FicWad

The next few hours seemed to fade in and out, as I found myself slumping over with exhaustion every 5 seconds. Gee had tried to get a bit of rest as well, but as soon as he started to drift away from the pain and chaos, someone shook him awake for another test and another round of questions. Apparently the miracle of the "pregnant man" had attracted the attention of every scientific and medical journal that existed in the free world. Whenever the door would open, a flood of questions and flashing bulbs filled the tiny room, making Gee wince and recoil under the pink sheets. I had curled into our clasped hands, occasionally planting a quick kiss to his pale and trembling knuckles. Kitty stayed too, trying to shield Gee as best she could from the nosy reporters circling the doorway.

The bed creaks loudly, and I crane my head up to see Gee trying to roll over onto his back and get comfortable. I reach out and grab onto his wrist, keeping him on his side and pulling him a bit closer to me. He groans quietly and nuzzles my cheek, "I'm so damn tired."

I sigh to myself and brush the knotted hair from his face, "It won't be much longer now. Then you can sleep all you want."

A smile graces his lips, and he pulls my hands over his stomach, "You gonna miss this?" he asks softly, fingers tracing his own skin.

I shrug and lay my head next to his hip, looking up at him with doe eyes, "I'm more excited about the prize inside."

Gee giggles and madly and sits up against the pillows, "So now I'm a box of fucking Lucky Charms? Well fuck you, good sir."

Rolling my eyes, I lace my fingers with his and prop our hand beneath my chin, "You're such a moron Gee."

He smiles softly, but his features crinkle into a sharp wince, and he drops my hand, gripping onto the bed rails with shaking force, "Fuck," he groans, arching his back slightly and screwing his eyes shut, "Fuck, they hurt so bad."

I bite down on my lip and run a soothing hand along his thigh, "Don't push. I know it hurts but you can't push."

He lets out a strangled whine, kicking his legs out and nearly knocking over a tray set up by the end of the bed. My hands scramble to attach back to his, wanting to feel that comforting warmth of his unsure hands wrapped in mine. But the doctors beat me to him, rolling him onto his back and asking him 8 million questions at once. He looks over at me, his eyes wide and his hair plastered to his face with tears and sweat. I reach out again and take his hand, watching silently as they ease his legs into the stirrups and pull a blanket over them. I feel a presence behind me, and turn to see Kitty bouncing on her heels, smiling brightly, "Wanna help?"

I cock my head and she hands me a towel soaked in ice water, and a small blue basin beside me. "You need to keep him cool, or he might overexert himself and pass out. It happens all the time, especially first-timers" she explains, all the while filling syringes much to Gee's displeasure.

The doctor peeks her head over the plastic curtain they'd hung up to keep everything out of sight, "Sir?"

Gee and I both look up, and his grip on my hand becomes like a vice. I hold it close to my chest, and he answers her timidly, "Y-Yeah?"

She smiles and pulls a paper mask over her face, "Are you ready to push?"

I look over at him, and he takes several deep breaths and sits forward a bit, before nodding and grabbing onto the bed rail with his opposite hand. I hold the rag up to his cheek, smiling as he shudders softly and begins to lick up the excess that's dribbled down his lips. He lets out a soft gasp, and I can hear the doctors shouting softly from behind the curtain, "Gerard, you need to push!"

He takes in greedy gulps of air and squeezes onto my hand, his cheeks turning rosy and a scream of pain stuck in his throat. His mouth opens and closes rapidly as he swallows more and more mouthfuls of oxygen, collapsing back onto the pillows. I run the rag back over his face, kissing him softly, "You're doing so so amazing."

He titters softly, his voice cracked with exhaustion, "I can feel her inside me... I can feel her moving."

I laugh and press my lips to his temple, "You can," I ask quietly, trying to keep down the tears threatening to spill from my eyes, "Does she feel big?"

He shrugs softly, "I dunno... she hurts like a motherfucker, that's for sure."

He sits forward again, bearing down on his stomach and pushing, this time letting out grunts of frustration and agony. Time seems to drag on forever, the scenes blending together in a whirl of blue and white. My hand goes numb after a few minutes, and I don't know if it's from Gee's death grip or the fact I've just lost touch with reality. The picture before me goes dull around the edges, that is, until Gee let's out a loud gasp and falls back onto the matress with a clatter.

Everything is brought back into sharp focus and the entire room is silent for a handful of tense seconds, the whole time not even the photographers perched along the windows are breathing. Then it happens. I hear the sound of a loud and defiant cry, and a ball of pink and squirmy baby is lifted up and placed gently on Gee's chest. The camera flashes come back in a mesmerizing burst, and for a second I'm too stunned to even look over at the new life writhing in Gee's arms.

"I-Is... that's her?"

Is that my voice? Everything seems so disconnected.

Gee looks over, eyes wide and tears streaming down his cheeks, "Look at how beautiful she is, Berty."

He holds the tiny bundle towards me, and I gingerly take her into my arms, pushing back a fringe of jet black hair to look at her face. She's stopped crying, and now just squirms into a more comfortable position and searches desperately for food. Gee lets out a low whimper, and pressing a hand to his forehead. I look up rom the baby, and narrow my eyes in concern, "What's wrong, Gee?"

He blinks rapidly, and rubs the sweat out of his eyes with his fists, "I feel so dizzy."

More camera flashes, and the sounds of metal rattling. I hand the bundle over to Kitty, whose been waiting with open arms to get her cleaned up and checked over. Gee flops his head over, his eyes glassy and bloodshot, "I can't feel my leg's Bert." he whines, and that's when I notice his entire body is shaking and his grip on my hand is almost non-existent.

Panicking and trying to keep my composure, I feel his hand drop out of mine, and I give a frightened yelp when his swollen eyes slip shut. Before I can catch onto reality, the room breaks out into a flurry of bodies, all rushing to the bed and simply casting me aside.

"What's going on?" I ask timidly, watching as Kitty connects a drip tube to the crook of Gee's elbow.

She glances over her shoulder quickly, and attaches the tube to a fluid bag, leaving my question hanging in the heavy silence between us. Another nurse, this time a guy dressed in hideous green scrubs, pulls on my wrist and leads me out of the room, "What's going on? Is he sick? Where's the baby?"

My questions spill out like some kind of paranoid verbal diarrhea, and the nurse just looks ahead, before pointing towards the waiting room, "Someone will be with you in a second,"

I let out a huff of rage, "Fuckin' tell me what's going on!"

A look of apprehension crosses his face, and he goes pale under the harsh artificial lighting, "Sir, you need to keep your voice down. Patients are trying to sleep."

A roar escapes from my throat and I toss a heavy mauve chair out of my way, "I don't give a shit! My fucking best friend is dying and nobody will tell me what's going on! Where is he?!"

The entire waiting room is silent, and from the corner of my eye I can make out Kitty standing at the end of the hall, heavy mascara tears caked onto her face. I sink down to my knees, howling to myself and not caring as the timid young nurse begins to yell for security.

"Bert get up!"

I push the voice aside, I don't want to go anywhere. I want Gee. I want his baby. Our baby, our sweet little baby girl.

"Bert please! They'll kick you out!"

I crack my head up, and see Kitty standing nervously above me, holding out her hand, "Come on, I'll take you to see him."

I sniffle and grab onto her hand, crying out when she starts bolting in the opposite direction. I quickly slip back to normal, if only for the moment, and watch as rooms and beds and racks of supplies fly past us, "Where are we going?"

She stops outside a large, galvanized door, and sighs deeply, "He's in surgery right now... you can watch if you want."

I look over at the door, and a small red '5' on a fading plaque against the adjacent wall. I sniffle and rub my nose on my wrinkled sleeve, "Just please... pl-please... what's wrong with him?"

Kitty takes my hand again, and opens the heavy door, leading me to a pair of seats opposite a large observatory window, "He's had a uterine hemorrhage."

Air rushes into my lungs with a burning pace, it's a death sentence for almost any woman after she gives birth. I sit forward a bit, only making out the sanitary caps of the surgeons circled around the bed. I swallow back my sobs with the little strength I have left, "A-And the baby?"

A small smile dances on Kitty's ruby lips, "She's okay... more than okay actually. Good weight, healthy... "

I nod to myself, feeling hot tears drip down my nose. Kitty gives a sympathetic whimper and wraps me in her arms, "Shhh... Bert, he's gonna be okay. The surgeon in today is amazing and..."

I stop listen and turn away from her, playing mindlessly with the tips of my fingers, "Please let him live Kitty."

I don't hear her answer, and for a while I don't even realize she'd left to help the surgical team alone. But when I look up and open my eyes, I'm left alone with nothing but my thoughts and my bitter, desperate wails echoing through the tiny room.




+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
W00t! As you can tell the story is starting to draw to a close. I've got a few more chapters, 10 or so, and epilouge for you guys. Read, reveiw, critque, make me a sandwich. Do whatever.