Always been you//Jolex

Chapter 26

It's around 3:00 on a Friday, and I'm standing at the end of the driveway waiting for Sadie to get off the bus. She usually takes the bus to Meredith's with Zola and stays with the nanny, but all three of Mer's kids are home sick with Maggie, and Alex had an emergency surgery, which means I had to leave work early to get her. It's not that I mind, I'm just trying to get in as much OR time possible before I go on leave.
I see the bus coming down the street from a few houses down, and it's gets closer and closer until it screeches to a holt in front of the house. She hops out of the bus and waves goodbye to her friends, then runs to me and gives me a big hug.
"Hi, baby! How was school?" I say, taking her hand and grabbing her backpack from her.
"It was good. My teacher let us have extra recess, so me and my friends played on the monkey bars. And I had art class and a painted a picture to hang in the baby's room. All of my friends want to come over and meet my sister once she's born. I bet she's gonna be so cute!" She says, incredibly fast and seemingly all in one breath.
"That sounds like a fun day! We can hang up your picture once we get inside." I say, and she nods and smiles.
Once we get inside the house, she takes off her shoes and hangs up her sweatshirt, then goes straight to the bathroom to wash her hands.
"Alright, Sadiebug. What do you say I get us a snack while you go find a nice spot for that gorgeous picture of yours."
I walk into the kitchen and get her a yogurt and some fresh fruit, and I just grab a a glass of water because I've felt like crap today and I'm not really in the mood to throw up.
I'm walking over to the table to set the food down when a pain unlike anything else I've ever felt hits me.
My first thought is, oh my god, these are contractions. My second thought is that I'm gonna kill Alex if he's not here when I go into labor.
The pain spikes again, this time worse than before. The stabbing ache leaves me feeling like I can't stand, I can't even move to the couch or a chair. I lower myself onto the ground before I fall, and I end up curled in a fetal position on the floor.
I know contractions are supposed to hurt, but these aren't labor pains. I went through this once before, and I can tell something isn't right.
I feel a warm liquid soak through my pants, and that's when I hear Sadie coming down the stairs.
"I found the perfect spot for- Mommy!" She screams. "You're bleeding!"
"What? Oh my god." I say, only just realizing I'm soaked in blood from the waist down. "It's okay, sweetheart." I say, but I'm having trouble convincing that if even myself.
"Sadie, listen to me. I know this is really scary, but I need you to be brave and call 911. You tell them our address, and when the ambulance gets here, tell them to take us to Grey Sloan memorial and page Alex Karev, Meredith Grey and Carina DeLuca. Can you do that?"
"Uh-huh." she says, running to the home phone.
The sounds around me seem to blur, as if I'm underwater, and I feel insanely dizzy, likely from the blood loss. I lay on the flood, motionless, in a growing pool of blood, and I just barely hear Sadie dial the number and talk to the dispatcher.
"Hello? My mommy needs help! She's bleeding all over!"
"It's going to be okay, honey. We're tracking your call right now and help will be there soon."
"Is she and my baby sister gonna be okay?"
"Baby sister? Is your mommy having a baby?"
"Yeah, my dad said she's going to be born this week. Please come fix them!"
My little girl's cry for help is the last thing I hear before everything goes dark. The next time I open my eyes, I'm in an ambulance.
"Jo?" I hear, still sounding fuzzy. "Jo, can you hear me?" This time, it's clear enough for me to recognize the familiar voice.
"Ben?"
"Hey, we've got you. Sadie is right here, and we're gonna get you and your baby to the hospital safe and sound. All right?"
"A-Alex..."
"He's already been paged."
Right before we pull up to the hospital, Alex stands outside the hospital in the ambulance bay with a group of our friends, all wanting to see what's going on.
"Does anybody know what we're getting? Is it a kid?" Alex asks, causally.
"You didn't hear?" Mer asks, wiping away a tear from her eye before it falls. "It's Jo."
That's when we pull up to the hospital, and Warren and another guy from 19 unloads my gurney.
I'm immediately taken away by a large group of people, some nurses, some doctors, and my two medics- all but Alex followed.
He still stood in the lot, frozen with fear and unsure of how to process the information he received not a full minute before. Then, Sadie hops out of the ambulance, red eyed and puffy from crying.
"Daddy!"
"Oh, there you are baby girl." He says, putting aside his own worries to address hers. "Did you call 911?" He asks, scooping her up and holding her on his hip. She may have been almost 8, but she was very small for her age.
"Uh-huh." Was all she could muster out.
"Good job, Sadiebug. You might've just saved mommy's life." He says, giving her a kiss. Sadie rests her head on Alex's shoulder, and a few tears slide down her face which wet Alex's shoulder.
"I'm scared. Are mommy and the baby going to be okay?"
"I hope so, sweetie. Let's go check on her."
"Alex, I've got her. You go take care of Jo." Someone says. Alex turns to see Amelia standing behinds him. Sadie squirms out of Alex's arms and runs over to her aunt Amy, giving her a hug as well.
"Thank you. I need to see her." He says, running off without another word.
Inside the hospital, I'm set up in a trauma room while Carina gives me an ultrasound.
"Is my baby okay?" I say, panicking. "Where's Alex?"
"I'm right here, Jo." Alex says, making his way through the group of doctors to be at my side.
"Alex, I'm scared. I can't lose this baby."
"Just breathe. Carina, what the hell is going on? I want answers."
"The ultrasound shows Jo has a condition called placenta accreta. The placenta is adhered to the uterine wall, which means she won't be able to deliver naturally. We need to get Jo into surgery immediately before the bleeding puts her and the baby at further risk."
"Are you qualified to do that?" Alex asks. I shoot him a look that says 'please don't offend the doctor who's about to cut me open,' but his gaze is set on Carina as he waits for her answer.
"Yes. I've performed this surgery many times, several times successfully." She replies. "What's your success rate?" Alex demands.
"Alex-"
"I wanna know."
"32 percent. I've performed this operation a total of 28 times, 9 of which have been successful. This condition is extremely..."
"I want the best. Jo, I'll be right back. I've gotta make a call." He says, stepping into the hallway.
He scrolls through his contact list until he finds the number he's looking for. He hits call and it rings 3 times before picking up.
"Hello? Alex, is that you?"
"Addison. How soon can you be on a plane to Seattle?"