Thanks for the friendly reviews, my operation went pretty well. Btw, my consultant looks like Sacha, just saying :)
Jonny pushed through the doors and exited the ward that Mo and Elliot were on. He quickly looked up at the signs and peered through the darkness. There wasn't a sign for maternity or obs and gynae on the wall but there were signs for various other wards so he headed into the unknown. The corridor was dotted with people sleeping at the sides. There was a clear gap down the middle which had obviously been made for trolleys.
He found a staircase, there was a little more light in the stairwell because there were plenty of windows, so he made his way downwards. How they had got Jonny, Mo and Elliot upstairs without a lift he didn't know but he was focused on finding his girlfriend and his baby whom he had serious doubts if she was even still alive in her mummy's womb.
When Jonny nearly got to the ground floor, he stopped on the staircase as he saw that the water was about 1 or 2 feet deep. He must be fairly far away from the river because it was deeper than he was back there. Jonny turned back around and went up the the first floor, he walked into the dark corridor and stopped at the first sign on the wall he saw, he skimmed through X-ray and neurology and stopped when he saw maternity with an arrow pointing straight ahead.
He ran as fast as his icy, numb body would allow him to until he finally reached the doors to maternity. He paused for a few seconds so that he could mentally calm himself, not that it did him much good, before he entered the ward. It was still fairly dark though it was slightly noisier than other wards. There was a baby crying in its mother's arms and a general buzz of parents talking to one another. Jonny quickly ran up to reception where there was a midwife passing.
"Excuse me, J-Jac Naylor is she here? She's 5 months g-gone." He explained quickly.
"Um, is she a red head, quite moody?" She asked sweetly, they didn't have any computers to use patient's files on so she was obviously doing it from memory.
"Yeah, that's her!" He replied happily, he was cheerful that she was still keeping up her icy exterior.
"Right over there in the corner." She explained as she pointed to a woman with a bump laying on her side, facing the wall. Jonny ran over to her and shouted "Jac!" As he did so, drawing people's attention.
She turned her head and tried to sit up to hug him, as she did so, her blankets fell down.
"You're freezing!" Was all she could think to say.
"And you're warm!" Was all he could reply. "How's our little girl? You can tell me Jac please" Jonny pleaded.
"They did a portable ultrasound, and they think the baby's okay-"
"That's great news!" Jonny interrupted.
"But-"
"But what Jac?"
"They said that the cold could have cause minor brain damage. And she's likely to have developmental problems so she's likely to start talking and walking later than others her age because of the hypothermia." Jac explained as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"But her life's not in danger?"
"No." Jac mumbled.
"That's good. How are you feeling?"
"Bit achy, tired. Come here." Jac said as she shuffled to one side of the bed and pulled her blankets off. Jonny shuffled onto the bed and faced her with her bump pressing up against his stomach. He pulled the covers back over both of them and he hugged Jac. Jonny slipped his hand down into his pocket and took out Jac's phone.
"It was in Elliot's possessions, and I've got everyone's cards and money." He whispered.
"I need to ring Michael, get him to come and pick us up."
"You sure you're ready to go?"
"Yeah. They need the bed for other people and I just want to go home." Jac mumbled. "Where are we?"
"Um, the nurse said it was... St Marks." Jonny said after he racked his brain.
"How's Mo and Elliot? Are they here?"
"They are both upstairs sleeping. They're still a bit cold but they'll be fine." Jonny explained as Jac dialled Michael's number, luckily she had a signal.
Meanwhile on AAU
Michael and Sacha were sat in Michael's office. Their shift had ended a few hours ago but they wanted to be together if there was any news. Michael and Sacha both had their phones on charge on the desk so that they would be able to get through. Mr Hanssen had left once his shift had finished despite feeling guilty, Serena had left too. They had been sitting in silence for ages when Michael's phone rang. Her took it off charge answered it and put it on speaker.
"Jac?"
"Michael?" Jac croaked.
"Where are you?" Michael asked.
"Are you okay?" Sacha chipped in.
"Um yeah, we're all fine. Listen, c-could you come and pick the four of us up? We're at st Mark's hospital, I'm not really sure where it is." She said hopelessly.
"Of course I can, I'm on my way now." He said as he took it off speaker and put the phone to his ear, he signalled for Sacha to come with him as they both left the office.
"How's the baby?"
"Um, they think there might be brain damage." Jac said as he voice broke, a tear rolled down her face so she handed the phone to Jonny who understood her feelings.
"Michael? It's Jonny."
"Hey mate, listen I'll be as fast as I can. How's Jac holding up?"
"She's a bit chilly but, she'll be alright." Jonny whispered as Jac snuggled into his chest.
"How're you?"
"Um, I've been better but, I'll live. What's the weather like there?"
"It's raining and pretty windy but we haven't had anything near what you've had."
"So there's no thunder?"
"No. Can I get this straight, who is it that's scared of thunder and lightening, you or Jac?"
"It's Jac."
"Okay right, well I'd better go now, I'll get the postcode, put it in the satnav and I'll text you what the estimated arrival is in a few minutes okay?"
"Okay thanks michael, bye."
"He's going to text you how long he'll be in a few minutes okay?" Jac nodded into his chest.
After a few minutes, Jonny picked up Jac's phone because it vibrated. It said:
We'll be there about 3pm , we'll text you when we're 5 minutes away. Btw, Motoway is clear coming up to you but it's packed on the way back so you're in for a long ride home. Sacha's coming too, see you soon :)
"They'll be here about 3pm." Jonny whispered.
"What's the time now?" Jac mumbled.
"Nearly 12." He said regrettably. "I'm just going to go and see if I can get some scrubs for us okay, I don't think I fancy sitting in Michael's car wearing nothing but a hospital gown!" He joked quietly as he slipped out of the bed. Jonny walked up to the nurses station where the kind midwife was stood trying to find something under the mess on the desk.
"Listen, I know you're terribly busy and I know you shouldn't do this because I'm a nurse and my girlfriend's a consultant but I was wondering if we could have some scrubs because we've got friends picking us up soon and our clothes are soaked and I think they must've been cut off in the ambulance." Jonny explained kindly.
"I suppose I can yes, but you'll have to say that you work here whilst you've been admitted because otherwise everyone else will want some."
"That's fine." Jonny smiled.
"Well if you exit the way you came on to the ward, turn right and there's a store cupboard. But I must warn you, there's no lighting down that way."
"No worries, thank you so much." Jonny said as he turned to find the door.
Jonny walked down the dark corridor and used his phone as a torch. He went into the first door on the right and it was pitch black. He shone his phone around and saw stacks of sick bowls, boxes of gloves and then scrubs. He picked up, guessing their sizes, a pair for himself, Jac, Mo and Elliot. He changed into his ones and took the other three pairs up to Mo's ward.
It took him a while to find it but he entered to find Mo and Elliot sitting up in their beds talking to each other.
"How's Jac? And the baby?" Mo asked quickly.
"They um- they're fine. There's a... risk of, brain damage and slow development because of her hypothermia but there's no risk to her life." Jonny explained slowly.
"I'm sorry." Mo said solemnly.
"Me too." Elliot chipped in.
"It's fine... Here, I got you some scrubs." Jonny said, changing the subject, as he handed them a pair each. "Michael and Sacha are coming to pick us up, they'll be here around 3pm. Um, Jac's down on the first floor; maternity so when you've warmed up, you can come down... I'd better get back to Jac so I'll see you later." Jonny said as he put on a brave face and walked away.
2:45pm
Mo and Elliot walked down to maternity together. The midwife pointed over to Jac's bed and as they approached the bed, they saw that Jac and Jonny were facing each other, hugging and fast asleep under the duvet and blankets. Mo and Elliot smiled as they pulled up a chair either side of the bed and sat down. Suddenly, Jac's phone started ringing in her pocket the ringtone woke both her and Jonny up so she quickly fumbled about and answered it as she sat up next to Jonny.
"Jac?"
"Yep." She replied sleepily.
"We're outside the main entrance. The water's nearly coming up to my knees so You got any ideas how you're going to get out without getting wet?"
"Um, I don't know. We'll come down now." Jac answered as she hung up the phone.
"'You don't know' what?" Jonny asked curiously as they both got off of the bed.
"Um, the water's up to knee height; he said how're we going to get to his car without getting wet because we'll get cold again." Jac replied nervously as she walked up the same midwife at reception.
"Thank you so much, we're going now." Jac said sweetly.
"No worries, I hope your baby's okay." She smiled as they left the ward.
As they walked down the staircase, they stopped as the water was up to the first two steps. Tom squatted on the stair and saw that Michael's 7 seater Mitsubishi 4WD shogun was right outside the doors.
"Right, lets be quick, Mo and Elliot, you wanna go right in the back?" Jonny asked which cued them to run down into the water and through the door. Mo opened the car door and a wave of heat hit them, she quickly moved the seat forward and her and Elliot jumped in the back, he swung the middle seat back up for Jac and Jonny.
Meanwhile, Jonny scooped Jac up in his arms and carried her bridal style to the car; she had certainly gotten heavier. He put her gently on the middle seat, climbed into the car himself and shut the door. They must've had the heating on full blast because the car was nice and warm. Jonny, Mo and Elliot kicked off their wet shoes and socks whilst Jac cuddled up to Jonny, this didn't go unnoticed by Sacha or Michael.
"Right, we got four blankets and four pillows." Sacha said as he passed a carrier bag back to Jonny. He took two of each out of the bag and passed the others back to Mo and Elliot. He unrolled the thick, white fleece blankets and used both of them to cover them, tucking them in both sides.
"And we thought you might be a bit hungry so there's some bits and pieces in there, we've had ours." Sacha said as he passed them a bag and Michael pulled onto the motorway, the water was no longer deep, there was only a lot of large puddles this way but the rain started again and they could hear it hitting the roof and windows. It was only minutes before they hit solid traffic.
Jonny took two bottles of water out, two bags of crisps and a twin pack of sausage rolls that were from the hot counter before he passed the rest of the things back to Mo and Elliot.
"So, how'd you guys end up at st marks? It's about 30 miles away from the Thames." Michael asked.
"Um, Me and Mo got picked up by an RNLI boat, then taken by ambulance to there I think. I suppose it must've been the nearest hospital that was still staffed and that wasn't 10 feet under water." Jonny explained as he and the others were eating.
"What happened to you two then?" Michael asked as he looked at Jac and Elliot in the mirror.
"Um, there wasn't enough room for us in the first boat so we waited for about 20 minutes I think it was until the second boat came. Just as they arrived, Jac fell unconscious and they carried her onto the boat. Then we got an ambulance to the hospital."
"You were unconscious? Why didn't you tell me?" Jonny asked, though her confused face said it all.
"I didn't even know I was unconscious." She replied quietly. Michael sensed that Jac wanted to change the subject,
"Right, the satnav says we'll be home by 11pm; it takes into account the traffic although in my experience, I'm sorry to say that it usually takes a bit longer that what it says." Michael explained, Jac looked at the clock on the radio in the front and saw that it was only just 3pm.
They were surrounded by cars, the traffic was barely moving and the rain was still pouring down. Suddenly, there was several large flashes of lightening, followed by a long rumble of thunder.
Underneath the blankets, Jac grabbed Jonny's hand tightly and squeezed it in her lap. She squashed up tightly to Jonny and he slipped his arm around her waist. Jac looked up at the rear view mirror and saw Michael looking concerned at her.
"Stop looking at me. Please." Jac mumbled pathetically. Michael immediately looked away from her and onto the car in front.
After a few minutes, Jac relaxed a little. The blood began to flow back to Jonny's hand after being crushed.
"You guys warmed up yet?" Michael asked as he tried to ease the awkward silence.
"Yep."
"Yes." Replied Mo and Elliot from the back.
"Well I have but Jac's freezing." Jonny said concernedly as he squeezed the arm that was around her waist tighter so she was leaning against him. The traffic was barely even moving and minute by minute, the expected arrival time for holby was increasing.
"Come here." Jonny whispered into Jac's ear. He lifted her carefully onto his lap and swung his legs up onto the two seats next to him and used the two pillows to make it comfortable for him to lean against the car door. Mo, who was sitting behind Jonny lifted her pillow over and put it next to Jonny's head so he could lean against the back of the seat. Jac reorganised the blankets, after undoing the seat belts because there were only moving a few meters every few minutes. They were both tucked in under the fleece blankets with Jac lying on top of Jonny and her head resting lighting on his chest.
"You know, I remember a time when I wasn't even allowed to peck you on the cheek in public, let alone have you lying on top of me!" He joked quietly.
"Shut up." Jac mumbled sleepily as she nuzzled her face into Jonny's chest.
Everyone in the car smirked at Jac's child like innocence. Slowly, she began to fall asleep. As did Jonny, Mo and Elliot leaving Sacha and Michael in the front.
"She's going to be a great mum." Sacha whispered as he peered back at her quietly snoozing on top of Jonny with her hands guarding her bump.
"Of course she is, she's Jac Naylor, she can do anything to the highest of standards." Michael stated as he looked at the satnav. The original estimated arrival time was 11pm, it had now crept to nearly 11:30pm and it was still increasing. Obviously, everyone else was trying to get as far away from the river as possible.
"Can we stop at the next service station please?" Jac croaked trying not to wake Jonny just yet. She knew that if they went to the services on the motorway, it would probably add about an hour to their journey, but she needed the toilet.
"What's wrong? You feel sick?" Michael asked as he looked in the mirror again.
"No, it thinks my bladder is a football." Jac remarked.
"Sure, I think there's one about 5 miles from here, though that'll probably take about another... Hour minimum."
"I can't wait that long."
"Well, there plenty of bushes that I can see-"
"On second thoughts i can wait that long."
"Look Jac this traffic is solid. We're probably not going to get home until tomorrow morning."
"Great." Jac snapped sarcastically which unfortunately woke Jonny.
"What's the time?" He croaked.
"Nearly half three." Sacha replied to which Jonny groaned.
"Hey Maconie, Jac needs the toilet so if you feel a wet patch-"
"Michael, shut up." Jac interrupted.
"How far away is the nearest services?" Jonny asked sleepily.
"About an hour."
"Thanks for the reminder." Jac snapped much to Jonny, Sacha and Michael's amusement.
"Jac we're barely moving, why don't you just go in the-"
"I am not urinating behind a bush, it's pissing it down out there." Jac snapped again.
"Alright Miss Moody." Michael joked. Jac rolled her eyes, rolled over to face the back of the seat whilst still on top of Jonny and tried to fall asleep with a full bladder. All whilst the rain was pounding on the roof of the car.
Thank for reading, please review :)