Her White Wolf

Chapter Thirty-One

The amount of blood Cleo had lost was startling. It struck Shuri as she watched the others begin to clean up the surgical suite. They'd lowered her body temperature dramatically to slow the flow of blood and she'd found the rupture in order to repair it. There was no reason for it to have happened; spontaneous placental abruption occurred rarely. It broke the Princess's heart that her friend never seemed to get the completely easy road.

She was in critical condition, but she was stable. It was at the point she knew that for certain that she went to the original room and found James laying in a chair with baby Grant on his chest. Gently, she knocked and waited for the man to look in her direction before she stepped in. "I brought him something to eat. Just a little something to tide him over."

James looked at Shuri, his eyes tired. "He's been wiggly for a while now," he told her. "And I think he's wet but... I don't know how to change him."

"I'll show you," she assured him, walking further into the room. In the corner of the room was a small table they could use as a changing area, and she gestured for James to bring Grant over to the table. "He has your blue eyes for now, we'll have to see if that changes," she observed sweetly.

He stood carefully and reluctantly handed the tiny baby to Shuri. "He's beautiful."

She smiled down at Grant as she gently rested him on the table and began to show James how to change a diaper. "Cleo is going to be okay," she shared gently as she carefully took her time to ensure he could see her work.

"Really?" he asked, his voice just a whisper. "You mean that?"

She nodded, glancing in his direction with her own tired eyes. "She's lost a lot of blood, and she just had major surgery... she'll be weak and bedridden for a while, but she should still be able to hold Grant and feed him in just a little while." She knew her friend would be upset about how her son came into the world, but that she would be happy he was safe and healthy.

James let out a long breath, his shoulders relaxing in relief. "Thank you... for saving their lives. I owe you everything."

Shuri gently finished changing Grant's diaper before she carefully picked him up, cradling him in her arms before handing him back over to his father. "Come to Cleo's recovery room with me. You can be with her."

"O-okay." James followed Shuri once she picked up the small bottle she'd brought with her. "Are you sure it'll be okay?"

"Cleo will want you there with her. She'll want Grant close," Shuri tried to assure the nervous new father. "We laid him on her, but she wasn't conscious. When she wakes up, she'll get to meet him." The Princess led him down the hall to a more intensive recovery room and the door opened as they arrived. Inside, Cleo lay asleep in her bed, bags of blood being transfused into her body. Her color was better now, she wasn't quite as pale as she had been.

"You spoke to Steve?" she asked as she went to Cleo's side to check on her vitals.

"Yeah... he's coming home. He's not giving Sam the option to say no."

"Good," she said, knowing Cleo would be relieved that Steve was coming home as well. Once she was sure Cleo's vital signs were stable, she turned and moved a reclining chair from the corner of the room to the side of her bed. "You can sit here," she said, gesturing for him to come and sit. "I'll set you up with the bottle then give you three some space."

James carefully sat in the chair and cuddled Grant to his chest. "He's so small."

"You're very big," she pointed out with an easy smile. "He's a good weight - seven pounds. But I'm sure he feels like nothing to you." Leaning in, she helped James to settle Grant into his arm before she handed out the bottle for him to take. "He's probably hungry."