The Fire Girl: A One Chicago Fanfiction

7

"Mommy loves you warrior princess" I cooed as I pressed a kiss to Ember's forehead.

"Daddy loves you too baby girl. We'll see you in a few hours. You be strong".

I leaned against Kelly with tears in my eyes as I watched them wheel my little girl off to surgery.

"She's going to do great" smiled Rhodes before following Ember to the OR.

I had been discharged that morning, so Kelly and I grabbed all of our things before heading into the private family waiting room. It was pretty nice actually. They had a comfy pull out couch, some comfy chairs and there was no one else in there. I mindlessly stared at the tv, worrying about Ember. I was pulled out of my thoughts by Kelly slightly nudging me. I looked over to see Matt and Gabby walk in with bags of Chinese food.

"Hey. I figured you haven't eaten anything besides hospital food" chuckled Gabby, "So we brought you Chinese".

"You guys are the best" I smiled, untangling myself from Kelly to sit up and eat.

"We know" cheekily smiled Matt, "Is she in surgery yet?"

"They took her down about 45 minutes ago. Rhodes said it could take anywhere between three and six hours" explained Kelly as we all set up the food.

"She's going to do great" positively said Matt as him and Gabby joined us around the small table.

"Besides Rhodes and Manning are two of the best" commented Gabby.

"I know and the surgery has a 93% success rate. I just...I can't bare to think about the possibly of losing her. I mean we just got to meet her" I teared up before shaking my head and shoving an egg roll in my mouth.

"She's going to be fine. Shay's looking after her" softly smiled Kelly, placing a kiss to the side of my head.

Kelly was always so attentive and loving which definitely helped in situations like this. I knew that he was also nervous, but he managed to keep a calm exterior in the moment of crisis which helped keep me calm.

"At least she'll be home for Christmas" I thought aloud, trying to think about the positives as I ate.

"And she'll have a pretty badass scar" commented Gabby which made me smile.

"And she'll finally get to meet everyone" added Kelly to which I nodded.

"That's probably one of the hardest parts after the surgery. She had to stay in the NICU which only parents and doctors are allowed into. It'll just suck being home and her being here" I complained.

"But remember what Natalie said?" began Kelly, "We can visit all the time and take turns spending the night beside her if we want to".

"You'll make it work" smiled Matt, "She'll be home before you know it".

They continued chatting as I felt my eye lids flutter. Before I knew I had drifted off to sleep.

***
I woke up to Kelly's helping gently poking me in the side.

"Babe. Baby it's done" Kelly stated, trying to get my attention.

My eyes shot open at his words and I moved off of him to sit up straight. Rhodes and Natalie stood in front of me, chuckling a bit at my reaction.

"So?" I impatiently questioned.

"She did great" smiled Rhodes which triggered my own smile, "Everything went according to plan and she actually reacted to the anesthesia better then we expected. She could be out of here in a week instead of 9 days".

"That's great" I smiled, my eyes glossing over with tears.

"When can we see her?" asked Kelly, giving my hand a loving squeeze.

"Right now she's still sleeping off the anesthesia, but she should be awake in an hour or two. Once she awake I'll come get you guys" kindly said Natalie.

"Great. Thank you very much, both of you. You're amazing" I stated gratefully.

"Just doing our jobs" replied Rhodes with a grin before the two of them left.

"I can finally relax now" I chuckled as I leaned into Kelly.

"Good. You need it" stated Gabby, "In a week you'll have a crying baby to keep you up. Get as much relaxation time as you can".

"Agreed".

***
While Kelly was visiting Ember at the hospital, I decided to finish up her nursery. I was just organizing little things and putting away her clothes, stuff like that.

The room had pink and gray walls with black furniture. On one of the gray walls was a tree with pink and white heart shaped petals. We placed the changing table under the tree. Her crib was against the adjacent pink wall near the corner and above it it said "And though she be but little she is fierce".

It was one of my favorite parts besides the sign on her door. It was a red heart and on in it black it said "heart warrior". Once the reality of what was happening with our little girl set in, I knew I didn't want this to define her negatively. So Kelly and I made the decision to embrace her CHD. Now we didn't want it to be the only thing that defines her, but it is going to play a big role in her life. So we mine as well make the best of it.

As I finished getting it all set up, I stepped back to take a look at the room as a whole. It was absolutely stunning. I couldn't wait to bring her home. I could already see her sleeping soundly in the crib and it just made me smile. That girl already won my heart.

I tried my best to keep the information about her condition accurate! I'm sorry for any mistakes. I feel like this is kind of a cruddy chapter, but I hope you like it anyway!