slower than before but still quite fast. He put 2 fingers to his carotid and stared at his watch for 15 seconds counting to make sure it was accurate, and after it was multiplied by 4 he was positive the heart rate was extremely fast. He then looked at the techs faces which were turning red from lack of oxygen in an attempt to be respectful. Meanwhile his was stricken with terror and uncertainty before both of the ultrasound techs inhaled sharply, before bursting out with laughs and snickers after seeing what he was doing because they knew exactly what and why he was doing that. Brayden didn't understand what was so funny and grabbed the tech that was standing closest by his shirt collar shoving him hard against the wall with a fist raised ready to strike not caring about his hand, while the tech attempted to shield his face from the imminent blow. All were unaware to the fact that the doctor was approaching.

"Mr. Kirey please, there is no need for that" the doctor said calmly as she walked in for her morning rounds

"Shame on you two, he has more than enough to worry about!" This time addressing the technicians directly in a stern, scolding voice that left no room for argument.

"Mr. Kirey… my apologies, allow me to apologize upon their behalves I know it does not excuse their seemingly incredibly inappropriate behavior however they are fairly new and not use to dealing with…." At this point she realized she had proverbially put her foot in her mouth, luckily Brayden finished what she was attempting not to say.

"Those in more pleasant situations" Brayden finished her sentence already beginning to loosen his grip on the young techs scrubs

"Yes, I am truly sorry for their behavior" all he could manage was a disheartened shake of his head

"Both of you OUT… NOW" she demanded of the techs but definitely took her time in reading them the riot act once outside of the room, although he barely noticed as he had made his way back to the other side of Lucas' hospital bed. He picked up his loves lifeless hand squeezing it between his own then bringing it up to his face while mouthing 'please come back to me my love, I need you…we need you. I can't do this alone, please wake up…please' against it as tears slowly and silently began streaming down his face before hearing the door to the room open. He quickly wiped the tears away in hopes she hadn't seen. If she did she was kind enough not to say anything, just gave him a warm comforting smile.

"Again I am so sorry about that I will personally see to it that they won't set foot in this room again, I will continue the exam for the moment" He just shook his head to the affirmative, never moving Lucas' hand from his own face. She continued the exam completing it without another word before asking.

"Do you have any questions?" he was about to shake his head 'no' when he paused

"Any Idea when he will wake up?"

"We still don't know but the fact that he made it through the night with no further complications is a great sign, anything else?"

"The sound they said was the baby's heartbeat it was awfully fast, is…is the baby ok?" she again smiled warmly

"The baby is doing just fine, the heart rate is supposed to be much faster than an adults." With a sniffle he then asked

"How far along is he?"

"Looks to be about… 8-10 weeks" Brayden broke out into a giant cheesy grin remembering exactly when their child was conceived. He counted back and under his breath with a small smirk said

"9 weeks 2 days"

"Excuse me?" asked the doctor

"He's 9 weeks 2 days, I just counted it was, well it was…a truly perfect evening" with that the doctor just gave a sweet smile

"If you have no further questions I'll be going, and as for the time being he is stable enough for you to stay." He gave her a thankful smile and nod before returning to his previous position staring longingly at Lucas praying he would open those gorgeous eyes of his. He was comforted by the memories of the night their child was conceived but that wasn't enough the despair and heartbreak were still there. He had to wake up he just had too, there were things he needed to know and this baby needed at least one of its parents.

"Love if you can hear me you need to wake up, I need you…we need you. This baby needs you (at this point breaking into full blown sobbing not caring who saw or heard) I….I can't promise I will be here in a few months nobody can, and it's not because I don't want to be. I would love nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you and I know in my heart you feel the same way; I was going to wait until…hell *heh* I have had it planned for months now, down to the very last detail" said as he began to slide an engraved band onto Lucas' left hand.

"I had this made special, just for you. It says… *clears throat* it says 'Forever and always you have my heart'. One thing I can promise you is that I will fight, remember? 'I'll fight til' the bitter end', as long as you promise to do the same." Though his eyes held tears he was smiling, it was there song after all. With that he let go of Lucas' hand and with one last look at his love, exited the room to face a different battle.

TBC…

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN ANY RIGHTS TO "Fight til' the bitter end" by Black tide