As Caleb shuffled into the hospital room, he saw Hanna lying on the bed, looking weaker than ever. Her bump had shrunk ever so slightly, but her face was puffy. Her usually light tanned skin was pale and her makeup had been removed, making her look a ghostly colour. Caleb hastily hurried over to the bed and grabbed Hanna's hand, squeezing it tightly – he never wanted to let go.
In his hand, Caleb felt fingers twitch and soon a soft groan came from Hanna. She took a shuddered breath and squinted eyes before opening them completely. The sharp pain was gone, but it had been replaced by a dull, aching one. She brought her hand to where it hurt, and suddenly remembered why she was here.
"The baby," she mumbled, still coming around. "Where's the baby?"
Before Caleb had the chance to tell Hanna he didn't know, the creaking of the door filled the room. The same doctor as before entered, and smiled at the couple.
"Hanna," he began. "How are you feeling?"
Hanna repositioned herself slightly and pulled herself up. "Um, I've been better. But that doesn't matter, is the baby okay?"
"Miss Marin, unfortunately, you were in premature labour and we had to perform an emergency –"
"I don't care about that. All I want to know is my fucking baby okay?" The blonde demanded angrily. The outburst shocked Hanna herself – she thought the hormones were supposed to finish when you had the baby…
"Your daughter is in the neonatal intensive-care unit," The doctor began. Hanna and Caleb both breathed a silent breath of relief: at least she had survived. "But due to being 2 months premature, she is suffering from many conditions. It didn't help the fact that she was already underweight."
"Already underweight?" Caleb asked. It was the first he had heard of the baby being underweight. "As in she was underweight before she was even born? Han, did you know about this?"
"No! Why was she underweight?"
"Your doctor should have told you. But we haven't found a specific reason; it just looks like she wasn't getting all the nutrients she needed."
Hanna tightened her grip on Caleb's hand. He brought his other to the bed and placed it on top, stroking her trembling fingers with his thumb.
"We're doing everything we can, but you should prepare yourself for the worst."
It felt like a thousand bricks had fallen onto Hanna's chest. She wandered her eyes away from the doctor and stared into blank space, the words playing constantly in her head. …prepare yourself for the worst. Considering she never wanted to be a mother, Hanna never thought that she would feel this way such a small thing. Throughout nearly half of her pregnancy, she didn't even want this baby and now, here it is, and all Hanna wanted to do was wrap her arms around the tiny human. She hadn't even met it yet and she was already loved her more than she thought was possible.
"Han," Caleb said, moving his hand from her hand to her arm. "It'll be okay."
"How do you know that?" Hanna yelled. "How do you know that it'll be okay? You can't predict the fucking future, Caleb. Our baby, our very own baby, is fighting for her life right now and no one knows if she'll even make it through the night. So, no, it'll not be okay!"
Caleb retracted his hand and awkwardly let it hang off the chair. "You can't think like that, Hanna. We have to think positively, both of us, for her sake more than anyone's."
A tear slipped down Hanna's cheek but she didn't bother wiping it away like she normally would. Instead, she let more follow and soon it seemed like she was weeping oceans. Hanna hated doing this; letting people see her upset and crying was not her idea of a good thing.
-:-
2 hours later, there had been no update on the state of the premature little girl. After Caleb spent 30 minutes calming Hanna down, she slowly drifted off into a sleep. Her eyes fluttered and Caleb knew she was dreaming. He smiled as he stared at his beautiful girlfriend. Her face was pale and bare, but in Caleb's eyes, she had never looked so perfect.
A sudden swarm of nurses and doctors speeded past the hospital room. Caleb gently let go of Hanna's hand and walked towards the window. They were all headed in the direction of the NICU. What if it's the baby, Caleb thought. Panic swept through him. He couldn't bear the thought of something happening to her, especially as he hadn't even met her yet.
"Caleb," Hanna mumbled sleepily. He turned around and saw Hanna awaking, pulling herself into a reclining position. "What are you doing?"
Caleb knew better than to tell Hanna; she didn't need any more stress added. "Nothing. Just people-watching." He shuffled back over to the bed, and smiled warmly. Hanna smiled back, and Caleb swore it radiated around the whole room, just like always.
"I had a thought," The blonde announced. "We should pick a name for her."
"A name?"
"Yeah. I mean, if something were to happen to her-"
"Don't think like that, babe," Caleb interrupted, seeing the hurt in Hanna's eyes.
But she carried on, and blinked away the tears that were growing. "If something were to happen to her, I would want her to be already christened. And to be christened, she needs to be christened with an actual name."
"Oh," The brown haired teenager replied, surprised at Hanna's thought. He had figured it would be too hard for her to talk about, so had anticipated the conversation would have happened a while down the line. "Okay then. Do you have any names in mind?"
Hanna shook her head. "No, but Spencer had some good ideas when we talked about it a month back. I'll call her. When does she go back to college?"
"Han, everyone is still here, in New York," Caleb answered, surprising Hanna. She had assumed they would all go back as planned, which was supposed the day after the party, which was also today. "The girls refused to leave until they knew you and the baby were okay."
"Well it looks like they'll be here a while," Hanna muttered to herself. "I'll call Aria. Hand me my cell?"
A/N- THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO VOTE!
Thank you to those of you who did suggest some names, I really appreciate it. I've put together a list of all the suggested girl names, as well as a few of my own (mine are the ones in italic). The two with the most votes will be the first and second names, so get voting! Pick your favorite from the list!
Isla
Malia
Kendall
Tiff
Rose
Sophia
Eva
Sky
