The Ride

Chapter Twenty-Three

Gelo

I never let Elena out of my sight once I was finally able to be by her side. She was currently in a medically induced coma to allow her body, especially her brain, to rest after going through a seizure. I sat in a chair at her bedside, while holding and kissing her hand. The doctors said she would start becoming more and more aware over the next eight hours and eventually wake up.

She was connected to five or so machines, one responsible for helping her to breathe until she was able to do so on her own. I hated seeing her like this, especially being that there was nothing I could do to make things better.

Once she they had finally gotten her stable, the doctor had pulled me to the side and informed me of what exactly happened.

After the birth of the babies, Elena experienced what is known as postpartum preeclampsia. This was brought on due to her having high blood pressure and developing protein in her urine soon after giving birth to the twins. It's pretty rare as most mothers have been know to experience it during pregnancy. The seizure was a result of the oxygen to her brain drastically reducing and the swelling of the blood vessels in her brain. He also mentioned that while she delivered the babies rather smoothly, it had taken quite a toll on her body.

She needed rest, lots of it.

The twins were still on the labor and delivery floor, being cared for by the nurses until Elena was able to be moved from the ICU wing.

Before the seizure, the first thing she wanted to know were the whereabouts of the twins and if they were okay. She didn't care about anything that was happening or had happened to her. The doctor assured her that even though she was experiencing complications that the babies were perfectly fine, healthy and resting.

"Elena, I know you're tired baby. Please wake up for me?" I said softly, holding her hand in mine.

The machines intermittent beeping were the only sounds that followed my plea.

Emilia and Max had returned to the hospital to check on their sister that following morning. I could tell both had heavy hearts, but I did my best with relaying all the information that the doctor had given me on Elena's condition. Both my parents and Elena's were there throughout the day, checking in on me to make sure I was good and spending time with their grandchildren.

Maria insisted that I take a break from being at Elena's side to go see my son and daughter, promising me that she'd stay with her and let me know immediately if something happened.

The nurses brought me to a private room that simulated a nursery, where Em sat in a rocking chair holding Finn. Max was standing up and lightly bouncing Francesca.

"There's daddy, Finn," Em smiled, adjusting the blue cap on his head, "he looks like you, Gelo."

Seeing them both happy, healthy and in the arms of their loving aunt and uncle filled my heart with pure joy. However, as much as I wanted to be fully present with my kids- my mind was on their mother.

There's no way God's going to take Elena from me. We were meant to raise these two together in a loving, happy home. Keep the faith, Gelo. Keep the faith.

"Everything's gonna be alright, Gelo," Em said, tucking lose strands of hair behind her ears, "I know you're over hearing that, but-"

"No, you're right. Thank you for trying to keep me positive through this. It isn't how I imagined it would be. I should've known that this would be hard on her," I shook my head.

"There's no way you could've known this was going to happen. None of us did. Don't do that to yourself, man," Max interjected, "you did everything right by my sister while she was pregnant."