"Just relax", Meredith says as she moves her hands down to examine me. "You can feel my hand", she continues. I'm taking deep breaths as Meredith examines me but she's taking her time.
"Okay Mer let's wrap it up", I said with my hands behind my head.
"Sorry I just- I can't-"
"Come on, I'm sure you've done plenty of these before", I breathed out.
"Yeah I've done plenty but this doesn't feel right"
"Meredith don't tell me it doesn't feel right it's literally my cervix. Why can't you just check how dilated I am and get out of there", I said in one breath.
"What's going on?", Leah said through the phone.
"Y/N/N, it's a foot. I feel a foot", Meredith said as my heart dropped.
"A foot? What does that mean?", Ava said nervously.
"No", I muttered.
"That means-", Leah started before Meredith cut her off.
"It's breach", Meredith said as my breathing increased. "I can feel the cord".
"What does that mean? Is there a pulse?", I asked panicked.
"I don't think so"
"Oh god", I heard Leah say through the phone. Meredith takes her hand out and washes them.
"So our baby is going to die?", I choked.
"No, don't say that Y/N/N", Leah said sadly.
"No, no, it just means the baby is not getting all the blood that it could be and we have to get the baby out as fast as possible so we can get the pressure off the cord", Meredith said as she continued to wash her hands in the basin.
"Well how do we do that?", Ava asked as she started to pace. I reached out and grabbed her hand before Leah spoke up.
"She needs a c section, right?", Leah said quietly as Meredith sighed.
"Okay, okay, okay. Okay um- so. Okay, so, the light is better in the kitchen", I said as Meredith whipped her head towards me.
"Wait, wait, wait, no, nope, I'm not giving you a c section", she said as I heard April and Lexie's voices over the phone asking what was happening.
"Our baby is dying-"
"There's an ambulance coming", Meredith said as she walked to the front door and I shouted after her.
"Fuck!", I screamed at the pain as Meredith came back in. "Meredith please, this baby cannot die", I pleaded to her.
"Ava, go get some towels, a blanket, some pillows, anything comfortable you can find", Meredith said as Ava nodded and ran upstairs. "Lexie, I need you to get Arizona", Meredith said into the phone.
"Arizona? She's a peds surgeon right?", I asked as Meredith led me into the kitchen.
"And foetal surgery"
"Okay", I said as Meredith cleared the kitchen table and Ava came back down. Meredith put some towels on the table and the 2 of them helped lay me down.
"What's happening?", Leah asked.
"Meredith has to give me a c section"
"I should be there, I need to be there"
"You can't Le, I don't want you getting into an accident"
"But-"
"No buts Le, I need you to stay at the hospital and be there for our baby", I cried as she let out a sob.
"What about you?", she sobbed.
"I'm not sure if I'm going to make it Le", I whispered.
"You're going to make it, you hear me? You're going to make it", she said sternly.
"I love you"
"I love you"
"Alright now listen, there's no anaesthesia, ice is all we've got so the pain, it's gonna be bad", Meredith said as I closed my eyes and let out a breath. She puts a towel over my stomach, leaving half of it bare.
"I need you to start making some calls, start with Leah's mum and mine", I said handing Ava the phone as she shakily took it and walked upstairs. "She can't see this", I said to Meredith as she gave me a small smile.
"Alright Meredith, you need to rotate the baby in utero, face down. The position will look different than you've seen", Arizona said through the phone as Meredith place some ice on my stomach. "What do you have to pack her with?", Arizona continued.
"Dish towels", Meredith sighed as I heard Leah stressing over the phone. "Can you feel that?", Meredith asked as she moved the ice towel about.
"Yeah", I whispered. "I need you to promise me something", I said as she put some sanitiser on my stomach. "If you feel like you're gonna lose me, if I'm bleeding out, you make sure that this baby is okay", I said holding back my tears.
"What? No, no, no, no Y/N/N. Meredith don't listen to her okay? You save her, you save both of them", Leah said sternly, her tone of voice breaking me as I could hear the shakiness and the fear in her voice at losing me.
"Promise me you'll save this baby no matter what", I said grabbing her hand as I heard a mixture of voices through the phone.
"Alright everyone be quiet please", Meredith said as she started to pace the kitchen. She takes a minute before I see her start to sanitise her hands. She picks up a small kitchen knife as my breathing starts to increase.
"Leah", I called out.
"I'm here baby, I'm right here", she said softly as I closed my eyes. I grip both edges of the table as I look at Meredith. I give her a nod as she moves the knife to my stomach, takes a breath and starts to cut. I let out guttural screams of pure agony as Ava rushes down the stairs and grabs my hand.
"I'm here mum, you're gonna be okay", she cried as I continued to scream.
"What's happening? Y/N/N please, Meredith say something", Leah's voice is the last I hear before I pass out.
Leah's POV:
"Leah", I hear a shaky Ava say through the phone.
"Ava, what's happening?", I shakily asked.
"The ambulance is here but there's- there's so much blood", she mumbled. My heart drops but I try to keep it together for her.
"Everything's going to be okay, I need you to hold your mums hand, let her know you're there, can you do that for me?", I said trying to even my voice.
"Yeah", she whispered as I heard some commotion in the back. Meredith informs us she'll be there soon as the call ends. Me, Lexie, Arizona and April all rush to the doors as the ambulance pulls up. Arizona and April open the doors as Y/N/N is wheeled up, she's wrapped in multiple blankets and is being given oxygen.
"Oh god", I cried as I went to the side of her and started stroking her hair. They wheeled her inside as I tried to go with them.
"We need to take her to surgery, I'll update you as much as I can I promise", Lexie said softly as I nodded, putting my hands on my head as I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Leah", I heard Ava's voice and turned round to see her and Meredith. I looked at Meredith and seen her cradling something in her arms. A baby, our baby. I didn't want to find out the gender without Y/N/N, we wanted to find out together.
"I want to wait until Y/N/N is out of surgery, we wanted to find out the gender together", I said giving them both a small smile. Ava walked towards me and wrapped her arms around me as we both broke down. Meredith said she was going to take the baby to get checked over and left me and Ava in the waiting room.
We were soon joined by both our families, as well as Alex, Em, and most of the Arsenal girls. We updated them on what happened, all of them shocked and worrying about Y/N/Ns condition.
"What about the baby?", Em asked.
"The baby is fine", Ava said as she grabbed my hand. We spent the next couple hours getting regular updates from Lexie until Arizona and April walked out.
