Sorry it's been so long but life kind of got in the way and then I got busy with other stories but people keep asking me about this one so I thought I should continue it, hope it was worth the wait. Idril xxx

11. Goodbye

Katie POV

He couldn't die, he couldn't die. That was the only thought going through my head as I sat in the waiting room being held by my Mother. Adrian was on the phone to Joseph and Mia; he was a man's man who never cried in front of anyone, I'd known him almost my entire life and only seen him cry three times: when both his Grandsons had been born and now. The tears were flowing freely as he lent against the wall for support; how could this be happening? How could any of this been happening? A week ago I'd been an orphan living with my boyfriend's parents and now I was a girl famous for being kidnapped with my boyfriend lying on an operating table fighting for his life. Was this the price I'd have to pay for finding my family; that I lost my boyfriend. Boyfriend seemed the wrong word for Dave, I mused, boyfriend seemed too trivial to describe what Dave was to me. He'd been my first friend in London and even when Gracie had come along he was still the person I was closest to.

The door opened and Jane walked in; she too looked shattered at the prospect of losing one of her sons. Thankfully Oliver had avoided the main collision and only broke his arm so Jane had gone to sit with him trying to keep him content and away from all the worry of Dave.

"How's Ollie?" Adrian asked as he moved to envelope his wife in a hug.

"Fine, they're taking him to have a cast put on his arm so I thought I'd come and see if there's any news." She whimpered the last part and hugged Adrian tighter. "Ollie... Ollie... Ollie says that Dave pushed him out the way. The car came racing round the corner and he pushed his brother out the way but... but... but he couldn't get himself out the way." She began sobbing uncontrollably while for a hideous, terrible second a dreadfully thought entered my head: Why did he save Ollie? Why didn't he let Ollie- Ollie the tiny, angelic ten year old boy who I loved like a brother and would happily lay down my own life for- die while he saved himself? It was a hideous thought that lasted for a fleeting moment.

But it was enough.

It was enough to make my guts turn to mush as my face flushed because of the shame of it. How could I even think that; Dave was a hero who hadn't thought twice about saving his little brother even though he'd known it meant he could die? Better a living coward than a dead hero; the evil little voice in my head spat out.

"Mr Lakeland?" A serious faced doctor walked into the room and we all stood up holding each other for support.

"Please is my son going to be ok?" Jane practically begged her eyes reminiscent of puppies just after someone kicked them. The doctor's face fell slightly and he stared around at all of us: Adrian, Jane, Charlie, Renee, Bella and finally me.

"Do you want to go somewhere private?" He asked quietly as if he didn't really want to tell what was coming. Jane let out a wail and Adrian had to wrap his arms around her to keep her upright; Dad seemed to guess my reaction would be the same and held me tightly against his chest whispering comforting words in my ear as I tried to keep it together.

"Mum what's going on?" Joseph appeared; racing in with Mia right behind both looking worried.

"We're about to find out." Adrian took over vocal duties as it was obvious Jane couldn't say a word. "Doctor?"

"Right, well, your son sustained massive head trauma in the collision and we took him to theatre to try and repair the damage which was successful; unfortunately we found he had severe internal bleeding..."

"But he's ok now right?" Joseph asked as he wiped tears from his eyes.

"No." The doctor whispered. "His internal organs were so severely crushed there's nothing we can do. We've made him as comfortable as possible but he's only got hours left. I am so sorry." He placed an arm on Jane's shoulder and went to say something else but I couldn't hear it.

Everything had gone black.

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"Katie." Bella whispered as I came round. I was lying on a hospital bed with Bella on one side and Mom and Dad on the other. My head was fuzzy but my memory of the doctor's conversation was crystal clear in my mind.

Dave was dying. I tried to sit up but Bella pushed me down again.

"Bella please, Dave's..." I couldn't say the words but the look in her eyes told me she understood how precious each second was to me.

"I know darling but you collapsed, you need rest." My Mum soothed.

"Mum! I 'm stressed and I haven't eaten all day!" My Mum was about to argue but a kindly doctor walked in and smiled at me.

"Hi Darling I'm glad you're awake. I know your circumstances and I know you want to be with David but we need a little chat. In private." She smiled at my family who shared odd glances before promptly reading. I wanted to tell them that I was as flummoxed as they were but they left so quickly all I could do was stare at the nurse for an explanation.

"What's wrong because frankly I can't deal with any more bad news right now?"

"Well it depends how you feel about babies. You're four months pregnant, Katie." I sat for about a minute just staring at her. How could I be pregnant we'd always been so careful? My first thought was shit; we're going to be in so much trouble but then I remembered there was no we. Dave was dying and I had a baby that would grow up fatherless. I noticed how I'd subconsciously decided that I was keeping this baby; when Dave and I had talked about what we would do if we ever found out we were having a baby we'd decided we would probably have it adopted so we could go to university but now things were so different. This baby would be my last link to Dave.

"I need to tell Dave."

"I talked to his doctor and we had an idea that if you wanted to we could set up a scan in his room so he can see your baby." I nodded; I had never been so grateful to anyone in my life. She helped me get up slowly and pull my jumper back on. My family were talking in hurried whispers which stopped abruptly as I walked out.

"Are you ok, sweetheart?" Mum hugged me tightly.

"Yeah I just really need to be with Dave." She nodded but refused to let go of me as we began moving back down the corridor; eventually coming out at the familiar waiting room which had now emptied of Dave's family and been replaced by Gracie, Max and Max's parents.

"Kate! They said that you collapsed! Are you ok?" Gracie hugged me tightly before looking into my face as if that would give her any clues to what was going on in my mind. She wouldn't be able to guess it if she tried.

"I just need to be with him, Grace." She nodded.

"They said we could go in but we thought we'd let them have some time alone." I nodded as I wiped the new tears from my eyes. "He's been asking for you. Room 10 along that way."

Somehow I managed to work my face into giving her something like a smile and without another word I left her and headed for the room she had indicated. There was a window outside the room but the blinds were pulled to give the family some privacy. I knocked quietly before pushing the door open; they all looked up as I entered and Jane stood up to give me a cuddle.

"Are you feeling better sweetie, what was wrong?" I opened my mouth but my attention was caught by Dave lying on the bed. He had wires coming out of his body and bandages covering his head and midriff.

"Kate." He whispered his bloodshot eyes focusing on me.

"I'm here Hun." I whispered before running over to the bed and gently kissing his lips. "I love you." I managed to choke out.

"Marry me Kate." He whispered in a tired voice as if every word was a struggle. "Please Kate; I want to die with you as my wife."

"Of course I will." There were murmurings of quiet assent from the people in the room and Ollie let out a squeal of delight before suddenly stopping as he realised this wasn't a time to be happy. "Dave I need to..."

"Sorry to interrupt but we need a private few minutes with Dave." The doctor who had told us of Dave's imminent death and my nurse had walked into the room with a covered machine.

"Can Kate stay?" He managed to croak out and I watched the doctors share a happy glance as it meant they didn't have to find a way to get me left alone with him.

"Of course." The family left quickly and I felt a bubble of anxiety at how Dave would take the news.

"What's up Doc? Surely it can't get any worse?"

"I think Kate should explain." He turned to look at me as I sat on the bed holding his hand.

"We're having a baby." I whispered; tears dripping down my face. I didn't dare look into his face in case he was shocked or angry. I didn't expect him to cry. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry; it's just you shouldn't have to go through that alone." I leaned my head against his before kissing him gently. "So why's the Doc here?"

"They thought you might like to see our baby." He nodded slowly before letting out a shuddering breath.

"I really wish Ollie had looked before he crossed that road." He sighed before pulling me into a hug against his chest. "Love you."

"Love you too." The doctor cleared his throat behind us; I slid off the bed into the seat beside him while never letting go of his hand for a second.

"This might be a little chilly." The nurse smiled at me trying to give us both some reassurance as the Doctor stood in the background watching us quietly. It took a few minutes for her to set up the equipment but before long the quick fluttering of our baby's heart filled the air. Dave's grip on my hand tightened and I knew he was trying hard not to cry. "Do you want to know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"Yeah." Dave nodded before smiling gently at me for reassurance that he'd made the right choice.

"It's a girl and she looks healthy." Dave squeezed my hand and let out a shaky breath, I met his eyes and saw regret and desperation written in them; he didn't want to die, he wanted to spend his life with me and our child, which reminded me of his earlier question to me.

"Is there any chance we could get married here?" I asked, praying the answer would be yes. The nurse smiled and said she'd see what she could do before her and the doctor left the room. I moved back to sit on his bed as we continued to hold hands, we needed to be close to each other; after all we didn't have much longer. It was such a hideous thought but one I was going to have to get my head around sooner rather than later.

"What about names?" He asked quietly.

"I... I don't know. What do you like?"

"I was thinking, I mean it's totally your choice but I like Beth, like our song." I smiled; we'd had our first kiss to Beth three years earlier at the school disco and it had been our song ever since. It seemed fitting that our daughter would be named after it.

"Beth it is. I'm going to tell her all about her amazing Daddy I promise." I choked out, tears freely streaming down my face.

"I know you will. At least there's one upside."

"How the hell can you find an upside in all this?"

"Your Dad can't kill me for getting you pregnant if I'm already dying." I rolled my eyes at his black sense of humour although he did bring up a very good point of how the hell we were going to tell our parents about this. Today had certainly taken an unexpected turn.