Stolen Lullaby

Life Saving Measures

"Dammit she's flatlining!" Dr. Green rushed over ordering her team to retrieve the crash kit. Joe felt like he was in a bad dream as the nurses pushed him aside and went to work trying to get Taylor's heart started again. It was just like being in a scene from a movie or TV show, Dr. Green counted to three and applied the defibrillator paddles while watching the heart monitor for a sign of a activity... after the first go around the line remained unmoving. She waited a brief moment before applying the defibrillator again but again to no avail. Though it was her job to stay calm and collected panic was beginning to creep into Dr. Green as well. As a doctor she took her oath to save lives seriously and couldn't bear the thought of losing two lives at the same time.

"Charge one more time!" She ordered the nurse as she desperately looked at the flat lining monitor while rubbing the paddles together. Placing the paddles on Taylor's chest she applied the shock for a third time. Ever so softly a tiny blip returned to the monitor signaling a pulse was detected. There was no time to celebrate as the medical team rushed Taylor out of the room to perform the C-Section. Through the crisis the baby's heart rate was beginning to drop so there was no longer a second more to lose.

Joe was left alone in the hospital room. Walking around in circles his hands on his head, all he wanted to do was scream at the universe and ask why this was happening. Fate couldn't be so cruel to take Taylor and their child from him in the same night. His mind went back to when they first told Sophie she was going to be a big sister and she nearly cried she was so happy. Sophie... what was he going to tell her? So many cascading thoughts of fear and panic swirled through his mind as he sank into a chair sobbing into his hands.

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Abi sat in her living room occasionally looking at the time on her phone. It was getting late and Sophie was still at her house. She tried calling Taylor but there was no answer and her calls were sent straight to voicemail, Joe wasn't answering either. For a moment she contemplated just dropping Sophie off at home herself but it bothered her that no one was answering her calls, it really wasn't like them at all to not respond especially when she had Sophie. Finally her phone rang with Joe's number appearing on the call display.

"Hey Joe, what's up" She answered.

"Hi Abi... listen can you do me a favor and let Sophie stay with you tonight." His voice sounded so broken and desperate it caught her by surprise. Glancing over at Sophie and Maddy who were quietly playing with a puzzle, she stood up to finish the call in another room.

"Joe, what's wrong"

"It's Taylor Abi... I don't know what happened she was feeling sick again so I took her to the hospital and her heart just stopped. They took her in to try and save the baby but no one has told me what's going on... I'm so scared.

"Oh my God... I'm so sorry. Yes no problem at all, Sophie can stay with us as long as you need." Abi's hands began to shake with the news she was hearing, looking over at Sophie again she knew she had to put on a happy face for her. After hanging up her call with Joe, she stood up and went back to the living room.

"Hey Sophie, your daddy just called how would you like to have a sleep over tonight?" Abi offered cheerfully.

"A sleep over?! Yes please!" She squealed with delight. Her and Maddy ran upstairs to set up their beds and get pajamas. Abi sat on the couch for a moment before following them upstairs. She thought to herself about how she and Taylor had been best friends since they were fifteen. They'd been through everything together... this just couldn't be the end.

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Joe was able to hold himself together long enough to make the agonizing phone calls to their family members. Andrea was the only one who was close enough to the city to come over immediately, Scott would have to fly in from Florida and his parents would have to be picked up by their private plane the next day. When Andrea arrived at the hospital her face was as white as a ghost but the moment she saw Joe she put her arms around him in a tight embrace. Together they sat in a private room quietly trying to keep a light conversation going to prevent the dark thoughts from taking over. They reminisced about when Sophie was born in that very hospital and how shocked they were at how big of a baby she was at a whopping 9 lbs and how she came into the world wanting to talk.

"I remember when the nurse brought her back into our room to spend the night because her noise was keeping the other babies up." Joe smiled at the memory of the perplexed nurse effectively giving baby Sophie a time out. Andrea smiled and tenderly patted his hand with hers. An hour later the delicate calm between them was broken when they saw Dr. Green begin walking toward them from down the hall still dressed in her surgical scrubs. Joe instinctively stood up to meet her eager to hear any news she had, praying for the best news but subconsciously preparing his heart for the worst. Dr. Green ushered him and Andrea into a quiet room nearby.

"Joe... is it alright that I call you that?"

"That's fine yes"

"Joe.. I want to first congratulate you on having new baby daughter." Dr. Green smiled warmly which caused both Joe and Andrea to begin crying. All of the emotions they were suppressing during the hours of waiting were beginning to breakthrough.

"Is she... okay?" He asked still afraid to hear the answer.

"I can't lie to you and tell you things went smoothly. We were able to deliver the baby by C-Section but she is very premature so her lungs haven't had the chance to fully develop thus she is unable to breathe on her own yet. She's been placed in the NICU under constant supervision so we can take of her as best we can. These first few days are going to be critical as babies as premature as her are very fragile." Joe nodded in understanding and ventured into the next question he was perhaps just as afraid of hearing the answer for.

"Is my wife going to be alright?" He ventured quietly. Dr. Green's demeanor dimmed slightly all traces of her smile vanishing.

"We were able to stabilize her enough to perform the C-Section but she coded again shortly after." Joe shook his head no longer willing to listen to what Dr. Green had to say. Andrea brought a hand over her mouth to control her sobs.

"After the c-section we were able to move her into open heart surgery right away. We were able to find a tear in her heart which is what has caused all of the problems. Having such prolonged high blood pressure more than likely damaged her heart muscle. I suspect she was actually feeling symptoms for longer than she was telling us. We repaired the tear but she's still in very critical condition. I fear that if she codes again there will be nothing we can do. Her heart can't handle another round of life saving measures."

"Can I see her?"

"She's going to be moved into recovery soon, you'll be notified when her room has been set up in the cardiac ward... but I have been able to pull some strings and gotten you permission to visit the NICU if you'd like to meet your daughter?"

In the NICU, Dr. Green gently guided Joe to an incubator containing the newest love of his life. When he laid eyes on her his heart was full and broken at the same time. She was so tiny that she could easily fit in the palms of his hand. Her body was covered in tubes connected to machines helping her breathe. A cheerful pink card on the side of her incubator read "Baby Girl – Alwyn." It broke his heart all over again that Taylor wasn't here to help choose a name for their new baby so for now she was just "Baby Alwyn."

"She is still very fragile so you won't be able to hold her just yet. But if you wear gloves you can reach in and touch her." Dr. Green offered him a pair of surgical gloves. Joe slipped them on taking a deep breath. Ever so cautiously he reached into the incubator to gently stroke the baby's head.

"Hey little girl, I'm your daddy." He softly whispered still afraid his touches could hurt her delicate skin.

"Your mommy and big sister aren't here yet but they can't wait to meet you too." Wishful thinking might have been clouding his judgement but he swore he saw the tiniest smile on the baby's face as he told how happy they were now that she was here.