A/N: Sorry for posting so late. Rough night and real life, ya know. But Orihime's baby is here! Keep reading, keep reading! I won't spoil anything!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Bleach, all rights go to Kubo.
Tatsuki finished outlining her picture of a turtle with a green crayon. She sat up and shrugged indifferently when she noticed that a few green strokes crossed the thick, black line that made the curve on the reptile's back.
The tom-boy leaned over the kitchen table to see what the child had conjured up on his paper.
"What are you doing?" Tatsuki asked, only catching a glance of the drawing from her inverted position.
Tamotsu's pink tongue darted out from the corner of his mouth, his brow fall inward in deep focus, a trait of concentration he undoubtedly inherited from his mother. "Drawing a picture of mommy..."
Tatsuki pushed up on her chair until it balanced on its front two legs to get a better view. "What's that?" She tapped her finger on the peach colored blob with green and purple surrounded it.
"The baby." Tamotsu muttered. Irritation accompanied his voice with frustration. But he remembered to not raise his voice because his daddy said that Grandpa needed his rest because his heart was hurting.
Tamotsu twirled the paper until it faced the women and tapped each image on at a time. "This is mommy." Tatsuki could make that much out. It was Orihime with her unmistakable hair and large grey eyes, very exaggerated. "That's daddy, and me." At the corner was obviously Ichigo and Tamotsu. But the one thing that bothered her was the swirling colorful thing Orihime was holding...
Tatsuki squinted at the mass. "It looks more like... Oh! Oh, the baby!" Tatsuki nodded, remembering that Tamotsu though babies came from a garden in the womb. "I see it now." He had such a vivid imagination, it was almost frightening.
Tamotsu looked back down at the picture with nonchalance and using a blue crayon, filled in the sky.
Ichigo stomped through the kitchen a few minutes later, opening and closing the refrigerator huffily, making all of the bottles and containers rattle together. He slipped his phone out of his pocket, sighed, and shoved it back down into it's warm pouch.
"Still stressing about calling her?" Tatsuki called from the kitchen table.
Ichigo grumbled and torn open a bag cereal just to have a few suppressed pieces fly all across the counter.
His attention caught, Tamotsu watched his father ready a bowl of Captain Crunch Berries and sit down at the kitchen table, sulking.
"I don't want to interrupt." Ichigo finally said after a spoonful or two. "And I just can't call in the middle of the trial process. It'll 'reflect badly' and portray Orihime as an 'careless' parent." Ichigo lifted his hand tiredly and made quotation gestures with his two fingers.
"What a load of-" Curiosity flashed through Tamotsu's face almost willing his father to dare say a bad word.
Ichigo stared back uneasily and huffed again. "...Baloney."
"When they're done, she'll call you." Tatsuki said from the kitchen counter, pulling out the contents for peanut butter and jelly. "Has she called yet?"
Ichigo sat back in his chair, disgusted with his now soggy cereal. "No."
A plate appeared in front of Tamotsu, smelling of wheat, preserves, and peanuts. He smiled greedily and took a large bite out of one half of the sandwich.
"Then they're not done." Tatsuki stated as she set a cup of water by Tamotsu's plate which he happily sipped to remove the peanut butter from sticking to the top of his throat and in between where his missing tooth once dwelled.
"I'm sure Orihime is fine. She's a big girl." Tatsuki said matter-of-factly. "I believe that's what she's trying to prove by doing this alone."
Ichigo left the table and dumped the sodden cereal down the sink's drain.
Was it a crime to worry about his wife?
When had it became frowned upon that a man should feel concern for his women?
After much thought, Ichigo shook his head and retired to the living room's sofa. Orihime wasn't in any imminent danger. And if she was, there would be a bleeping message on his phone by now...
...
Orihime painfully waddled through the automatic sliding doors, moving as quickly as she could. She felt like an oversized duck trying to scuttle its way to the river.
Of course, the pain wasn't a walk in the park either.
Once she reached the desk, it didn't take long to grab the receptionist's attention with her labored breathing. "Ha-hi... Could I see a doctor please? It's urgent."
The receptionist peeked over the counter to see Orihime's protruding belly. Her face went through several emotions zigzagging from confusion to realization to professionalism. "Oh! Oh, yes!" The nurse rolled back in her chair and produced a collection of papers. "Could you just wait right there, fill out these forms and one will be with you and your husband in a minute."
Husband?
The pregnant woman's face reddened and she cautiously glanced over her shoulder as she suddenly became aware of a warm presence behind her.
Aizen's face sat completely still at the receptionist's comment, though his large hand, which supported her back, stiffened ever so slightly.
Orihime shook her head as she turned back to the desk. "N-no... he's not..." But the woman, now inconveniently speaking into a phone, wasn't paying attention anymore.
Orihime grabbed the forms off of the counter and glanced back up at Sousuke again. He was staring back down at his phone, frowning.
...Now that Orihime realized it... Sousuke helped her journey from the courtroom all the way to the hospital.
His hand never left her backside since the moment her water broke, he was there, from one side of the room to the other, somehow, immediately, and when they entered the car -which Orihime now remembered as his car-, talking on the phone furiously, his hand never left, and up to now.
Now, Orihime wanted to protest, but his hand was firm and gentle. Supporting the back pain. She wasn't going to mind... at least at the moment she wasn't.
Aizen's firm hand guided her away from the counter and into the waiting area.
Last time Orihime was in labor, the hospital gave her a wheelchair and took her immediately to the examination room and was soon moved to the delivery room.
This time around, she was given paperwork which needed to be filled out. Which was fine and dandy but she was in labor!
Orihime wrote down each answer quickly, only stopping and squeezing her small hand around the pen when a contraction presented itself.
She blew out hot air and Aizen's strong fingers pushed against her spine, massaging and kneading, relieving any pain as the contraction subsided.
"Hello, Mrs. Kurosaki." Unohana's kind face smiled down at the pregnant woman.
Orihime was thankful to see a familiar that yanked her out of the tension growing between the duo. She shook her hand gladly and, to her embarrassment, needed Aizen's help standing up.
"Hello, Dr. Unohana. Ready for round two?"
Unohana chuckled at the banter and seized the papers Orihime held and pulled out a few files of her own. "You don't need to finish filling this out." Unohana tucked the papers in her clipboard. "I have your paperwork right here."
As if she hadn't noticed him before, for Unohana was very perceptive, she lifted her eyebrow slightly at Sousuke Aizen then gathered them into the hall. "Come this way."
Orihime learned that if she was around Unohana, it'd be best to try to catch all her little innuendos, remarks, slights and looks which were always coated sugar, throwing her opponent off track.
Just like her chemistry with Ichigo the day she had Tamotsu. It was odd, a little awkward almost. The air didn't feel right between then and Ichigo reluctantly spoke around her.
Orihime continued waddling down the hall, Aizen's strong hand on her back, trying not to think too hard about it.
Orihime needed to stay focused. She was going to have a baby after all.
...
They made Orihime change into a hospital gown and forced her to take a few test to see how far along she was, which was ridiculous because if anyone one of those nurses knew what the pain of labor felt like, they'd understand that she wanted it out then and there. What was the point of those stupid tests anyway?
Orihime stared warily at the IV connected to her arm. Already they've injected her with a bunch of different drugs because she was preterm. They've already monitored her blood pressure, the baby's blood pressure, their breathing. She needed rest though from all the commotion and ruckus and from the movement inside her, Orihime could tell her baby girl was enjoying the attention. "Can a make a call...?"
Unohana finished disconnecting Orihime from the heart rate machine. "In a second." She said and scrawled a few notes down on her clipboard.
... And, Orihime might had left her purse in the courtroom. On her way over to the hospital, she searched for her bag to call Ichigo, but it wasn't anywhere in sight. It normally hung loosely on her arm, but instead of a bag, there a was Sousuke.
"I really have to contact my hus-"
Unohana dismissed her words. "From our test, you are currently in active labor." Unohana looked up from her clipboard. "When did early labor start again?"
Orihime rubbed under her belly and breathed through another contraction. "Sometime last night... around, I don't know... Eleven o'clock."
Unohana nodded and in walked another nurse. "Are you getting the epidural? So we can prepare?"
Orihime shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She's heard of the process of epidurals, reading baby and mother forums online when the house was sleeping. She wasn't too fond of the thought of having needles going through her back. In fact, it was quite repulsive. "I wasn't planning on it..."
Unohana said she understood her concern and explain to Orihime that the needles actually didn't hurt at all.
Orihime wanted to ask if she even gotten the epidural before, but bit her tongue for her words would had seemed rude and offensive.
The doctor drew attention to the nurse who waited patiently in the corner. Unohana rested her hand on her shoulder and introduced the young girl. "This is Emiko. She's here to check your cervix."
Emiko was small girl as opposed to Isane, who, surprisingly, wasn't in sight. Emiko had blonde roots and huge eyes, like the way a fish goggles at humans in their fishbowls then swim away, frightened by an intruding finger tapping on the glass home.
Emiko waved giddily at Orihime. "Hi!"
"Hi..."
To be honest, Orihime wasn't so sure about her. Maybe it was her blonde roots or fish-face, but she seemed young and inexperienced. This out Orihime at an unease.
Emiko put on her latex gloves and got to work. Orihime didn't dare look at Aizen. He was looking down at his phone again but he knew that she knew that he wasn't really paying attention to what was on that screen.
"This is my first actual delivery on the job!" Emiko said happily while still working down under. "This is so exciting!" The young girl sat up and looked over Orihime's knees to see her face. I could not have been possible but her fish-eyes grew wider. "Does it hurt?"
"Emiko..." Unohana's pleasant voice filled the room though they all knew her words weren't meant to sound nice. "Please, get back to work."
The young girl's face paled and she ducked down between Orihime's knees again.
"Oh, right..."
After a few more seconds of probing and feeling she sat back up and pulled her latex gloves off. "All done! You're six centimeter dilated and eighty percent effaced, really thin. Wow, I think it'll be coming soon... you're moving along quickly."
Orihime was still unsure about the young girl, so she looked up at her doctor. "Unohana?"
Unohana smiled sweetly. "You'll be fine," she assured.
Orihime didn't know every muscle in her body was tense because when she relaxed back down on the bed, her body felt weaker than it was before. But the weakness didn't last long, after another contraction passed, she felt her body pump its strength back, preparing for the delivery of her baby.
"Okay..." Orihime took a deep breath. "Can I make that phone call now...?"
...
Tamotsu had grown bored.
He tired of playing ball with Tatsuki and the endless, meaningless coloring. He could only be told he could draw well so many times.
Tamotsu stared at Kon, lying motionless on the floor. The child picked him up and hugged the orange lion tightly. He could always count on his plushie best friend.
Ichigo sat on the old family couch. He had just gotten off the phone with Karin. She called again to talk to Isshin but Ichigo put her off, telling Karin that their dad was sleeping and he needed his rest.
To his chagrin, Karin then lectured him on treating Orihime right. She told him that next time he sees her, if she looks the slightest bit upset at his expense, she would personally rip him to shreds.
"Daddy, play hide and seek with me!"
"Not now Tamotsu..." Ichigo said as he placed the phone back into its base. He was mentally exhausted at this point. Worrying about Orihime was exhausting. Worrying about his dad was exhausting. Speaking to Karin, which normally calm him, had become exhausting. He was in no way, shape or form or in the mood to play hide and seek.
Tamotsu stuffed Kon under one hand and tugged at his father's pants with the other. "Play ball with me? Hide and seek?"
"Tamotsu, I can't." Ichigo massaged the bridge of his nose, knowing that no matter how hard he rubbed, his headache wasn't going away. Not knowing the state his wife was in was killing him inside.
Tamotsu's seem that gesture before. When daddy held his nose like that, it meant that daddy needed alone time. Alone time to think of get his papers and job done. That's how mommy explained it to him.
The child cocked his head to the side, like a bird. Maybe mommy was the problem... If mommy wasn't here, than she had to be somewhere... right?
"Is mommy okay?" The child asked his father.
Ichigo looked down at the boy. He placed Kon back up to his chest and hugged the damned stuffed animal close. Ichigo sighed. "Mommy's fine." Ichigo grabbed his son by the waist and set him on his lap. "She's alright." Tamotsu nodded and Ichigo did too, secretly reassuring himself more than his son.
As if some higher entity answered their prayers, Ichigo phone vibrated and he snatched it up before looking at the ID. "Hello?"
A recognizable female voice answered. "Ichigo?"
"Orihime!"
Ichigo heart thumped against his chest, nearly ripping the layers between bone and skin to burst through his breast. "Where are you? Is the baby okay?"
"It's... I'm... I'm in the... Karakura Hospital."
The man slipped the boy off his lap and stood. "...Did something go wrong...?"
There was a momentary silence and Ichigo began to worry that there really was something wrong. His fears were true! As clumsy as Orihime was maybe she slipped and fell, or bumped in to a desk really hard. Maybe there was a car crash and- Oh God he didn't want to think about it.
"No... We're both fine... I'm... I am in labor."
Ichigo grasped his orange hair. "Christ! We-we got to go!" He scooped up Tamotsu and called up the stairs for Isshin and for Tatsuki to get the infant car seat. "We'll be there in a minute." He said into the phone and heard Orihime's muffled laughter.
Orihime sighed tiredly into the phone and giggled some more. "Get here soon... I don't want you to miss this."
"Okay!" Ichigo headed for the door, Tamotsu's legs were wrapped around his waist, clinging onto his father's shirt. "Um... We have to go! And you have to... you just relax! Okay?" Ichigo mentally smacked himself when he realized that the their baby bag was at home.
"Yes, okay." Orihime nodded, amused by the commotion going on at the other end of the line. "And Ichigo?"
"Huh? Yes?" he huffed as he cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear while simultaneously tucking Tamotsu into his booster chair.
Orihime listen to his labored breathing for a few seconds. If she didn't know any better, she'd say he was the one about the delivery a baby. "Get here soon... I love you."
Ichigo barked a few more orders in the background. "Love you too," were the last words he said.
Orihime heard the line go dead and the sizzle of static that followed after.
Orihime lowered her arm onto the bed and stared at Aizen's Iphone. After endless phone complaints, he let her borrow his'. It was very nice of him. It made her realize that he wasn't that bad of a man... She means... he did have feelings for her once before, didn't he?
Aizen still sat quietly in a chair in the corner of the room. The nurses still thought that he was the father so he was allowed to stay in the delivery room thus this far.
When he saw that she was finished with his phone he walked over and waited as she handed it back.
Orihime placed it softly in the palm of his hand and spoke before he could walk away.
"Sousuke... Th-"
"I'll leave when he gets here." He said, meeting her eye but she looked away before their orbs could fasten.
Orihime gave him a faint smile and a tiny nod, holding her head down to hide her blush.
He didn't want to thanked.
If this was his way of apologizing to atone for his past mistakes. A way to redeem himself, Orihime would take it.
It seemed out of place that Aizen would apologize for anything he's done. Maybe he wasn't an apology, but compensation.
Compensation for taking her son away, he'll help to assure her daughter comes into this world safely.
...
Ichigo hit the steering wheel roughly, regretting it when a mild pain stung back up his hand. "What the hell!" He shouted and added pressure to the honker.
Tatsuki rolled her eyes at the man's road rage. "Ichigo, calm down. It's rush hour."
He gripped the wheel until his knuckles turned white. "We aren't going to make it in time," he growled
Tamotsu bounced Kon in his lap. The child threw him up in the air and caught him. Tamotsu remembered when his daddy would throw him in the air and his mommy would be really scared. "...Daddy, I want to see mommy."
"You'll see her soon."
Tamotsu looked up from Kon and out the window. There was a car right next to them. It was black and shiny. Tamotsu had a race car like that one... "And the baby?"
Ichigo took a deep breath. The baby. He needed to focus on the baby. "Yes, the baby too." Ichigo answered.
Please, baby. Ichigo thought. Wait until I get there...
...
Baby, Orihime pleaded. Please wait. Please wait until your father gets here.
Emiko puffed up her cheeks then blew out hot air. "Breath in... and out." Orihime mimicked her. The pain had gotten worse, but not too bad. Not as bad as Tamotsu's was. And she and Ichigo had discussed it before that they weren't going to compare the second pregnancy with the first, but it proved hard to do.
But the baby was coming soon. Orihime could feel it. They moved her to the delivery room. Already she's been in the hospital for an hour. Maybe two. But that didn't matter. She only wanted Ichigo to be present, or at least in the building. She didn't want him running through the door, all happy, waiting to see the birth of his baby girl to only find his wife already holding their bundle of joy.
Orihime could see it now, the disappointment on his face and how the scene would play out:
"Oh, Ichigo, I, um... I might of had your baby while you were on your way down here... Sorry."
"Good." Emiko said slowly, bringing her back out of her reverie, and continued the breathing.
They said that the baby was dropping fast and that it wasn't going to be so hard to deliver because the baby is very small.
Orihime knew that these facts were facts and their reassuring tones were meant to calm her, but the whole thing scared her. Wasn't delivery supposed to be difficult? These doctors weren't soothsayers, psychics, or fortune tellers. They couldn't see the future.
She was preterm, her baby small, it was all scary. Yoruichi mentioned the complications that tagged along with preemie babies. No parent would want this for their child.
"Hubby, do you want to try too?" Emiko asked innocently making Orihime head snap back up.
Aizen still stood in the corner, like an impeccable marble statue. Except, his eyes would flicker now and then.
As if it was possible, he became even more rigid at Emiko's question. "No thank you."
Emiko smiled and took his head, bringing him over to the bed.
"Come on. I'm sure your wife would appreciate it."
Aizen's eyes went from the nurse to Orihime, to her belly, lingering there before flickering back to the nurse.
Orihime shook her head disbelievingly. He's not going to do it... He's probably too used to being on his high horse to jump off now...
A deep blowing noise came from Aizen's direction.
Orihime couldn't believe her eyes.
He's doing it!
Orihime watched as Aizen's lips formed an O, exhaling, and inhaling, sucking the air back in, the tense muscles in his neck relaxing, his chest slowing rising and falling.
Seeing his body in such a relaxed state reminded Orihime of the night she left him. How she scurried off like a rat when the sun came up, trying to forget her previous deeds that the night dissected and protected.
Emiko clapped her hands. "That's good! Now together you two."
Like a maestro directing an orchestra, Emiko waved her hands in the air lifting them when the duo inhaled and lowering when they exhaled.
Orihime took a chance and looked into Aizen's eyes. He was already watching her, the chocolate of his iris' swirling about until the solidified, locking her in with it.
"This is fun!" Emiko exclaimed in delight, oblivious to the moment of chemistry between the man and woman.
They went on like that for pulsing seconds which felt like ticking eternity, being caged in Aizen's eyes, unable to let go. A contraction went by, maybe two. Orihime didn't feel them.
Emiko squealed again, assaulting Orihime's ears, making her blink and rejoin the living world, when one of her nurse beepers began to flash. "I'll be right back!"
Orihime didn't understand what happened next. She guessed that since she didn't feel the past contraction that all came back up at once, punishing her for not acknowledging their function.
The pregnant woman shouted at the top of her lungs, stymieing Emiko's journey to the door and Aizen's synchronized blowing. She could no longer ignore the pain.
The baby was coming- now.
She just hoped to God that Ichigo would get there in time.
...
"Is there any way we can wait?" Orihime said drowsily.
Reluctantly, she asked for the epidural. She read in one of the pregnancy forums that it slows down labor. It honestly didn't hurt that bad! Just for a second at least. She was more concentrated on the pain of her contractions than the needle.
Unfortunately, the labor hardly slowed! The baby was coming, and it was close to crowning and Ichigo wasn't in the building yet...
"Push on three." Unohana asked politely and counted down.
Orihime wanted her out, the baby. But she had to admit, she wasn't pushing with all her might. She wasn't ready. Ichigo wasn't present.
"Kurosaki. You can do better than that." Orihime couldn't see her but she knew Dr. Unohana knew that she was prolonging it all. "Can I please have a big push on three?"
Another contraction passed by, hardly noticed, Orihime wasn't ready to let go. She didn't want to deliver yet... It didn't feel right without him.
"Push with the contraction." Unohana instructed as another passed through. This one shattered the effect of the epidural, squeezing every inch of resolve out of her.
Orihime's hand flew up to grasp something, anything.
She found something smooth and soft. It felt like a silk clad sleeve, so she groped her way down his arm until she found a hand.
She grasped it hard, and didn't let go.
She didn't look at him. Her eyes focused on the doctor under her. "Don't leave me." She whispered.
Aizen's lips tighten into a hard line.
Orihime gave another push, silently cursing herself for betraying Ichigo.
This betrayal... did she feel this hurt because she's having the baby against her will? Or because she was grasping the hand of the man she was supposed to hate because she wanted to...?
Orihime pushed again while another contraction rocked through her bottom half. Suddenly, without warning, a nurse was shouting at someone at the door.
"Sorry, we can't allow you in here at this time!" It was the receptionist from earlier, blocking someone from the entrance.
Orihime craned her neck to see the ruckus. There was more muffled shouting then Orihime heard his voice yell: "I'm her husband!"
"Ichigo?" Orihime's eyes began to tear up. "Yes he's my husband."
The receptionist stepped aside, after making a split decision. Her face boiling red from the heated argument.
"She has two husbands!" Emiko shouted frantically. Her fish-eyes switching back and forth between the two good-looking men standing at her bedside.
Ichigo kissed her and squeezed her flushed cheeks. "You're doing great, hun!"
He was breathing hard, from either running or arguing with the receptionists, she didn't know.
Ichigo wiped her sweating forehead and told her that Tamotsu, Isshin and Tatsuki were all here. He said he wouldn't have missed this for the word.
Ichigo kissed her again then glanced up at the man on the other side of the bed. "What the hell is he doing here?" The man snarled.
Orihime groaned at the pain as a contraction presented itself again. "Not now, Ichigo."
Holding both of their hands, the woman pushed again, and again. With each exertion of force, the man right's presence shrunk more and more, his heat becoming less and less.
Orihime held on tight, giving the right man's hand a squeeze.
"Don't go," she whispered again.
"I won't." Ichigo answered her and kissed her on the cheek again. "I'm not going anywhere."
Though her husband answered, the question wasn't meant for him. The man on the right stayed, but only for a little while longer... his heat began decreasing again.
Orihime pushed again, feeling that the thickest part was out. Orihime could feel her travelling downward. We're almost there...She pushed again, without the help of contractions and took a deep breath. A push once more and Orihime could feel her slip out and into the expert hands of Unohana.
Slowly, the grip on the right hand loosened as Orihime focused on her baby girl's rickety shrieks. The heat, the warmth from the right became nothing but a spark.
Ichigo wrapped his arms around his wife "God, you did it." He kissed her forehead and then her lips. "I love you," he whispered and she said the same.
The nurses took her immediately to an examination table, cleaning and clearing her off.
Her cries stopped as her throat was cleaned and eyes wiped. In the meantime, Dr. Unohana had Orihime delivery the afterbirth, a process Orihime neither needed or cared for to remember
It took a few minutes in the cold before they wrapped a blanket around her. Her crying died down, just an octave or two.
Orihime craned her neck to see what they were doing to her. Finally, Emiko turned around and gently handed her baby to her.
Orihime placed her baby on her chest and hugged her.
She was as beautiful and beautiful babies get. She had only the tiniest wisps of light brown hair on her head, but her eyes weren't open.
"And what should we call you?" Orihime asked her daughter.
Ichigo cleared his throat and Orihime looked up at him expectantly. "I, um... I thought this one sounded nice... Hitomi?"
"Hitomi..." Orihime considered the name. "What does it mean?"
"I don't know... I never got around to figuring that much out..."
Orihime nodded and for a moment Ichigo thought she would dismiss it, but after looking at her scrunched up face again, it fit.
"I love it."
Ichigo perked up, surprised. "You do?"
Orihime hugged Hitomi again. "Mhmm. It just fits... Ichigo, Orihime, Tamotsu, Hitomi. See?"
Ichigo nodded and bit his lip. They sat again in silence and stared at the squirming Hitomi.
"Orihime…" Ichigo whispered nudging her neck, placing a few more kisses on her cheek. "Will you... Will you marry me again?"
At this point, Emiko had seemed to give up on the affair. It was all too confusing at this point.
Orihime stared into Ichigo's amber eyes. She hesitantly looked to her right, the heat completely gone, vanished. The woman looked back at her husband and nodded, her voice too hoarse to speak.
Ichigo pushed her two bands back onto her ring finger. Thicker tears crawled down her cheeks. Just seeing those simple rings, symbolizing everything her and her husband were, are, and will be, made her so emotional. Orihime's throat became drier than before.
They smiled at each other then looked down at their new edition to the family.
The baby girl wriggled her nose and made coughing sounds. Her mouth opened over and over again, but nothing, no sound, escaped.
Orihime pulled the blanket down on her face to get a better view. "What's wrong?" She asked her daughter sweetly and playfully. "Hungry?".
The baby made a twisted face and coughed again, a weird gagging noise finally breaking through.
Her face… is she… is she choking…?
Orihime grabbed onto Ichigo's shirt. "…Ichigo… I don't hear her…"
Ichigo leaned in closer to examine her facial expression. "I... I don't-"
"I don't hear her, Ichigo." Orihime began to panic. Her face twisted again and she gagged. "I can't hear her."
Before Orihime knew it, gloved hands came and snatched her baby away.
"We have to take her to the NICU." Unohana explained as she placed her daughter in a cage like contraption and pushed her away.
Orihime tugged on her husband's shirt tighter. "...Ichigo?"
He took her hand, kissed it and gave it a pat. "I'll go with them." He said reassuringly. "These are professionals. They know what they're doing."
Orihime struggled to sit up again and watched as they walked out the door.
"Ichigo, don't let her out of your sight…."
Thanks for another week guys! I had to cut this chapter short because I was reaching my deadline. But the parts that are cut will go into next week.
So, what do you think about the name Hitomi? I think it fits, but maybe not. Tell me your thoughts! Tell me, tell me!
Lol. See you guys next week!
Rocka.