Steve found his father where he had left him with Alex fast asleep in his arms. Mr Arnott looked very relieved that his son had finally returned. "Are you ok?" he whispered, not wanting to disturb his grandson.

"Yeah," replied Steve. "I just had to be by myself for a bit," he said as he took his seat again beside his father. "Alex been behaved?".

"Good as gold," Mr Arnott informed him.

"Any news?".

Mr Arnott shook his head. "Your mum called. I've told her the same. She told me to tell you that Josh and Ava have had a restful night,".

"Well that's something," Steve said, wondering how he was going to break the news about Kate to them. Josh would understand but Ava wouldn't.

A knock on the door disturbed them and the consultant obstetrician stood before them. Steve couldn't help but notice the bottom of her scrub trousers and shoes were covered in blood and was instantly dreading what the doctor was going to say. "Steve?" She asked, checking she had the right relative. Steve nodded his head.

"Please just tell me if she's alive or not?".

"She is," the obstetrician said and Steve started crying in relief. "Kate is on her way to ITU for a little while for a bit more TLC than we can offer on the post natal ward," she told the worried relatives. "She's lost a lot of blood but we have managed to stop it," the consultant said. "We have had to perform a hysterectomy though," she revealed.

"But she's going to be ok?".

"I can't see why not," the obstetrician said.

"Can I see her?" Steve asked.

"We'll just get her settled on ITU and someone will be along to help with that," the doctor said. "In the mean time you're welcome to stay here,".

"Thank you," Steve said gratefully, extremely relieved that Kate had come through her surgery.

"Kate, it's time to wake up" a gentle voice urged.

She didn't want to. She was having a really nice time with her family so she decided to ignore the voice. They were in the park having a lovely picnic together although it was starting to become spoilt by some alarms and general chatter. People should really be more considerate Kate thought to herself.

"Kate," the voice said again. "You're starting to wake up. Just a bit more and we can take that tube out of your throat,".

What tube? Kate thought to herself before registering something causing her to gag and violently cough.

"That's it," the voice encouraged. "Open your mouth for me,". Kate did as was told and felt the foreign object leave her mouth. "Well done," the voice said. "Just a mask with some oxygen to help you wake up," she was informed as her head was lifted off the pillow and an elastic strap placed around the back of her head to keep the plastic mask in place.

Kate registered a pain in her abdomen as her head was lifted up and her eyes flew open.

"Hello," a stranger said. She was female in a pair of hospital scrubs.

Kate looked around for something or someone familiar. Gone was the park. Instead it had been replaced by a hospital ward. "My baby?" Kate asked panicked as she suddenly remembered that she had given birth that night and couldn't see him in her field of vision. She moved to get out of bed but was stopped by the pain again in her abdomen.

"It's ok," the strange female replied as she tried restraining Kate and keeping her in her bed. "He's safe and sound with his dad,".

"Steve?" Kate asked as she rested back against her pillows, relieved. At least he was looking after their son.

"Yes," the nurse confirmed. "They're both waiting to see you," she continued.

"Can I see them?" .

"I'm just going to bleep the obstetricians before we bring them in. They want to check you over and have a talk. Try to explain what happened," the nurse said.

"Ok," Kate agreed.

"Are you comfortable,".

"Fairly," replied Kate. "I could really do with breastfeeding my son," she admitted as she looked at her swollen chest hidden under the bed clothes. As she expected there were two wet spots on her gown from where she had started to leak milk.

"I'll get you a pump to help before he arrives," the nurse said. "And a new gown,". "

Thanks," Kate replied.

The consultant obstetrician was waiting to see Kate by the time she had changed and expressed a bit of milk. She wasn't looking forward to this visit. This type of news was never easy to break. "How are you feeling," she asked as she approached Kate's bed space.

"Better now I've expressed some milk," Kate replied.

"Your incision?".

"Not too bad," Kate said.

"That's good. The nurses here say they are happy with your observations which is good. You certainly kept us on our toes overnight," the consultant admitted.

"What happened?".

"You lost about 5 litres of blood before we got on top of it," the doctor said.

"Wow," said Kate, suddenly realising how serious her situation had been.

The doctor paused. "We had to do a hysterectomy, Kate," she informed her patient.

Kate's hands flew to her abdominal wound in shock. "Hysterectomy ," Kate repeated as she tried to let that fact sink in.

"It was a last resort to get the bleeding under control," the doctor said. Kate just nodded, not really taking in the doctors words anymore. "We've left your ovaries so you won't be in the menopause," the doctor continued. "You'll get hormonal, just no …periods,".

"Great," muttered Kate.

"Any questions?".

Kate thought. She had loads of questions but she just didn't think she could ask them just now. She needed time to process what she had been told. "Not right now," she said. "I just want to see Steve and my son," she said.

"I'll go get them," the doctor said.

"I forgot to say," Kate said, stopping the surgeon in her tracks, "thank you," she said. "If you hadn't done what you did, I wouldn't be here,".

"You're welcome," the doctor said. "I'll be back to see you tomorrow and we can talk more," she said before leaving.

Whilst she waited for Steve and Alex to arrive, Kate contemplated her situation as she held her hand over her stomach. It really wasn't a big deal she told herself. She hated periods. She should be glad she wasn't going to have anymore. She'd had three beautiful children. Her uterus had done its job. She would cope without it.

"There's Mummy," Steve's voice said, dragging Kate from her thoughts. She looked up to see her partner with their newborn son in his arms. Pushing her feelings aside, Kate concentrated on her family. She held her arms out for a cuddle with her youngest son.

Steve deposited him safely in to her embrace. Kate looked down. Alex was a lot more alert now than when she'd last seen him. His eyes were open and staring right at her whilst he chewed on his fist, a sure sign he was hungry. "You hungry, handsome boy?" Kate asked her son lovingly as she pulled her gown down and helped her son latch on to her breast. He started guzzling greedily.

"That boy is all about milk," Steve said as he took a seat beside Kate. "That's his forth feed I think in his short life. He must have put a kilo on already!".

"How heavy was he?" Kate asked realising she had no idea of her son's birth weight. Something she had missed whilst she was bleeding out. She couldn't help feeling guilty for having missed that event in her son's life.

"Eight pounds ten ounces," Steve informed Kate as he showed her the pictures of Alex on the scales.

"A little chunky monkey," Kate said adoringly to her son. He was the heaviest of her babies by a large amount. And the last, she remembered. "I guess you've been let off the hook regarding your vasectomy," Kate said, addressing the elephant in the room.

Steve looked guilty. "I'll still do it if you want me to," he offered.

"Not much point is there?" Kate asked.

Steve shrugged awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Kate" he apologised. "I told them to do it if it saved your life," he admitted. "You'll probably hate me for making that decision but I couldn't live without you,".

"There's nothing to apologise for," Kate replied as she reached for one of Steve's hands. "You made the right choice," she told him. She may not have felt it at that moment, but she knew deep down that she was right.