I Can't

Part 9

“Mam” Lorelei screamed turning just in time to see her mother crumble to the ground
“Lorelei take the twins Richard get my Medical bag” Isobel Instructed “Well don’t just stand there we don’t have all the time in the world to stand around” She barked scaring the other two inhabitants into actions.
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Out in the living room Charles and Maddeline where reading a book that Elsie had brought along for the little girl. Suddenly there was a loud crashing sound causing Charles to jump up and dash out of the room without a second thought of Maddie who was following closely behind the large man. Before Charles could reach the door, Richard came sprinting past running for the front door to grab his wife’s medical bag out of the boot of the motor.
Bursting into the room Charles found his wife sprawled out on the floor blood surrounding her. There was enough blood that without a trained eye one would have a hard time figuring out where it was coming from. “Oh God No” He cried before he turned to Shield the little girl that had followed him to the library
“Charles take her out of here Lorelei follow him you two don’t need to see this” Isobel instructed realizing that her baby girl had followed Mr. Carson towards the source of the thud from Elsie’s fall.
“Isobel please save her” Charles pleaded still shielding Maddie from the scene that lay out in front of him everything was moving in slow motion
“I’ll try, but Charles I need you to take my baby girl out of here, so I can save your wife” Isobel replied her eyes pleading with the distraught man to keep her baby from seeing the dying woman lying in her mother’s arms
Richard came storming back into the room as Lorelei and Charles got all three children away from the horrific scene.
“Alright Richard I need you the help me bandage this gash enough so that I don’t have to worry about it she is hemorrhaging and we don’t have much time to save her by the looks of things” Isobel instructed before she started the rummage through the bag that her husband brought in finding the gauze she was looking for she ripped some of the cloth from the base of her skirt she ball the gauze up to form a pad a sorts to soak up the blood before tying it to Elsie’s forehead using her skirt shredding to ty it down.
“Alright Richard I need you to help me here we are going to have to perform an emergency hysterectomy if we want this bleeding to stop so go in my bag and get me all the gauze you can find my suture kit and my clamps gloves for the two of us cause I’m going to need you to hold her open I don’t have any forceps in there and I need you to find me a knife and clean it really good I don’ t have my scalpels oh and Richard love a torch so I can see” Isobel was trained to help Reginald with situations such as this one when they ran her family practice together so she was more equipped to work under these conditions. “stay with me Elsie you have two newborns that need you and one big bear of a man that is counting on you and you just got your daughter back she can’t lose you again” Isobel pleaded with her new friend once Richard left to grab a cutting knife from their kitchen
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In the living room where Charles, Lorelei and the children had taken shelter the twins had been screaming their little heads off all the yelling and loud noises upsetting and no matter how much Charles tried they would not calm down he was getting flustered tears where streaming down his cheeks at an alarming rate Lorelei was trying to keep Maddie occupied. Charles was at the point where he placed the babies in the basinet that Isobel had left out for Maddie to use for her baby dolls and he stormed out of the house needing to get away from what quiet possibly could be his wife dying he got outside before his chest started to heave. The feeling of his throat closing in on itself causing him to run to the closest bush before he lost the contents of his stomach.
Before Lorelei could stop her Maddie had sprinted out of the room after Charles finding him outside hunched over trying to regain some form of composure
“Charlie” she called walking over to the much larger man placing her little hand on his cheek causing him to look up at her as he crouched down on the ground “It’s going to be all right Charles Miss Elsie is going to be alright my Mommy is the bestest baby and mommy doctor there is” Maddie smiled wiping at Charles’ cheeks clearing them of his tears
“I know Maddie I know” Charles replied his voice shaking with unreleased cries.
“come back inside will you I need someone to read to me Misses Lorelei doesn’t do the funny voices” Maddie explained dragging the man back inside towards the room that held his still screaming babies.
“Papa is back my little loves” Charles soothed taking the twins from Lorelei who had picked them up trying to sooth them when Charles left. The twins sensing the calmness that had washed over their father instantly soothed their crying toning it down to a gentle whimpered “that’s Papa’s little angels” Charles said smiling down at the twins realizing how much Fraya looked like her mother
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“Alright I got everything” Richard huffed out of breath rushing over to where his wife and sister and law where on the floor
Isobel didn’t say anything, instead she took the knife from her husband to begin the incision to save her new friends life, as Isobel set to her work Richard rigged a way to hold the torch so he could have two free hands to help his wife. “ok I’m in now Richard I need you to hold here and here alright” Isobel was in nurse mode directing her husband as if he was one of her nurses.
“cumail air a ’petal” Richard whispered to Elsie falling into his old Gaelic begging for her to hold
“ok I’m removing the uterus now” Isobel said pulling the enlarged pear-shaped organ from the abdomen of her newest friend grabbing the tiny medal rode she had removed from her hair to heat so that was she could seal the wounds she caused by cutting the offending organ
“alright I will let you stitch her up” Isobel replied before she walked out of the room in a daze taking her gloves off slowly peeling the first glove from her hand then balling it inside the other glove before sliding her first two fingers under the remaining glove and peeling it from her skin before she threw them in an empty bag she had laying around from her medical bag. She then walked over towards the sink and scrubbing her hands till her hands where and angry red from her scrubbing. Tears started to pour down Isobel’s face she refused to wipe them away figuring that if she ignored them they would go away. When she was done scrubbing her hands her fingers gave off a burning kind of numb feeling she made it as far as the dining room table before she collapsed on the ground a broken sob escaping her lungs.
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“Isobel” Richard called walking into the kitchen to find his wife laying on the floor sobs shaking her thin frame “Isobel my love you saved her she is all right now no more tears my love”
“She almost died Richard and what we did was so risky that she could die from us trying to save her it will be all my fault I delivered those babies and I might have just risked their mother’s life and I know what it feel likes to lose the person you love and I never would wish anything like that on anyone and here I am running the risk of giving the man hope when his wife’s life is still hanging in the balance” Isobel sobbed whipping around to face her husband standing abruptly she glared at Richard angry tears leaving tracks down her red swollen cheeks
“but she hasn’t, and we will monitor her twenty-four seven until she is well again we will make sure she gets to go home with her husband and her babies and that she has more time with Lorelei the daughter she just got back” Richard soothed
“but…., but what if she doesn’t make it what if it’s all my fault and I could have caught it sooner and prevented all this” Isobel cried
“you couldn’t have you know as well as I do that these things just happen sometimes” Richard soothed
“I know but I can’t help but think this is all my fault” Isobel sniffled
“well it is not your fault what so ever” Richard soothed reaching out to take his wife into his arms “I love you Isobel Clarkson” Richard said kissing her forehead
“I love you Richard Clarkson” Isobel replied kissing him passionately in the lips
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After Isobel calmed down they went back into the library.
“alright on my count we move her” Isobel stated “ready one……. two………… three” Isobel instructed before her and Richard lifted Elsie gently up onto the make shift gurney to transport her to the guest room where she will be staying while they watch over her
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Once they got Elsie in the guest room bed the room next to where she had given birth in, they went to get Charles together Isobel deciding that she needed her husband’s support to inform their new-found friend about his wife’s condition.
“how is she” Charles practically begged Isobel and Richard the minute they set foot in the door
“Lorelei can you please take Maddie out of the room while we talk to Charles” Richard asked before answering Charles pleading eyes. “she is steady right now she will need to be monitored and we are going to keep her it’s to risk right now to transfer her to the hospital.” Richard replied reaching out to hold his wife’s hand
“Charles do you know what a hysterectomy is” Isobel tried thinking that if her knew ahead of time that it would make things easier on her  
“vaguely why” Charles replied
“you see Elsie she had a hemorrhage of the uterus and we were forced to operate on her in the library we had to remove her uterus in order to save her life” Richard replied seeing his wife falter slightly
“but she is alright” Charles whimpered
“for now, yes but we aren’t out of the woods yet” Isobel replied
“oh god it’s all my fault I should have known that something bad could have happened why couldn’t I have just listened to her when she was nervous about our having a full marriage, it’s all my fault I’m so selfish” Charles started to cry
“Charles it was not your fault and it could never have been your fault these things happen all the time even to women who are in the prime child birthing years” Isobel soothed reaching out to place her hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him

“she is right Charles I remember a case when I first started as a general practitioner a young lassie came in she was having her first baby and she couldn’t have been older then twenty-two and she hemorrhaged she lived and went on to have five more children” Richard supplied
“oh, well can I see her” Charles asked holding the twins closer to his body
“yes, you can I’ll take you Richie can you go inform Lorelei about what happened but please don’t bring Maddie too far into it” Isobel looked up to her husband as she took Theodore from Charles allowing Charles to have a break from holding both twins
“of course, love” Richard replied pecking his wife on the cheek
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“now keep in mind Charles she is asleep, and she looks paler then normal due to the amount of blood she lost” Isobel warned before she opened the door leading to the guest room for Charles to step in
“oh my darling” Charles whimpered looking towards the bed where his wife lay looking smaller than he remembered her looking her hair spread around her head in a halo shape making her look angelic the thought made his stomach lurch upon the realization that he almost lost her and that her survival is still unknown. Sitting down on the edge of the bed Charles carefully bent over Fraya still in his arms her placed a gentle kiss to his wife’s forehead a tear slipping from his eyes “I love you Elsie Mae Carson please don’t leave me and the twins I don’t know what I would do without you. you still need to get to know Lorelei she needs her mother. You need to fight for use love please fight for us” Charles whimpered sniffing back his tears holding in a gut-wrenching sob. "please don't leave me"