The Fourth Fall (Sequel to Boy In My Class) Gerard Way

Chapter 17: Soulmate

Gerard's P.O.V

Bursting through the hospital doors, I frantically scanned the hallways, the waiting rooms, the windows into doors, basically every damn corner of the hospital, looking for Isabel. I felt like I was running through a maze, constantly darting between corridors looking for her, getting myself lost. I was beginning to lose all hope, being kept going by adrenalin alone, when I finally ran into Jamia and Frank stood at a coffee machine outside a hospital room.

"Get in there," Jamia smiled, her voice a thousand times calmer than when we had spoken on the phone. "You haven't got long left."

I smiled at them briefly, but I barely had time to let them acknowledge it, as I had already run for the door to the hospital room. I ran inside and saw her lying there on a hospital bed. Every day she was more beautiful than the day before, her eyes sparkling in the bright hospital lights and her face glowing, albeit with sweat from the pain and stress of labour. I walked over to her and took her hand in mine, kissing her cheek softly and brushing her hair away from her face.

"I'm so sorry, beautiful," I said softly. "I was visiting Grandma, and I totally lost track of time. When I saw my phone I nearly cried. Actually, where the fuck is my phone?"

I tried to feel through my pockets, realizing that I had left it somewhere in the graveyard, but Isabel stopped me, grabbing my hands. Her hands were clammy and warm, and I knew that she was in a lot of pain, because she could barely speak.

"Gerard," she said through heavy breathing. "I'm not ready to do this, I'm so scared, I can't-"

"Izzy, you "couldn't" do your exams at NYU because you were scared. You "couldn't" go back to England because you were too scared, and you "couldn't" get through our miscarriage. But you COULD, because you did all of those things. You will do this- I mean, WE will do this. And you're going to be the best fucking mom I've ever known."

She looked at me, her eyes lost, but eventually she smiled, a beaming smile showing all of her gorgeous straight white teeth. Tears formed in her eyes quickly and then fell from her eyes, merging with the beads of sweat on her face and disappearing.

"You're too fucking perfect," she said, before crying out in pain. "Hold my hand, please don't let go...I need you."

Hearing those last three words really got to me. Isabel needed me, and all I needed was her. I held her hand tightly and occasionally wiped her face dry with a cloth, as the doctor instructed her on what to do, telling her to push harder, push harder, constantly reassuring her but also encouraging her to keep going. After what felt like hours, something happened. She stopped crying out in pain, the doctor stopped instructing her, and the room temporarily filled with an eerie, terrifying silence. The doctor was still, Izzy was still, and I was frozen still in fear. Then, after what felt like hours of silence but was probably only seconds, the sound of high-pitched crying filled the room in an explosive manner. The doctor smiled, Izzy smiled, and I nearly fucking died of happiness. I closed my eyes, listening to the sound of my baby cry. I felt Izzy squeezing my hand, so I opened my eyes to look at her. Her eyes were sparkling more than I had ever seen them. I reached over and kissed her so forcefully that I could have easily suffocated her.

"I love you, new girl," I grinned. I hadn't called her that since her first week of NYU, but I suddenly had the urge.

"I want to hold my baby," Izzy said to the doctor, who was at the other end of the room, with his back turned to us. He didn't respond, and I felt my heartbeat racing as fear began to take over again, thoughts running through my mind about how things could still potentially go wrong. However, a few moments later, he turned back to us and brought over a small bundle of blanket, of which contained the tiniest, most beautiful baby I had ever seen. Her eyes were closed tight, her face was red, her tiny fingers gently resting on the outside of the blanket that was wrapped tightly around her body.

"Is she...okay?" I asked the doctor. The doctor looked at me, slightly bewildered.

"She's more than okay," he said. "She's a seven-pound, perfectly healthy, gorgeous baby girl. Congratulations."

"Oh my god," I said, all of a sudden feeling the urge to cry and not being able to stop it. I began almost sobbing, but they were happy tears. I COULD have children, and I had a child. I was a father. With Izzy.

Izzy reached one hand out and took my hand again, her other arm cradling the baby. 

"Holly Imogen Way," I said, smiling down at my daughter.

"...Imogen," Izzy said, turning and facing me with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. "That's my mom's name."

"I know," I smiled. "Maybe as a nickname we can call her Immy." I grinned at her and did a little laugh, but she looked at me with a look that said 'Don't even think about it.'

"Do you want to hold her?" she asked. I nodded as quickly as physically possible.

Izzy reached over and handed her to me, and for the first time I held my baby in my arms. I held my finger against her tiny hands so that she could wrap her fingers around my finger. I have never felt more in love with anyone or anything else in this world, except for Isabel. I waited patiently for her to open her eyes, but she didn't. She just lay there peacefully, occasionally wriggling her little legs.

"We did it," I said, looking up at Izzy, who now looked incredibly exhausted.

"Can we come in yet!"

I turned around and looked at the door, where I could see Frank's face pressed up against the tiny glass window. I nodded and Frank and Jamia rushed in, alongside Mikey and Alicia, in full wedding attire.

"Well this looks fucking weird," Frank joked, looking around at everyone crammed into this tiny room, all wearing formal attire and Alicia's wedding dress which took up half the room.

"We're gonna reschedule for another day," Alicia smirked. "This was more important."

"Guys, I want you to meet Immy-"

"GERARD!" Izzy snapped, causing us both to laugh out loud. 

"Meet Holly," I beamed, holding her so that the others could admire how gorgeous my baby was. Everyone stared at her and took their turn to hold her. Alicia made a few sneaky comments to Mikey about considering making their own little tiny baby, of which Mikey looked unsure but potentially excited.

After ten minutes or so, I turned around to Izzy to see that she was fast asleep. The others decided to head home and leave the two of us, I mean... the three of us, to get some rest. After everyone had left, the sun had gone down and the room was now gently lit with a single bedside lamp. The doctor came and took Holly away to be fed, washed and to get some sleep, so I sat on the chair next to Izzy's bed and watched her sleep peacefully.

"I will never stop loving you," I said, knowing that she couldn't hear me but hoping that somehow hearing it would infiltrate into her dreams and allow her to dream of me saying nice things to her. "I will never, ever leave you, because I know you're my soulmate. I will never let anything bad happen to you or Immy, because you're my life. You're my family now."

I held her hand, and although she was clearly asleep, I felt her squeeze my hand ever so lightly, and I knew in that moment that she had heard me.