Brave (Sequel to Beside You)

Chapter Two

Theos POV
I can't believe she was here. It was completely coincidental that she was to show up here. I was only back in the UK for a few weeks before I was to go back home to Australia. It's where I was originally from before I was brought over to the UK with my dad. A few years after my dad met Aria's mum, she fell pregnant with Stephen. A few years later Theresa came along and then after that Dougie and Aria arrived. Four years after they were born my dad died and there mum fled, leaving me on my own with my siblings. I did my best, but as soon as Stephen and Theresa were old enough they told me to live my life. That was when I went to nursing school. I came back to Australia to study and now I'm a fully fledged surgeon.

I was over the moon when Aria told me she was going to nursing school too. She spent a year and a half there until she realised it wasn't what she wanted to do. Her sister had a hand in talking her out of nursing. Terri knew that wasn't Aria's dream, so encouraged her to get a job in a recording studio which she did. I didn't know until after Terri died that she had quit nursing. I didn't know that the night Terri died she was picking Aria up from the recording studio when she got hit. A few days after it got all too much for Aria and everything came out. We had a massive argument in which I completely blamed Aria for Theresa's death. I know it was wrong, it wasn't her fault but I was angry. I was angry that she had kept everything from me. I was heartbroken because I had just lost my sister. She left that night and I haven't seen her since. I heard she went to live with Doug. After she told him he gave me the cold shoulder, but he has given me updates and we still keep in contact.
The doctor who started to treat her when she was admitted said she was stressed because she hadn't felt as much movement as usual. Next minute she had collapsed and was bleeding heavily. I was on-call so they called me to lead. From what I could tell the baby had been in distress, Aria was slowly losing her. We performed an emergency C-Section but she wasn't breathing. We've put her on a ventilator, but she is gone. It's just preserving her body, ready for the final goodbyes.

Ashton's POV
A few hours had past and Dougie had left. Aria had ended up crying herself to sleep in his arms. It was completely breaking my heart to see her in such distress and not be able to do anything to help. If I could take her heartache on top of mine I would. I would do anything for the woman I love. She was still sleeping so I decided to take the opportunity to phone one of my best friends. I decided to phone Michael, I don't really know why I just thought he was the best option. I headed out of the hospital and stood by the entrance as I dialed Michael's number taking a deep breath as I heard his voice answer.
'Hey mate, I was just about to call you.' he sounded slightly uneasy.
'Mikey um, we, we lost her.' I managed to get out before collapsing to the floor in a flood of tears, just as a taxi pulled up. My 3 bestfriends appeared with sympathetic looks on their faces. Michael instantly picked me up and put his arms around me as I cried into his shoulder. I felt people starring but I didn't care. I was in too much pain to care.
'I'm so sorry Ash. It'll be okay you're going to get through this. We are all here for you, take all the time you need.' he whispered.

How did they know I was here? No one knew that we were here it was all so sudden. We only came in for a check up. I guessed that Theo must have phoned Doug. Maybe Doug told them before he came. I wasn't really bothered, I was so glad they were here. I think I must have bottled up so much emotion trying to stay strong for Aria that it just got too much. We hadn't had chance to talk to Theo about what was to happen next. I mean they tried to speak to me but I refused to listen without Aria present. I knew that he would corner us both when she woke up again.
A few minutes after Calum, Luke and Michael had arrived, we headed back upstairs to check on Aria. She was beginning to stir so the guys waited outside and Theo came in. She woke and was completely silent. I guess this is one of the many stages of grief.

Aria's POV
I woke up to see Ashton sitting in the chair by the side of my hospital bed. Theo was stood by to the side of the door waiting for me to wake up. Ashton looked like he hadn't slept since the last time I was awake. Ashton says 'hey' as he acknowledges I am awake. I can't bring myself to respond. I felt betrayed, not by him but by my own body. It was all my fault, I mean it must be who elses fault could it possibly be. I was the one carrying the baby. I felt like there was something wrong a few days before I came in. Maybe if I had come in sooner everything would be fine. Silent tears start to roll down my face once again. Ashton places himself next to me and pulls me into his arms.
Theo clears his throat.
'I'm sorry Aria, but i'm going to have to go into doctor mode for a moment. I haven't really had chance to talk to you about what is to happen next.' he explains softly. I nod in agreement, I couldn't stay like this forever. He takes a deep breath.
'After the C-Section, the baby was put on to a ventilator in order to try and help. I'm sorry but all it's doing right now is preserving her body. The next thing we have to do is turn it off. You are able to hold her and spend sometime with her after we have done this. We are even aloud to take some pictures of you with her that you can keep. I can take you there whenever you are ready.' Theo finished, as a sly tear slid down his face.
I just sat in silence listening to him explain, as slowly more and more tears crept down my face. I felt Ashton squeeze me tighter by the minute as he listened intently. I heard him sniff a few times. I knew this was breaking him as much as it was breaking me. I knew he couldn't bear to let himself think of the what ifs, and the fact that tonight he could've lost me too. I looked up at him when Theo had finished talking, he nodded knowing exactly what I was asking. Theo called for a porter to bring a wheel chair and we headed off to see our daughter for the first and last time.