Little Mercury

Keep Yourself Alive

"28, 29, 30... still no pulse. Shocking!" The doctor has been working on Amelia for the last 20 minutes to no avail. Hope is dwindling fast and the team give each other knowing looks and Freddie notice they are slowing down.

"No, no don't stop, please don't stop" he begs tears streaming down his face as the doctor gets the nurse to take over.

"Mr Mercury, your daughter has no output and we've been working on her for 20 minutes the maximum on a child 25 minutes..."

Roger interrupts her, "then you still have 5 minutes, I'm begging you please keep going." Roger wouldn't say he was a religious man but he is currently praying that they can save her.

"If we..." she starts but is interrupted by one of the nurses. "Doctor!" She turns back to the bed realising that the heart monitor is picking up to a steady rhythm, making her way over to the bed she physically checks for a pulse and sighs with relief when she found one. "She has a pulse and is back in sinus rhythm."

There's a collective sigh of relief throughout the room. "Thank you. What happens now?" Freddie asks.

"We'll take her for a few scans, check the infection has gone and then it's just a matter of waiting for her to awake. I'll give you a few minutes before we take her up." The team leaves, John and Roger go for a cig while Brian and Mary go get some coffee and food for everyone.

Freddie is glad for the moment alone with his daughter. Approaching the bed he leans over kissing her forehead, tears drip into her hair and he wipes them away. Sitting on the edge of the bed he takes her hand again kissing the back of it, marvelling at her tiny fingernails.

"You scared me there sweetheart. I thought I'd lost you but you're going to be okay because your a fighter and you are so loved." He continues talking to her quietly until the doctor came back to take her upstairs. He kisses her forehead once more before letting her go.

------

Over the next few days, Freddie spent every moment at his daughter bedside only moving to get some air or to use the bathroom. He sleeps on the couch which was actually rather comfy but he wanted to be there the moment she woke up.

The others rotate there time between, work, sleep, the studio and the hospital. Mary brought Freddie a change of clothes each day and the boys made sure he stayed fed and watered.

They tried to get him to go home and rest but he was having none of it and really they couldn't blame him.

Although she is breathing on her own now, the ventilator has been removed, it's coming up to a week and there's still no sign of Amelia waking up.

John was sat by her bed while Freddie has a shower, he was reading a book with one hand the other holding hers. He was just about to move his hand to turn the page when he felt Amelia's fingers twitch.

Putting his book on the nightstand he turns his full attention to her. He calls her name softly, heart racing when her fingers curl around his thumb.

Freddie chose that moment to exit the bathroom clean and showered. "What's going on, Deaky?"

"I think she's waking up. She curled her fingers." John gestures to where their hands connect. Freddie takes Amelia's other hand and she shifts her head to the side. They both share a hopeful look, laughing half-heartedly.

They sat waiting for a while there attention completely on Amelia for any twitch or sign movements. After half an hour or so Amelia starts to stir stretching her legs out and rubbing the sleep away for her eyes with the back of her hands.

She slowly opens her eyes looking around the room confused until she notices her dad watching her quietly, a watery smile stretched across his face, "Daddy? Where are we?"

"Hey," he leans forward brushing a few stray hairs away, "We're in the hospital. How are feeling sweetheart?"

"Thirsty," she notices John when he pours her a cup of water. "Hello, uncle Deaky."

John gives her a warm smile, "Hello sweety." Amelia tries to sit up but stops when she side feels sore.

"Careful, Milly" Freddie helps her this time holding her head as John bring the cup to her lips. She drinks the whole cup before Freddie readjusts her pillows so she can stay sitting up. "Now how do you feel?"

Amelia thought for a moment, "Tired and sore. What happened?"

He doesn't know how to tell her and lucky he doesn't have too, "You had something called appendicitis, Miss Mercury." The doctor who saved her life stood in the doorway with a clipboard. "I'm Doctor Melrose and as I said you had appendicitis."

"What's an a-a-a-"

Doctor Melrose sits on the edge of the bed explaining it to here in a way she might understand, "An appendicitis is an infection of the appendix. The appendix is a small organ connected to your large intestine which is down here." She points to the lower right-hand side of Amelia's belly.

"Now your appendicitis burst causing that terrible pain you felt the other day and we did a little surgery to remove it and you've been asleep since then." Doctor Melrose has no intention of telling Amelia that her heart stopped, she doesn't want to distress her.

Amelia seemed to understand what happened and asks more question, "Oh, how long was I asleep for?"

"Five days." John pipes up.

"Five days!" Amelia repeats shocked by the answer, "That's a long time."

"It is a long time but now your awake you'll recover quicker." The Doctor informs them.

That's not what was concerning Amelia, "Can I go back to school next week?"

"Why? What's next week?" Freddie asks curiously, he knew she likes nursery but most kids would be thrilled at having a week off.

"We start practising for the Christmas show. Miss Poppy said I can sing in it."

That made Freddie's heart sore she is his daughter through and through, a little performer, wanting to perform even when she's ill.

Shockingly he hasn't heard Amelia sing yet. He's heard her play the guitar, drums and a little piano but no singing, he thought she was just too shy but perhaps like him, she wanted to make a big debut. She's his daughter, he's certain she must have inherited his voice.

"I'm sure your teacher won't mind you starting a few days later, but if you do everything we tell you, you might be able to go back soon." Doctor Melrose gives Freddie a run-through of what's going to happen next, checks Amelia's vital signs before leaving them too it.

------

Brian and Roger arrive later that evening, ecstatic to see Amelia awake. Brian pulls her into a gentle hug while Roger practically dives on the poor girl, which Brian and Freddie scold him for but he doesn't hurt her. It just makes her giggle.

When everyone has settled in John decides to bring up the Christmas show. "So what's this Christmas show, Milly?"

"Christmas show?" Roger repeats.

"Yes, we're having a Christmas show at school one for the younger years and another for the older years. I get to sing for my year and in a group of others. Will you come and watch?" She explains it with so much excitement.

"Of course we'll come and watch, right guys?" Brian asks the group from his seat at the end of the bed.

They all nod, "What kind of family would we be if we didn't come and cheer you on?" Roger asks rhetorically sat next to Brian, "We'll all be there I promise." He leans forward giving her a pinky promise because as everyone knows, a pinky promise can not be broken.

Thank you for all you read nearly at the 200 reads mark and this story is #3 in BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY. I've said it before and I'll say it again thank you it means the world.