Well, this is probably the most angsty thing I have even wrote. So grab the tissues, cause I sure as heck needed them in writing it. And again, I claim to know nothing about the medical industry.

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"What the fuck do you mean she's not breathing!"

"Starting compressions!" Dr. Lewis barked, ignoring Lilian's frantic question. The little blonde watched numbly as Dr. Lewis placed Sophia on her back, covering her mouth and nose and breathing twice into the baby's mouth. Then, using her two fingers, she began pushing rapidly on Sophia's chest.

"Sophia!" Lilian sobbed, attempting to push off of the table, only to have two sets of hands encircle her small arms.

"Mrs. Batista, you need to calm down!" one of the nurses chastised, attempting to push her back down. "Please, you need a blood transfusion and this isn't helping!"

"I don't care!" Lilian screamed, all rationality flying out the window as she struggled against the two nurses. "My daughter isn't breathing and you expect me to calm down? That's BULLSHIT!"

"Please, Mrs. Batista! This isn't helping anyone," Dr. Lewis said, continuing compressions after giving Sophia two more breaths. "We're trying our best but you need to… Mr. Batista, you need to step back!" Dr. Lewis interrupted herself, noticing that Dave had left Lilian's side and walked up next to where they were doing CPR.

"Come on, Sophia," Dave whispered, ignoring Dr. Lewis' orders to move and Lilian's heartbreaking sobs. With a shaky hand, he reached over and touched Sophia's tiny chest, leaving his palm there for a few moments.

Dr. Lewis was aghast at the lack of control in the trauma room. "Mr. Batista, we cannot do CPR if you are here-" she yelled, the tiny doctor attempting to force her way back into position, only to be cut off by an unexpected noise.

A loud cry rang out through the room, Sophia's little lungs powerful despite the fact she was premature. All motion in the room stopped before Dr. Lewis finally spoke up again, closing her gaping mouth in order to speak. "Okay, we need to get this baby to N.I.C.U.! Where is Dr. Hicks?"

"I'm right here," a black lady spoke up, meeting them in the room as they prepared Sophia to be moved up. "What do we have?"

"Thirty-four week preemie, wasn't breathing for about one minute after birth," Dr. Lewis replied rapidly.

"Weight?"

"We're getting that now," Dr. Lewis said, reading the scale built into the infant stretcher Sophia was laying in. "Four pounds, four ounces," she said, drawing a sob from Lilian.

"That… that's too low, Dave," she murmured, reaching her hand out and grasping his shirt. "What went wrong?" she asked, her voice catching slightly. Dave didn't answer; rather, he looked to Dr. Hicks.

"We don't know, Mrs…"

"Batista." Lilian supplied quietly, wiping away a tear that streamed down her exhausted face.

"Batista," Dr. Hicks finished. "The most important thing right now is to make sure that Sophia makes it through the day." Lilian gasped at this, only partly aware of the fact that Dave's hand made its way to hers, squeezing gently. "We'll be up in N.I.C.U. When you get cleaned up and rested, you and your husband can meet us up there."

Lilian opened her mouth to protest; to ask if there was anyway that she could perhaps touch her baby just once; but a sudden wave of heat and pain washed over her body.

Whether it was exhaustion from the labor, then unbearable pain in her back and abdomen, or her emotions getting the best of her, she would never know.

But Lilian Batista passed out; the only thing stopping her from sliding to the ground was her husband's quick reflexes.

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Lilian forced her eyes open, the excruciating pain in her back and abdomen now settled into a dull throb. She lifted her hand, not surprised to see a hospital bracelet and IV stuck to her hand. She was, however, surprised to see Stephanie sitting in a chair, dozing slightly.

"Steph?" she asked hoarsely, her throat hurting from all the crying she had done earlier.

Stephanie forced her eyes open at the sound, meeting the eyes of her exhausted friend. "Hey, Lil," Stephanie said tiredly. "How do you feel?"

"Like I was run over by a bus and the driver back up and ran over me again," Lilian replied with a mirthless chuckle, looking around the small hospital room. "When did you get here? What time is it?"

"Hunter and I got here about and hour and a half ago. And it's 11:15 in the morning, Lil," Stephanie said, pouring her friend a glass of water and holding the straw up to her lips so she could take a long drink.

"Where's Dave?" she asked, leaning back against the pillow.

"He and Hunter took a walk," Stephanie said carefully. "To… um… to see Sophia."

Lilian sat up in bed suddenly, remembering the reason why she was in the hospital bed in the first place. "Oh, God! Sophia!" she cried, swinging her legs over the bed before Stephanie could stop her.

Her feet no sooner touched the ground when her legs gave out on her, the little blonde weakly collapsing against her friend. Stephanie encircled Lilian's upper back with her arms, trying to keep her friend from falling completely. "Lil, come on. You're in no shape to be out of bed," Steph told her, attempting to move her back to the bed.

However, Lilian remained strong, attempting to move towards the door. "Steph, I gotta get to Sophia!" she cried, actually dragging Stephanie with her for a few feet before finally giving up the fight and turning to sob against her friend's shoulder.

"Shh… it's okay, Lil," Stephanie soothed, sinking down to the ground as Lilian did. "It's gonna be okay, I promise." After a few more long moments of this, Stephanie was relieved to see Hunter walk into the room. "Hunter, I need your help," Stephanie told him desperately. "Where's Dave?"

"Yeah, obviously," Hunter replied, bending down and easily scooping the little blonde into his arms. "Dave went to get some clothes from the house. I let him take our car. How'd she get out of bed? She just had a blood transfusion for God's sake."

"She's certainly stronger than she looks," Stephanie replied with a sigh, standing up and watching as Hunter carried her back to the bed, only to have the little blonde begin struggling again.

"Lil, come on, you're only going to hurt yourself," Hunter said, fighting to keep a strong grip on his tiny friend. "And Dave will probably kill me if you get hurt."

"Don't you dare put me in that fucking bed!" Lilian hissed weakly, squirming slightly in his strong grasp. "Put me in that damn wheelchair! Right NOW!"

"Lil-" Hunter began, only to be cut off by the little blonde.

"Damn it, Hunter! I just want to see my baby! I… I need to," Lilian finished softly, the fight leaving her sore body as she thought of her baby.

"Okay, okay," Hunter replied, turning so his path was now directed to the wheelchair in the corner of the room. "We'll go see Sophia."

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After being given permission to enter the N.I.C.U., Lilian nearly gasped at the sight of her daughter hooked up to all the machines that seemingly were doing the breathing for the tiny baby.

"Oh, God… Sophia," Lilian murmured, silently pleading with Hunter to push her faster to the tiny crib. When she finally arrived, Lilian felt a tear streak down her cheek, landing in her lap. "My baby…" she murmured, placing a shaky hand on the side of the crib. "My Sophia…"

Stephanie and Hunter stepped back, the brunette slipping her hand into Hunter's, silently watching as Lilian struggled to stand. Stephanie made a move to help her, only to be stopped by her husband. She looked at him, green eyes confused as she met Hunter's.

"Don't," Hunter told her softly, shaking his head. "She needs to do this on her own."

Stephanie frowned, turning her attention back to Lilian, relieved to see that her friend was now standing, though she was leaning heavily against the stable crib, an arm wrapped protectively around her sore abdomen.

"Hey, baby girl," Lilian said softly, reaching her shaking hand into the crib and touching her baby's little forehead. "God… you are so tiny," Lilian told her daughter, forgetting the fact that her friends were standing there, watching her every move.

Lilian ran a hand from her forehead to her tiny arm, taking Sophia's fingers in her hand. "You are so beautiful… so perfect," Lilian told her daughter softly, not noticing as two teardrops splattered on the baby blanket her daughter was wrapped in. "You look so much like your Daddy," Lilian added with a whisper, laughing slightly at the small tuft of dark hair on her head.

"Sophia… you're a Batista. You gotta fight through this and live. Please," Lilian pleaded softly. "You can't leave me… not after the way we bonded for the past seven months. I love you so much and can't bear to let you go. Not now… not never."

With a sigh, Lilian continued. "I want to… I want to feed you for the first time. I want to teach you how to ride a bike and how to play tennis and how to read. I want you to sing just like me or wrestle like your Daddy. You can't leave us, Sophia. You just can't. And I know Mommy probably sounds selfish, but I love you so much. You have so many wonderful people who love you already… like Aunt Steph and Uncle Hunter and Aunt Trish and Aunt Lita and Aunt Dahlia and Uncle Matthew and Mom-Mom. They're gonna be heartbroken if you leave us," she pleaded softly, not noticing when Stephanie let out a small sob.

"But Sophia… if you need to go to God… and believe me when I say I don't want you to leave… but if you do… just know that I love you, and your Daddy loves you. And I cherish every single moment that I've spent with you, even if it is just this one."

"You are a fighter. You didn't have to come back to us in that emergency room downstairs. But you did. That means something, Sophia," Lilian whispered, the tears falling faster.

"Sophia… I love you," Lilian whispered, staying silent for a few moments before lifting her hand from her aching abdomen and placing it on her daughter's heart, keeping her other hand wrapped around her daughter's fragile hand.

"Lord, God, please forgive me for my sins," Lilian whispered, bringing her teary eyes up to Heaven as she began reciting a prayer she said daily.

"Our Father, who art in Heaven…"

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Dave sighed, squeezing his wife's hand as he stood. He watched her sleep, the exhaustion of the day evident on the little blonde's face even as she rested. Dave glanced at Stephanie, smiling tiredly at the brunette.

"You okay, Dave?" Stephanie asked tiredly glancing at her watch. It was now five thirty in the afternoon.

"Yeah, I think so," he replied, stretching. "I just need some fresh air."

"Why don't you go take a nap or something before you have to switch off with you Mom," Hunter suggested, referring to the fact that the four were taking shifts with Sophia, staying with the tiny baby in case something happened.

"I might," Dave said with a shrug, bending down to kiss Lilian's forehead. "I think I'll be in the chapel though if you need me," Dave said, walking out of the room.

He made his way to the elevator, nodding towards the nurses who had been with them for the past few hours, making sure Lilian was comfortable and that they had everything they needed. Dave entered the elevator, leaning his tired head back against the wall as he rode down to the bottom floor. With a small sigh, he made his way to the small hospital chapel, relieved to see that there was no one in there.

Dave took a deep breath, settling down in a pew as he looked at the altar, staring blankly at the Bible for a few moments before speaking softly.

"Lord… I know that I'm probably the last person you expect to see in a church or chapel," Dave said quietly. "But please… God… I beg you to watch over Sophia. I don't know what I will do without her… or Lilian. Because I know that if I lose Sophia, then I will lose a part of Lilian too. And that's really selfish of me, but it's true. I don't know if I can bear to see Lilian go through that heartbreak… so please. Let Sophia make it. Because she's already Daddy's little girl."

With that, Dave began sobbing, the noise almost foreign to him… the painful sobs echoing in the small chapel. He buried his face in his hands, ducking his head as he cried.

"Son… are you okay?"

Dave jumped at the voice, hastily wiping at his eyes as he looked up, meeting the concerned gaze of an older gentleman. "I…" Dave began quietly. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about, son. Obviously you are hurting," the man said, placing a hand on Dave's massive shoulder. Dave nodded, wiping away a stray tear with the back of his hand. "What happened?"

"Uh… my daughter. She was born too early," Dave said numbly, staring at the alter, not meeting the man's gentle gaze.

"What's your daughter's name?" the man asked gently, keeping his hand on Dave's shoulder.

"Sophia. Sophia Anne."

"Well, Dave. I must say that your faith impresses me. And if you ask me, I think the Lord will take that into consideration as He looks down upon little Sophia Anne."

"How… how can you be so sure, Sir?" Dave asked, meeting the man's gaze.

The man leaned in, smiling at Dave. "God sees everything," he whispered, patting Dave on the arm and settling back into the pew, staring at the alter as well.

Dave kept his gaze on the man for a few moments before turning his attention to the doorway when he heard the large door creak open. His mother entered the room, a wide smile on her face.

"David, Sophia is breathing… on her own. The doctors said she's going to be fine," she told her son. "Come on. Lil is on her way to N.I.C.U. as well."

Dave finally managed to stand, bringing his gaze back toward the man he was just talking to. "Thank you," he started to say, only to freeze.

There was no one there.

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End Part 4.5