Stolen Lullaby

Shared Hurt

Joe, Scott and Andrea were helping Taylor to move from her room in the cardiac wing to a private room in the NICU. Her own health had improved enough that she was offered the opportunity to finish her treatment at home but she couldn't bear the thought of leaving Maisie behind so she opted to remain in the hospital sharing a room with the baby until she was strong enough for them to go home together.

"What are you most excited for when you finally get back home?" Joe asked packing away some of the dozens of get well cards into a box.

"Oh gosh I don't know... maybe just being able to sleep in our own bed or take a nice bath."

"I'll make you a bubble bath and give you a massage when you get home Mommy, it will be relaxing like a spa." Sophie had never been to a spa so they had no idea where she got that idea but Taylor laughed and agreed to take her up on the offer.

"I wish Maisie could come home with us too, she would probably like to have a bubble bath too." Sophie said sadly, she was probably the most disappointed that Maisie wouldn't be coming home right away. Joe told Taylor that she had been so excited that she offered to divide her room in half so she and Maisie could share. In some way it was a benefit for the baby to be away from home a bit longer because they actually weren't prepared for her at home yet. They had started plans for the nursery but she came too early for them to really get anything done. Sophie's baby items for hand me downs needed to be retrieved from storage too. Not wanting to stress too much about having a nursery ready they decided just to get a bassinette and have her sleep in their room when she was ready to come home much to Sophie's chagrin as she was really looking forward to having her sister as a roommate. For now Maisie and Taylor were the ones who were roommates as Masie's incubator was placed at Taylor's bedside. When Sophie was around adults had to remind her dozens of times to use her indoor voice around the NICU.

"See she knows me already!" Sophie exclaimed loudly pointing out that Maisie was awake and responding to her voice.

"Sophie I am not going to tell you again, keep your voice down." Joe was annoyed that she wasn't listening and already had nurses politely ask them to keep her quiet or she'd have to leave.

"I wasn't yelling!" Sophie shot back.

"Why don't you guys go downstairs and help out grandpa and grandma with the last of the stuff downstairs. Maybe get a hot chocolate or something too if you really need to exercise your voice." Taylor offered this as a suggestion sensing that Sophie was beginning to get unruly and could possible get kicked out of the NICU.

"Can I get the hot chocolate first?" Sophie asked hopping down from the side of Taylor's bed.

"You can get whatever you want as long as you're quiet. We'll be right back" Joe leaned over giving Taylor a peck on the lips before leading Sophie out of the room. Taylor watched them leave before settling down on her side watching Maisie yawn and close her eyes drifting back to sleep.

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Carol nervously approached the reception desk of the NICU, in truth she didn't really have a plan or have any idea of what she was going to do she just wanted to see Maisie.

"What can I help you with today?" The receptionist at the desk asked brightly. Working on a children's floor required staff to have sunnier personalities.

"I'm here to visit Maisie Alwyn."

The receptionist's demeanor changed from kind and friendly to serious. She turned to her computer pulling up Maisie's file, all babies in the NICU had an approved visitors list of who was permitted to visit and Maisie in particular was flagged for extra caution for security purposes. Her visitors list was limited to only Taylor, Joe, Scott and Andrea. Sophie was too young to be allowed to visit on her own but was cleared as long as she went with her parents or grandparents. An extra note had been added that if anyone else tried to gain access to Maisie then the family must be notified.

"I'm a relative" Carol hastily mentioned as she could feel the receptionist grow suspicious. Knowing the receptionist was not going to fooled she invited herself into the ward rather than give her a chance to call Taylor's room to check if they were expecting visitors.

"M'am you do not have permission to enter this area!" The receptionist called after her frantically sending an alert for a security breach. Carol quickly made her way down the maze of corridors looking in all of the windows until she found Taylor's room. She pushed her way into the room shutting it behind her while pressing her back against it to hold it closed.

Taylor was openly startled to see her force herself into the room and quickly sat straight up.

"Carol what are you doing here?... Get out!" She ordered attempting to stand up and move toward Maisie to protect her. Carol was faster and managed to push Taylor away from the incubator and open the lid roughly lifting Maisie out taking no consideration to be careful of her breathing line.

"Stop! what are you doing, let her go!" Taylor cried frantically trying to get Maisie away from her. "You have no idea what you're doing, you're going to hurt her!" Carol knew she was crossing a line but for once she had the upper hand and it felt good.

"Now you are going to know what it feels like to have something precious taken from you." Carol said coldly her face void of emotion but a few tears rolling down her cheeks.

"What is it that you want, why can't you just leave us alone?" Taylor begged desperately.

"I want you to tell the judge that you are going to drop your case and will turn custody of Sophie over to us and then promise to never stage an appeal." Carol demanded through her tears. Taylor slowly shook her head refusing to agree, she could never agree to give up on either of her girls.

"Then I guess we'll have to both know what it feels like to not have our daughters." Carol wrapped her hand around the line connecting Maisie to her oxygen provider and pulled it apart disconnecting her from what was essentially her lifeline. Taylor screamed rushing to get her baby away from Carol who now easily released the baby from her grip.

Outside security guards hammered at the door ordering Carol to let them in while nurses observing the scene frantically ordered them to hurry up as they knew time could quickly run out for Maisie if she couldn't be reconnected to her breathing line quickly. Instead Carol slid down stubbornly holding the door closed refusing to let anyone in as she coldly watched Taylor beg her baby to hold on as she began to emit little gasps for air and her skin turned blue. She pushed any thoughts of humanity aside if she never had anything in common with Taylor before, now would assure they'd carry the same kind of hurt for the rest of their lives.