A/N: This chapter contains medical information and situations that some may find offensive or disturbing. It is done with the utmost respect to the girl suffering it all and I hope I have done her story justice.
Chapter 3 – Rosie's Angel
3.
EMPOV
I waited until Rosie was far enough away from the house before I started talking to May. I didn't have anything to hide from my wife but I wanted to be able to say what I needed to say without her worrying over hearing it.
I moved up the bed and sat right beside her. She was breathing heavily, like it was an effort just to keep her heart beating. Maybe, by now, it was. She was still in there though, her eyes were still following me as I moved. I took her hand in mine and felt the hot sting of fever in her fingers.
"I wish this could be different." I told her honestly.
She didn't reply, she hadn't spoken to either of us for hours now. Now and then she'd whimper or gurgle, but nothing that made too much sense. She coughed lightly, too tired to give in to the need to really bark. Her chest rattled with every breath and her body shook as the fever raged on unabated.
"I've got so much in my head right now, so much I want to tell you." I told her as I wiped her face with the cool washcloth again. "Your Eric was a good guy. It was obvious he loved you and the baby. Talked about you all the time, couldn't shut him up really." I laughed lightly as much at the lie as at the irony. He'd never said a fucking word, just left her here and gone west. "I've never met a braver human than you May. I bet your kid is gonna be a real live wire if she's anything like you."
I wanted to reassure her that we'd take good care of her, that we'd love her always, but didn't want to give the game away. If she worked out that Eric wasn't going to raise this kid she'd panic, god only knew what that would do to her system.
So I was real careful how I worded things. I checked the IV flow and mopped up her sweat again. "I want to make a promise to you May. I want you to know I'll do everything I can for your baby. I'll always be there for her, no matter what. I'll come running whenever she calls. I'll make sure she has everything she needs. Hell, I'll spoil her rotten." I chuckled.
May moaned and shifted her hips a little on the bed. For the millionth time I wished Ed was here, he'd be able to read the baby and tell us what was going on with it.
"I'm gonna try and talk Eric into bringing her home with us, to Forks, that's in Washington. There are heaps of us there so they won't be alone. She can learn about herself there, with our Renesmee. She'd have a good life there. I promise."
Of course she didn't say anything. She whimpered a bit as she tried to move but she didn't say anything. She brought a hand up and over her belly and began rubbing it idly. "Let me." I told her, shifting her hand back to her side.
She'd been sore for days and at the beginning she'd told us that it hurt her when the baby kicked. She said it felt like being punched from the inside. Rosie told me she was bruised all over, that her skin was purple under the nightgown. She said that every move the baby made hurt May badly but she never complained, never cursed and never gave in.
I rubbed the heel of my hand across the lump where she'd been rubbing. I tried to be real careful, not push too hard. She sighed, I hoped in contentment, so I kept rubbing while I talked to her.
"She'll like Forks. It rains all the time which sucks, but at least we can go out a lot." I told her. I changed the way I rubbed her tummy so the skin didn't get irritated. She sighed again so I kept going. She didn't close her eyes as I spoke this time, she watched me. "Eddie is building a school close by. He wants us all to teach there. My sister is going to teach photography and my other sister will teach fashion and design. She's such a girl." I chuckled. "I'm going to teach construction. I only just finished my degree so it will be new for me, but I like kids and I think I could be good at it. Eddie is building a wood shop and a metal shop too."
She started coughing then so I helped her to sit up and I patted her back carefully to loosen the mucus in her lungs like Carlisle had told me to do. I helped her to sip some water and then laid her back on the pillows. "You're doing real well May." I told her. I sat back on the edge of the bed and kept talking. I'd keep going until Rosie came back, then I'd run. "I think you'd like our mom. Esme is her name. She was turned real young but always wanted to be a mom. Did you always want kids?" I asked. I waited for a reply but of course none came. "I bet you did. Girls always think about that stuff huh? Like weddings and first dates and stuff. I never used to think about it, but when I was changed and couldn't have kids, well, then I started thinking about it. But it never bothered me like it does my Rosie."
I was treading dangerously close to murky information waters so I changed tack a little. "We'll make Eric and your little one real comfortable out there, if he'll come. I'll build them a little cottage of their own. We did that for Eddie and Bella, you know?" I asked, as if she were holding up her end of the conversation. "Yeah, when they got married and had the munchkin we renovated a little cottage at the edge of our property for them. They live there mostly, but sometimes they stay at the big house with us. The big house, that's what we call the Cullen house. It's huge. Three floors. Pretty impressive. Esme likes big places, gives everyone a space of their own. Bella's even got a darkroom there. Eddie plays the piano and he's got a beaut in the living room at the big house. Your little one can learn from him too if she wants. Our Nessa does, she could play before she could walk!" I scoffed. I knew I was bragging but I wanted her to know, even if I had to lie about Eric being there too, that her baby would have a good life with us. A privileged life too. With nice things and love and affection and security.
I was toying with the idea of telling her about the boat and the pool house when I heard Rosie coming through the trees at the back of the house. My time was up.
"Rosie's coming now May. She's gonna want to talk to you too. I'm going to love your little girl May. I want you to know that. It might not make sense to you right now, but I want you to know that I'll love her, I'll keep her safe for you and I'll teach her real good. She'll never be alone May."
Her eyes bored into mine and I wondered if I'd gone too far. She looked frightened.
I patted her hand one more time then left the room. I met Rosie on the landing. She looked like someone who was heading towards the noose. I knew how she felt.
She squeezed my hand but didn't say anything. I was good with that. If I tried to say anything to her I'd probably blub like a pussy anyway. This way I could just slip out the back door and go for a run without her knowing I was a big girl.
RPOV
It wasn't often that Emmett looked like he was about to drop his bundle. If he started crying I was done for. I had no resolve when it came to that shit. If he lost it I'd follow. It was like a gag reflex. I was a sympathetic crier. I hid it well with sniffles and scowls, but Em knew that if he started blubbing I'd go right along with him. I think that's why he high-tailed it out of the house so quickly after I arrived back.
I'd given him a solid hour with May and I hoped it had been enough for him to say what he needed to say to her.
When he was gone for a few minutes I went into the bedroom. She looked awful. Gaunt I think the word is. Her cheeks were hollow now and her eyes looked scared and dull.
The drip was still running but I knew it wasn't doing any good. She was so unresponsive now I wondered if she knew who she was, let alone who we were. I had hoped, over the past few days, that she'd be comatose when the baby was born just so she would be spared the emotional and physical pain of it. But she was holding on.
I sat on the edge of the bed and began where Em had left off. I wiped her forehead with the damp washcloth and straightened her blankets. I adjusted the thin strip of bandage across the back of her hand so the tubing wouldn't pinch from the IV and it wouldn't pull at her skin.
She hadn't spoken for a few hours, the effort was probably just too much for her now. I didn't know how to begin saying what I needed to say so I was quiet for a little while too.
I took her frail hand and stroked her thumb with mine. "This won't make any sense to you right now but I need to make you a promise." I told her cryptically. "I promise, no matter what, that I will love and protect your little girl May. Eric will need some help raising her and he hasn't mentioned any family of his own, so I want to ask him to bring your little one out west with us. We have a good life there, they'll be safe and she'll have opportunities there. She can learn about what she is from our Nessa and everyone will adore her like they adore our niece. My sister Alice, she's the girly girl of our group, she's going to love your little one, if Eric will bring her of course. She dressed Nessa every day. A new outfit every day since she was born, can you believe that? And Emmett built her a little nursery high up on the third floor beside Edward's suite, it's gorgeous. Eric and the baby can stay there, they'd be real comfortable, I promise." I was rambling and I knew it, but couldn't stop.
It was easier to tell her inane lies about Eric being with the baby than it was to tell her the truth. I wanted to tell her how fucking sorry I was that she had to die, I wanted to tell her how guilty I was feeling for being excited about the baby. I wanted to confess that Eric was gone and promise the girl that I'd never, ever leave her baby alone, not for a single day of its life would it feel abandoned or an orphan. I wanted her to know that we'd love it as if she was of our own flesh and blood. But I couldn't. So I did my best to make her comfortable as we awaited the end.
I mopped up the sweat on her forehead again and helped her to sit up a little so she could sip the cool water from her cup. A loud cracking sound echoed around the silent room. May cried out a little and slumped back onto the pillows.
I looked over her but saw no obvious signs of anything being wrong, but the sound had been so loud. I jumped from the bed and ran to the window.
"Em!" I shouted, hoping he wasn't too far away.
I went back to the side of the bed and saw that May had passed out. She was completely floppy, like a rag doll, and slumped sideways as though she didn't have time to right herself before losing consciousness.
"Em!" I shouted again in panic.
Another loud crack rang around the room, this time I'd been close enough to hear where it had come from. Her bones were breaking as the baby moved inside her!
I flew down the stairs and snatched the cell phone off the kitchen counter. I dialled as I ran back up the stairs.
"Dad I think her pelvis just cracked, maybe a rib." I shouted into it when Carlisle answered.
"Oh god, I was hoping that wouldn't happen. Rosie, honey, it's time to deliver that baby." He told me quietly.
"Jesus, I don't know if I can. Carlisle I can't bite her, I don't want to be the one to bite her." I was screaming all this into the phone in a panic. Emmett flew into the room and took the phone from me.
"Talk to me doc." He said as he went into the bedroom. "She looks like she's unconscious. Yeah, right...and what then?" He was asking. "Okay, hang on." He put the phone on the mattress and came towards me. "Rosie, babe, it has to be now love, Carlisle says we have to do it now, just in case the baby is sick or it tries to bite its way out of her." He was holding my shoulders now but I was crying and looking from him to May and back again. "Rosie, look at me babe, Rosie!" He shouted and I startled enough to blink hard and look at him more fully.
"What?" I barked.
"I'll do it, you don't have to, but you have to be here, you have to talk me through it, you have to help me after...after I've bitten through, alright?" He asked.
All I could do was nod. I didn't want this, I didn't want to help, shit I didn't even want to be in the same state as what was about to go down. But I nodded all the same. I couldn't let that baby die.
EMPOV
I went to the box of supplies on the floor in the bathroom and took out the syringe and the little clear bottle that Carlisle had ordered for me. It was morphine and I'd made him promise, right at the start, that even though it wouldn't help her heal we'd use as much as was safe during the birth to make sure she felt no pain.
I took the needle and the bottle back into the bedroom and put it on the mattress beside May. Carlisle was still on the line so I told him to tell me what to do first.
"Fill the syringe son, as much as it will take, the dose won't matter now." He told me and I hurried to do as he instructed.
I pulled the plunger all the way back, sucking as much morphine into the chamber as I could. I felt some sense of urgency, as though I should hurry, but I didn't know why. I didn't want to ask either, if Rosie was shouting for help then something had happened. Rosie didn't shout for nothing.
"Okay, done that doc." I told Carlisle. I moved to the head of the bed and waited for him to tell me how to give the medicine to her.
"Just inject it straight into the catheter in her hand Em. Do it now and give it a minute to let it work, you can get everything else organised while it does what it's supposed to."
I slid the tip of the needle into the little tube taped to the back of May's hand and pushed the plunger all the way in.
I threw the needle into the box, no need to worry about getting pricked, and told Carlisle I was done.
"Good. Rosie you need to be ready to receive the baby once Emmett gets her out. Not now! Go away!" Carlisle shouted and I stopped dead in my tracks.
"What the hell, doc?" I asked.
"Sorry about that, I'm at the hospital, interns keep knocking on my door." He told me and I chuckled. "Right, Rosie you get ready to grab the baby when Em gets her out. Get a clean towel or a blanket. Em you need to be prepared with the scalpel son. Tell me when you're both ready to begin."
I looked at Rosie who looked about ready to puke. Her eyes were huge as she looked from me to May and back again. "Rosie? You ready babe?" I asked her.
She bent and took a clean towel off the chair by the bed and nodded weakly.
I had the scalpel in my hand and was about to tell the doc to go ahead when Rosie stopped me.
"Wait." She cried. I waited. She put the towel on the bed and leaned over May. She put her lips to the girl's ear and whispered.
"We'll love her like our own May, I promise you. She'll know you, through us, I swear. Goodbye beautiful girl." She whispered in a cracked voice.
She moved away again and took up the towel. She nodded at me but I couldn't move. I just stared at my wife for a long minute. She was changing before my very eyes. She nodded at me again and I took a deep breath.
"Okay doc." I said real quietly.
I heard Carlisle take a deep breath and then I was cutting.
It sounded so gross as it slid through her skin. She splayed open so easily. It was like a hot knife through butter. Blood didn't spray out like I thought it would. It's what would've happened in the movies. Instead it just sort of bubbled up at the edges of the cut and ran down her belly towards her knickers.
She didn't move and she made no sound. The only sound in the room was her heartbeat. It thumped so loudly now her blood had been spilled. I didn't have time to decide if I wanted it or not, I just listened to Carlisle as he told me what to do.
Rose was holding her breath, I could see her lips pursed shut tight. I couldn't help her now if her thirst ignited so I ignored her and tried to concentrate on what I was about to have to do.
"Bite as low down as you can Em. Across her pubic bone if you can. You might need to pull the two flaps of skin and muscle aside..." He said but I stopped him.
"Yeah doc, too much information. How about I just bite the kid out?" I shouted.
I didn't hear his reply because I just took another deep breath and bent my head over her bulging belly. I ran my fingers over the line I was going to bite and then I shut my eyes. I didn't want to do this but I wanted this kid like I'd never wanted anything in my existence. I wanted it for me and for Rosie and for May. I closed my eyes and pulled my teeth away from my lips and then I bit down hard.
RPOV
It sounded like metal being shredded apart. Emmett bit again and again. I was useless to him. He said he needed me to talk him through it but I was struck dumb.
The sight of it was bad enough, but the sound, I'll never forget it.
May's heart was slowing. Its sound was erratic now. I willed her away, wanting her to go as quickly and as peacefully as she could. I didn't want her to have to live through the horrible sounds of her baby being bitten from within her belly.
Another sound then, like the mewling of a kitten.
Emmett stood away from May's body and wiped his mouth on the hem of his shirt. He was covered in blood.
"I'm through doc." He told Carlisle.
"Reach in and pull the baby out. Snap the cord with your nails, it'll heal on its own in minutes."
Emmett looked to me. "You ready babe?" He asked.
All I could do was nod. There was nothing more to do or say. This was it.
He put his hands on either side of the line he'd bit through and with his fingers he pushed the two halves apart. The same strange noise echoed around the room. As though a tiny kitten was being groomed by its mother. I heard a sloshing sound and then a high pitched wail as Emmett brought his hands back up in front of him.
In them was the bloodied body of a baby. It writhed and cried as he held it out to me. I stretched my hands across May's body and let him put it in the towel. I slid the two sides of the towel together and held the baby tightly.
"Rub the baby Rosie, get its blood moving. Let me know what you see." Carlisle said.
I rubbed. The baby kept wailing, it was so loud in the little bedroom. It kicked and wriggled as I rubbed it all over with the soft towel. When I thought I'd rubbed enough I put the bundle in the crook of my arm and ventured a peek inside it.
It had bright pink skin and brown eyes and was looking at me as though I owed it money. The most serious little face I'd ever seen stared back up at me. A hand reached out from the towel and I put my finger into it. It was warm. Really warm. Its little heart beat fluttered like the wings of a bird.
"What do you see Rosie, is the baby alright?" Carlisle was asking me.
"It's warm. Should it be warm?" I asked a little panicked.
"Yes. Renesmee was warm. Can you hear its heartbeat?" He asked.
"Yes." I listened for half a minute and counted the beats. I doubled it and told Carlisle it was beating at 160 beats per minute. He said that was perfect.
"Does the baby appear ill at all?" He asked next.
I unwrapped the towel a little bit and looked over its head and neck. I ran a hand over its bulging belly and around its back a little bit. I looked over the hand that was already out of the wrapping and then I checked the other hand. "So far it's perfect. I'll put it down and check all over." I told him.
He was chuckling then and I wondered why. I looked to Em to see if he knew and saw him hovering over May. I choked back a sob. The baby had enthralled me so completely I'd forgotten about May!
"Em?" I asked.
"Should I try and change her Carlisle?" He yelled, startling both me and the baby.
"I don't know, I can't see what you can see Em. Try, you've nothing to lose." Carlisle told him.
He threw me a pleading look and I grimaced. I knew how it was done, of course, but having to do it was another thing. He didn't wait for my opinion.
I watched in fascinated horror as he bent over her body again and began to bite her. First at her wrists then at her elbows. Her throat, collarbones, waist thighs and then ankles. He swore loudly in between each bite, imploring May to fight, that he couldn't do it on his own, that he needed her to want to live.
I could still hear her heartbeat but it was feint now, barely above a whisper.
I wrapped the baby up tightly in the towel and set it in the middle of the bed so it wouldn't roll off. Then I crawled across the mattress towards May. I took her hand into mine and started begging her like Emmett was. He forced more and more venom into her system with each bite. In a few minutes she was covered in silvery double crescent shapes but her heart still sputtered and gurgled unevenly.
"How long should it take?" Emmett yelled.
"Only a minute or two, you'll know in a minute or two, son. Be patient a little longer."
Her hand was cooling in mine. I didn't know if that was because she was beginning her change or dying.
"Come on May, you gotta fight with me girl. Your baby's here and it's gonna need its mother, come on, you made it this far. Rosie, tell her." He growled.
"He's right May, you have to fight. It's not so bad, being like us, come on, come back to us." I begged with every ounce of emotion I had in me. I wanted the baby but I'd much rather it have its mother. "Come on, please, fight please." I begged.
Emmett bent his lips to her again and again. Forcing more and more venom inside her. Her skin tore easily under his teeth as he made more and more incisions. His tongue darted out and across each one, sealing it shut to keep the venom in her system.
I rubbed her all over, trying to force his venom to move through her veins and reach her heart. It was still beating, I could tell which was hers and which was the baby's heartbeat. Hers seemed shallow, as though it echoed inside a hollow body. Maybe it was.
"What do you see?" Carlisle asked.
"Nothing, I see nothing. She's cooling down but nothing's different, god, what do I do?" Emmett thundered, startling the baby and making it cry again.
I kept rubbing May's leg with one hand and reached over to pat the baby on its tummy with the other. It quieted instantly. Incredible I thought as I turned my attention back to its mother. "Come on May, the baby needs you, let the venom take you, please."
I let the baby go and rubbed harder. I was bruising her leg as I tried to force the venom upwards but I didn't care. If it worked she'd heal anyway as she moved through her change.
"Can you still smell the morphine in her veins?" Carlisle asked.
"Yes, its feint though, I smell more venom than morphine." Emmett told him.
"Good. Her heart, what is her heart doing?" He asked.
Emmett seemed calmer for a second as he laid his head on her chest and listened. "It's slowing. Is it supposed to be? Does that mean its working, her heart has to stop before she's changed, right doc?" He asked hopefully.
I didn't need to wait for the answer. I'd been there when Esme was changed and Emmett too. I knew how it worked. Her heart was supposed to race if it was working. Her heart had to beat faster not slower, it had to use up all the human blood it could and speed towards its last beat. May was dying.
"No son, if it was working it would be flying by now." Carlisle took a deep breath and sighed as he let it out. "I'm so sorry Em, she's too far gone to be changed."
EMPOV
I snapped the cell phone shut, effectively hanging up on my father. I couldn't listen to his sorry's anymore.
I'd failed. Failed her and the baby. I was so sure I could do it. So convinced that if I was careful and treated her right she'd pull through, be changed and have a chance to raise the baby herself. It would cripple Rosie if it worked, she wanted this baby like nothing else, but I had to try.
But I'd failed.
I put my head to her belly and cried. Like the big pussy I was I cried for May. Rosie stroked my hair with one hand and the baby with the other. It was gurgling away quite happily as long as Rosie touched it. As soon as she withdrew her hand it wailed.
May was so still, so quiet. Her breathing was so shallow it hardly made her chest expand at all as she drew her last breaths through her parted lips.
I sat back up, I didn't want to waste the last few minutes of the poor girl's life. I grabbed the washcloth and dried the sweat from her face. I arranged her nightgown so she was covered modestly and then I dragged the blankets back up over the gaping hole in her stomach.
To an onlooker she just looked like she was asleep. Peaceful.
Rosie put the baby on her chest then. She turned it so its little face could see its mother. I didn't even know if it was a girl yet. Had May had more intuition than Bella had?
May's heart spluttered and I thought it might be the end but it lurched into rhythm again a few seconds later. But we both knew it was nearing the end, it couldn't keep going the way it was, with all her organs failing and the lack of oxygen to her brain in between moments when her heart didn't beat at all.
"Goodbye May. I'll keep my promises." I told her, patting her on the cheek one last time.
"And I'll keep mine May, I promise." Rosie said. She put her hand on May's forehead and then leant down to kiss her gently on the cheek.
She took my hand across May's body and we both watched and listened for the time when her heart would not restart of its own accord.
We didn't have to wait long.
It stopped again and we both held our breath waiting for it to kick back in. It never did. Instead she let out a soft sigh and then passed away. With her baby on her chest she left this life and went on to the next. I hoped it was better for her than this one had been.
Rosie was sobbing quietly. I squeezed her hand and let out the breath I'd been holding.
"Take the baby, love." I told her. She nodded and pulled the baby to her breast. "Go, I'll sort her out. I won't be long."
Rosie left the room and went downstairs with the baby. I followed her out onto the landing and got some clean sheets from the linen cupboard. I wrapped May's body in them and then put her back onto the bed. I closed the windows and the door behind me as I went out onto the landing again. I dialled Edward's cell. He answered on the first ring.
"Is it over?" He asked cautiously. I figured he either wasn't alone or he couldn't speak freely, otherwise he'd not have worded it that way.
"Yeah. What do I do now?" I asked.
"It's taken care of. They'll come in an hour. Are you alright?" He asked.
I must have been right, he wasn't alone. "I'm okay. The baby's fine by the look of it and so's Rosie. Thanks for everything Ed, I'll call back after they've been."
I hung up, not wanting to prolong the conversation. If he couldn't speak freely I didn't want to have to either. I'd tell him details when we got home.
I didn't know who 'they' were, but I told Rosie they were coming for May in an hour. She nodded but said nothing. She just sat on the sofa with the baby in her lap. She rocked front to back a little bit, like I'd seen human mothers do with their babies. She was so beautiful. I dropped a kiss on her hair and sat down beside her.
"I know I don't say it enough, babe, but I love you." I said in a whisper.
She smiled at me but returned her eyes to the baby. "I love you too, babe." She tugged at the edges of the towel and held a piece in each hand. "I don't know if it's a boy or a girl, you ready to find out?" She asked.
I chuckled. "Yeah, I reckon I am. Hang on a minute though, okay?" She stilled her hands and I leant over the baby a little. "I promised your mother I'd give you this when you were finally born." I bent over a bit more and kissed the baby's forehead. "I don't know if you can understand me yet, but Nessa could, so I'll go out on a limb and assume. Your mother and father loved you very much, so much they were willing to risk their lives for you. They did and they lost the bet little one. That leaves you with us. Hell of a hand to be dealt so young." I shook my head at the injustice of it all. "So I'm going to be your dad and Rosie is going to be your mom. I promise we'll try to do our best for you." I kissed it again on the cheek and then I sat back.
Rosie was beaming at me. She leaned over and kissed my cheek. "You're such a big sap Emmy, that was beautiful, I hope it can understand you because if it remembers that it will be the best first memory ever."
I smiled as wide as I could. That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me. And it came from Rosie!
"Go on then, let's find out if we have a daughter or a son." I told her to shake us from the sombre moment.
"Here goes." She laughed.
She peeled the pieces of cloth away and we both took a quick peek. She giggled and I laughed.
"It's a girl." We both said together.
"Angel." Rosie whispered.
"Rosie's Angel." I whispered.
A/N: Thank you for reading. Another tough chapter to write, I hope you can see past it and welcome little Angel into the fold. It's been a rough start for her, like Nessa's was.
One more chapter, to bring her home and introduce her into the Cullen clan. Then on to book four proper.
Please review if you've enjoyed it and if you haven't write and tell me where I went wrong.