AN: Wow. I have a LOT of people to thank for reviewing last chapter! Becky143jonas, IheartORANGE, XLoendLOLiver4evaX, LolverLova24, xXLysXxNoodlesXx, don't forget to take a breath, princess cutie, and xxMissCutiexx...thanks :) After taking what the reviews said and my own ideas, I have finally finished the fourth tear! Read it the whole way through before you make your final judgement. Hope you like it and R/R.
"I'm going to have to induce labor." Dr. Braden admitted. "If you want any chance of saving your baby."
Lilly started up at Oliver and he looked into her eyes. Oliver felt her fear mix with his own. This was going to be risky and painful, but it had to happen.
"I don't think we'll need to perform a c-section. From the scan it looks like the fetus should be able to untangle itself if it's born naturally. "The doctor's words let a small amount of pressure off of the Okens. Lilly never wanted a c-section, but to Oliver, he didn't think he could handle either way.
"Regardless, it'll be premature, so we need to get out of this room and into one with the proper equipment." The doctor walked over to use the call phone which was mounted on one of the walls. He called for a nurse to ready the room and one to escort Lilly and Oliver.
"A nurse will be here momentarily to take you two to the room." He explained, hanging up the phone. "I have to go get ready for the delivery myself."
"Thank...you." Oliver slowly replied. Dr. Braeden nodded and left the room.
"Ollie?" Lilly looked up at her husband with her deep blue eyes. They had a glossy look to them like tears should be falling, but the body just wouldn't allow it.
"Shh." Oliver replied. "Just don't say anything right now."
"Sh-Sh-Shouldn't you c-call my mom...or M-Miley?"
"Lilly." Oliver was more firm with this response this time. "Not another word. We're going to take this one step at a time. When things calm down, I'll make all the phone calls you want. Right now, you need to relax."
Lilly remained quiet until the nurse came. She took the two of them down the hall and into a special delivery room since the baby would be born significantly premature. Both Oliver and Lilly were given certain clothes to wear. Even though labor was induced, they still had to wait a while. Oliver thought it could be hours, but the medicine started working as soon as it got into Lilly's blood stream. It was only a matter of thirty minutes for Lilly to reach the half way point. There was pain all through out this time, but it wasn't too entirely bad. It wasn't until Lilly was fully ready in less than an hour that the pain began to worsen.
"Well Lilly. It looks like we're ready to go here." Dr. Braeden was called back to deliver the baby.
"Oliver." Lilly's breathing started to pick up. "It- It hurts."
"I know, honey, I know." Oliver reached out and held her hand.
"Giving you an epidural would create an even greater risk. It could even harm you at this point." The doctor said. "I'm sorry that you have to go through it in this way, but you're a tough woman."
"Just don't squeeze my hand so hard that you break all my fingers." Oliver added as a joke. Lilly gave him the ' not now' look at first, but smiled faintly through all the pain after a few seconds.
"Ok Lilly. You're going to have to start doing some work here." Dr. Braeden said. "You have to take deep breaths and count to ten when you push, ok?" Lilly didn't answer because she was already in too much pain to form many words. Oliver knelt down beside her and held on tight to her hand before Lilly tired her first push. She was able to get all the way to ten.
"Very good, Lilly." The doctor praised her. "Take a second to breathe then do it again."
This time, Lilly got to eight seconds before she was in too much pain and had to stop.
"I-I- I..can't. I can't...do this...anymore!" Lilly cried out in between sharp breaths.
"Yes, you can, Lills." Oliver encouraged. "Just relax."
"You w-wouldn't be s-s-aying th-that if it were y-you!" Lilly shouted.
"You don't have much more to go." Dr. Braeden told her. "The sooner the baby is born, the quicker it can get the emergency medical attention it so desperately needs."
After hearing that, Lilly tried to put as much of the pain as she could behind her and attempted push number three.
"I'm, I'm done!" Lilly spat out in immense pain. She had only made it to the five count. "I-It's t-t-too much!"
"One more push will do it." The doctor announced.
"You're almost there!" Oliver exclaimed. "You're just one push away from bringing our son or daughter into the world. I know it hurts, but think of how much more it will if we loose him or her! C'mon, Lilly. You can do it."
Lilly took one last deep breath and gave it all she could. Oliver felt his hand numb from her clenching it so tight, but kept feeding Lilly words of encouragement, until the baby was finally born.
"Well, congratulations." Dr. Braeden said. "You just had a baby girl."
"I-I-Is s-she...a-alive?" That was the first thing that came out of Oliver's mouth. Lilly was still trying to catch her breath and couldn't ask for herself.
"Barely, but in better condition that I had expected." The doctor said. "I've got to get her to the preemie ward...now."
"C-Can't I...hold...her?" Lilly asked quietly, but the doctor had already placed the baby in an incubator and was rushing off down the hall with her. Oliver watched as Lilly sunk her head.
"I'm so proud of you" He told her, parting a few strands of tangled hair from her face and wiping away the sweat that had accumulated on her forehead.
"Oliver. Our daughter is...d-d-dying." Lilly began to sob.
"Shh. She's not going to die." Oliver assured her.
"You...you heard what the doctor said. She's barely alive now! Oh Oliver..." Lilly trailed off.
Oliver took his hand, the one that had not been in Lilly's death grip, and ran it across her cheek, riding her face of all the tears. "Listen to me, Lilly babe. No one could have predicted this. It's not your fault, it's not mine, it's not the doctors. Now that the baby is born, she has a much better chance of surviving. I'm sure she's going to get the best help possible. The doctors here are going to do everything they can. It's up to God and their expertise now...but I have faith that she's going to be ok. You have to start feeling that way, too."
Lilly had stopped her tears and was just listening to Oliver's speech. She didn't reply to him, though.
"You got to believe, Lills." Oliver kissed her forehead. "You've got to believe."
Oliver smiled faintly and hoped that Lilly would do the same. All she did was sigh when Oliver rubbed his hands on her shoulders.
"Hang in there, baby girl." He said, looking down at his wife. "God knows I'm being strong for you."
A nurse eventually came back in the room to check on Lilly. Every time Oliver saw someone set foot in the door way, he'd jump at the chance to ask about their baby girl. The nurse who came in usually didn't know any new information to tell the Okens. What they were told, however, wasn't as bad as they had first imagined. All that was known was that tests were being run for any major problems and that she wasn't breathing too well on her own.
Oliver had pulled over a chair from the other side of the room and sat next to his physically and emotionally spent wife for hours. Lilly had calmed down with time and eventually fell asleep. There was no doubt in Oliver's mind that she was extremely tired from being in labor and all of it's after affects. He, too, was feeling a little sleepy, but he dare not rest his eyes. Although he was able to calm others down with ease, deep inside, Oliver was still a wreck.
"I can't take being strong much longer." He said to himself as he watched Lilly sleep. " But I have to do this for Lilly's sake. I can't let her see me a mess like this. Don't cry, Oken. Don't cry..."
Just as Oliver was nearly ready to loose it, he heard a soft knock at the door. Dr. Braeden poked his head inside.
"Mr. Oken?" He asked. Oliver jolted up from his chair when he heard his name being called.
"Y-Yes, doctor?" Oliver answered quietly.
"How's Lilly?" He asked.
"Sleeping for now." Oliver replied. "B-But how's our baby?"
"That's what I came to talk to you about." Dr. Braeden said. "Since your wife is sleeping, would you mind stepping outside here for a moment?"
"Oh no. This is it. What if something happened to her? What if it's serious? What if she's...How am I going to tell...Why me and Lilly!?" Oliver thought to himself. He swallowed at the lump in his throat. "Uh, s-sure."
"I figured I would tell you this alone and then you would relay it to your wife. I'm sure she would take it better from you." Dr. Braeden began. Oliver didn't like how the conversation was starting out. He feared the worst.
"D-Dr. Braeden." Oliver couldn't look the doctor in the face when he spoke. "P-P-Please don't tell me she...she didn't m- she didn't m-make it..."
"You daughter was in critical condition when she was born." The doctor explained. Oliver felt his heart slowly sinking after every word. "I rushed her to a special intensive care unit for new borns. She had quite a lot of trouble breathing and some complications from being constricted in the way that she was in the womb. My staff and I did all we could."
It now felt like Oliver's own heart had stopped. How he could hold himself up, he didn't know. Oliver opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. That's when Dr. Braeden quickly said one last thing.
"And she's doing a hundred and ten percent better now..."
A shockwave of emotions was sent surging through Oliver.
"You mean she's alive!? She's ok? Our baby's ok!?"
"Yes, she's much better now." Dr. Braeden replied, patting Oliver on the shoulder. "In fact, in a few minutes, she should be transported back to regular nursery. Once that happens, I'll bring her up to you two."
Oliver was ecstatic with this news. It took a lot in him to hold back freaking out, but in a good way. "Thank-you, thank-you, Dr. Braeden!" He said, flinging his hand out to shake the doctors. "You are a miracle worker!"
"You're little girl is tough, just like your wife." The doctor replied. "They both a rough time, but prevailed."
"E-Excuse me, doctor." Oliver said, shaking. "I have to wake Lilly and tell her the good news!"
"Don't give her a heart attack now!" Dr. Braeden joked. "She's had enough treatment for one day!"
Oliver darted back in the room. Lilly was still sleeping soundly. Even though he hated to wake her, Oliver just couldn't keep this kind of news from Lilly any longer than it took for him to hear it himself.
"Lilly?" Oliver called out her name sweetly. He rubbed his hand across her arm. "Wake up, sweety."
Lilly subconsciously stretched out and started to slowly open her eyes. "W-Where's the baby?" She asked, concerned, but r voice was in a mutter.
"I have news." Oliver said, trying to contain his excitement.
Lilly was fully awake by this time. "What news? Oliver, she's not...she's not...tell me she's not-"
"Here she is."
Oliver and Lilly both swung their heads simultaneously to the sound of those three words. There was Dr. Braeden, walking towards them, cradling their baby in his arms. Lilly's mouth dropped and her eyes widened. Oliver just had big smile on his face.
"Here's you're little girl." Dr. Braeden said. He carefully handed the baby over to Lilly with a smile.
"Ollie!" Lilly cried out, softly. "She's..she's beautiful!"
"Sorry we took her from you two so fast, but we had to make sure she was going to be alright." The doctor explained.
"With one look at those eyes, how could you be sorry?" Oliver replied. By now he was beaming with first-time-father pride.
"We rushed things so much that you didn't have the chance to name her." The doctor said. "Do you have one picked out?"
Oliver answered before Lilly even opened her mouth.
"H-Heather. Heather Lillian." Oliver paused briefly before explaining. "After two very special women. The most important one in Lilly's life..." Oliver stared directly into Lilly's eyes, even though he was still talking to the doctor. "And...mine..."
"Well I'm going to let the three of your have you privacy." Dr. Braeden announced. "We're stilling going to have to keep both baby and mother in the hospital for a few more days, just for observation."
"Thank-you." Lilly's words were barely audible. The doctor nodded and left the room.
"Heather Lillian." Lilly looked down at her daughter and smiled. "You picked the perfect name."
"I know how much you love your mom." Oliver replied.
"And the Lillian part?" Lilly asked, smiling up at Oliver.
"That was a no brainer." He replied. He scooted his chair over close enough so that he could wrap his arm around Lilly. Oliver leaned in and kissed his new born daughter's head, eventually leading up to kissing Lilly tenderly.
"My girls." He spoke very softly.
Oliver rested his head on Lilly's and finally let a tear that he had been fighting back for the longest time fall. This was the beginning of a new chapter with the Oken family.
After sitting down and really thinking about this story as a whole (and after all the pleading from the readers :P) I decided I just couldn't let the baby die. It meant too much, and I figured out a bigger and better role for her in the final tear. I hope you guys are pleased with an update and with the outcome. I'm not sure when the final tear will be read for posting, or how many parts it will have. Until then, you can be happy for Oliver and Lilly :)
-drummer8907