One Last Chance

by Hollowed, Beverley

  Chapter 32

  Cole sat and listened to the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. As he watched her sleeping, his heart ached.

  “Would you like to hold her Cole?” A nurse called Tasha asked softly, pulling Cole from his thoughts. He looked up at her and forced a smile. Smiling was the last thing he felt like doing.

  “Is that allowed?” Cole asked nervously. He was still afraid to touch her. She was so tiny and fragile looking.

  “Of course it is,” Tasha replied. “I know all the machines are scary but they are mostly for precaution.”

  “So, she’s okay?” Cole asked looking from the nurse back down to the tiny bundle in front of him.

  “She’s a little fighter,” Tasha smiled down at Cole. “She is breathing on her own very well, her heart and lungs are good and strong. She is only in there to be monitored She can probably go home in a day or two. And I must say she is absolutely gorgeous.”

  “Thank you,” Cole said with a sad smile. Tasha took the baby from the incubator and handed the tiny pink bundle to Cole.

  “I will leave you two alone,” Tasha said before she disappeared leaving Cole alone with his little girl.

  He looked down at his sleeping daughter and smiled, as the tears danced in his eyes. He couldn’t believe how prefect she was. Although she was really small, she had a look of Ally off her and it made Cole’s heart hurt so badly. He missed her so much. He wished she was there beside him right in that moment.

  He knew nothing about babies, not really. Ally was always the one who knew what to do with Ben. How was he supposed to cope without her telling him what to do for the best?

  “Hey Little Bean,” he whispered softly. “Can’t believe you are here and I finally get to hold you. I wish your mom was here right now to see you. She would just love you. She loved you from the moment she knew you existed.”

  Cole stared down at the little girl through the glistening tears in his eyes. He felt so lost.

  “Cole,” Pop said suddenly from behind him. “How is she doing?”

  “She is breathing on her own and the nurse said all her vital signs are really good,” he replied, trying his hardest to sound positive. “They say she will be fine. She might even be allowed to go home in a couple of days.”

  “Well, at least that’s something,” Pop said as he sat down next to Cole. “She is a fighter, just like Ally. I swear, from the day Ally came into the world, she was a determined little thing. She was walking before her first birthday. Learned to ride a bike without training wheels when she was still only three. She had more cuts and bruises from falling off but she got back up every time. She never gave up.”

  “Something tells me this little girl has her mother’s stubborn streak,” Cole laughed sadly.

  “Son, I know you have been through a lot. And I won’t pretend I know how you feel,” Pop said looking up at Cole. “The love between a husband and wife is unlike any other love there is. If anything were to happen to Molly, I’m not sure I could go on. I know your heart is broken. All our hearts are. But you can’t keep doing this. You have to stop blaming yourself for what happened.”

  “I let her down Pop,” Cole said as the tears trickled down his face. “I promised I would let nothing happen to her. I promised he would get nowhere near her again. But I didn’t keep my promise. He got to her and there was nothing I could do to stop him. I stood outside that door and heard her cry for…”

  He couldn’t even say it. He closed his eyes as he tried hard to keep himself under control.

  “But that doesn’t make what happened your fault,” Pop insisted. “She knew when you made her those promises that you really meant them, but she also knew you couldn’t control everything. You couldn’t control Jason. Yes he got to her but that doesn’t make it your fault.”

  “Pop she is my world,” Cole said, letting out a soft sob. “I need her. I can’t do this without her.”

  “Then don’t,” Pop replied bluntly. “Hiding in here with the baby isn’t going to change anything. You know this.”

  “I just can’t sit there and watch her on those machines anymore, knowing this is all my fault,” Cole sobbed harder. He glanced down at Little Bean in his arms and tried to pull himself together. “It’s been almost a week now, and she still hasn’t woken up.”

  “Cole,” Pop said as he placed his hand on Cole’s shoulder. “I know the baby needs you, both your little ones need you. But right now, Ally needs you too. She needs to know you are there, to hear your voice. She needs to know she has something to fight for.”

  Cole stared at Pop for a moment and considered what he had just said.

  “I know she does,” Cole nodded and he knew Pop was right. His gorgeous girl needed him. He needed to be the man she had married. He looked up at Pop and smiled. “I need to let her know we are waiting for her. Let her know how much her family needs her. How much I need her. I need to be there for my Ally.”

  “That’s the spirit,” Pop replied with a grin, happy someone had finally reached Cole.

  “How would you like to spend some time with your great-granddaughter?” Cole asked looking at Pop and smiling at him.

  “That would be a dream come true,” Pop said as his eyes glistened with a mixture of both tears of sadness and pride.

  Cole stood up and carefully placed Little Bean

  into her great-grandfather’s arms and kissed her softly on the forehead.

  “I will be back in a little while my precious little girl,” he whispered to his daughter. Then smiled at Pop, before he headed for the door.

  He made his way to the lift that would take him up two floors to I.C.U. When he stepped out onto the fifth floor, he headed down the corridor to where Ally’s room was located, his heart began to race. Each step he took, he was filled with more and more purpose. Suddenly, he was filled with a consuming need to see her. When he reached the room, Gus and Laura were sitting outside her room. Gus looked completely shattered. He looked up and smiled when he saw Cole. Cole gave him a nod before he opened the door and walked in. A surprised, Nan, Ella and James looked up at him in unison.

  “She’s been waiting for you,” Nan smiled up at Cole, as the unshed tears twinkled in her eyes. She stood up and looked over at Ella and James. “I think we should go for a cup of tea, give them some time alone.”

  “Sounds like a very good idea,” James agreed as he held the door open for the two woman to exit. Then, smiling at Cole and giving him a reassuring nod, he left, closing the door behind him.

  Cole stood for a moment and stared at Ally lying there in the bed, lost among all the wires and machines. He walked slowly towards the bed and lifted up Ally’s hand.

  “Hey, gorgeous girl,” Cole said softly as he leaned down over Ally and kissed her lips. “Have you missed me?”

  He stared at Ally, waiting for a reaction but the only noise was the sound of the different machines beeping in time with one another. Cole’s heart sank a little.

  “I miss you so much, Ally,” Cole whispered against her mouth. “Please open your eyes and look at me. I need to see your beautiful eyes. I need you.”

  Still there was nothing. Cole sighed as he climbed onto the edge of the bed and laid down next to his Ally.

  “I’m here,” he whispered to her, his lips barely inches from her ear. “You have to wake up. You promised me we would grow old together. I can’t do this without you Ally. Please, open your eyes. Please, gorgeous girl, I need you.”

  He waited for her to respond, but she didn’t make a sound. He swallowed hard the lump of grief in his throat that was almost chocking him. He refused to give over to his grief any more. She need him to be strong. She needed him to fight for them both. He had to be her strength.

  He lay next to her as he watched her, her chest would slowly rise and fell, almost in time with the machines. He took in every inch of her beautiful face. God he loved her so much.

  As he lay there watching her, his mind wandered back to the day in the apartm
ent. As he stepped through the door, followed closely by Nathan and Nick, the smell of iron hung in the air. Cole knew this was not a good thing.

  When he stepped into the living room, he could see dirty dishes lying around the place. But there was still no sign of Ally.

  Then he heard the sound of tiny sobs coming from the bedroom. He rushed to the door and the first thing he saw was Jason spread out on the floor, eyes fixed towards the ceiling and an ever increasing pool of blood around his head.

  Movement on the bed caught his eye. He turned and saw Ally curled in a ball in the center of the bed. A pool of blood beneath her also.

  “Ally!” Cole exclaimed as he rushed to the bed.

  “Cole,” Ally sobbed weakly. She was deathly pale and Cole knew he needed to get her to a hospital immediately. He turned back to Nathan and told him to get an ambulance.

  “I’m here my gorgeous girl,” he said with a smile as he climbed up on to her bed next to her. He slipped his arm under her and pulled her to him. “Help is on the way.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said her voice was barely a whisper. I tried, I swear I tried.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry for,” he replied with a smile then kissed her on the forehead. He was trying his hardest to remain calm but he knew they were running out of time.

  “I feel so tired,” she said as her eyes appeared to grow heavy.

  “No, Ally Thomas,” Cole demanded firmly. “You do not go to sleep. You stay awake, do you hear me?”

  “I tried to fight,” she whispered. “I really tried. I’m sorry.” She began to drift off.

  “No, don’t you dare,” Cole said shaking her to wake her back up. “Don’t you dare leave me! You stay with me, you hear me Ally Thomas, you stay with me!”

  “ALLY!” Cole cried out as he woke with a jolt. It took him a moment before he remembered where he was. He sighed as he realised he was not just having a bad dream. He had lived his nightmare.

  He turned over in the bed to face Ally and was greeted with the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Two beautiful blue eyes staring back at him.

  “Hey, gorgeous girl,” he said brightly, unable to hide his relief and joy he was feeling. “God I have missed you.”

  “Hey, yourself,” she croaked and tried her hardest to smile. “Where am I?”

  “You’re in the hospital,” Cole told her and kissed her forehead as her hand immediately went to what remained of her bump.

  “What about…”she asked as panic washed over her.

  “She’s fine,” Cole said reassuringly taking hold of Ally’s hand. “And she is very beautiful, just like her mommy. But she misses you so much. She is five days old now. So we need to get you better, for our little girl. And also for a little man that misses his mommy more than anything in the world.”

  “Cole,” she said with a tired smile. “I want to see my babies.”

  “I will see what I can do, my gorgeous girl,” Cole said as he kissed her, then got up off the bed and went to look for a nurse. When the nurse came back to the room, she asked Cole to wait outside while she got Ally sorted.

  A reluctant and sulking Cole stepped out of the room and promised Ally he would see about her getting to see the baby.

  When he stepped outside the room, he called his mom. He wanted to let her, his dad and Nan know Ally had finally woken up. Then headed back down to the nursery and told a very happy Pop that Ally was awake.

  He asked the nurse about taking the baby up to Ally and she assured him once Ally was checked over, moved out of the ICU and into her own room, she would arrange it.

  He also rang Caitlin and Nathan, who had Ben, and asked them to bring him to the hospital as Ally desperately wanted to see him too.

  It was a couple of hours later before Ally had been moved into her own room. She was tired but happy to be there with her family. When Nathan and Caitlin arrived with Ben, along with Hannah and Sid, Ben squealed with excitement the moment he saw his mommy.

  Ally held him to her tightly and couldn’t hold back the tears of joy to have her baby back in her arms.

  A short while later, there was a soft tap on the door and a nurse popped her head in around it.

  “I have a little visitor here that wants to see her mommy,” she said then walked into the room carrying the most perfect little bundle Ally had ever seen.

  The nurse placed the baby into Ally’s arms as Cole moved closer with Ben.

  “We meet at last,” Ally said to her daughter, as she blinked back tears of happiness. “And I love you so much, my Little Bean.”

  “So does this little woman have a name yet?” Sid asked the question everyone else was thinking.

  Ally looked up at Cole and he smiled back at her and gave her a quick nod to go ahead and tell them.

  “Okay,” Ally smiled and she looked up directly at Nathan and smiled bright. “I would like you all to meet, Abby Rachel Thomas.”

  Nathan’s eyes instantly filled with tears of joy when he heard the name.

  “Thank you,” he mouthed to Ally and she smiled brighter knowing he approved of their choice.

  She looked down at their little girl and then up at her husband with their little boy in his arms and she had never felt happier.

  Finally, her life was complete.

  Chapter 33

  Ally woke up early and found Cole sitting in the bed staring at her with the biggest smile on his face.

  “Happy Christmas, Mrs. Thomas,” Cole said brightly and Ally couldn’t help but smile back at him. He was like an excitable little boy.

  “Happy Christmas, Mr. Thomas.” Ally giggled back. “What has you awake at such an early hour.”

  “Oh, I am just excited to spend my first proper Christmas with the woman of my dreams,” Cole said with a big grin. “Plus, we have a little boy who is one today and a five month old who is about to scream blue murder for her morning feed.”

  As if on cue, Abby’s cry echoed through the house.

  “I don’t remember Ben ever being this loud,” Cole said with a laugh as he climbed up off the bed. “Must be a girl thing.”

  He ducked from the pillow Ally threw at him before he headed out of the bedroom still laughing his ass off.

  “He came back with a very unhappy Abby, who was only worried about her bottle, in his arms. And walking a little wobbly next to him, holding his hand tightly was a smiling Ben, who giggled with excitement the moment he saw Ally. Ben was such a mommy’s boy whereas Abby was all about her Daddy.

  “Happy Birthday little man,” Ally said as she jumped up out of bed and scooped Ben up in her arms. “Have you got a big kiss for your mommy?”

  “Mommy,” Ben said in his own funny little way. Ally leaned over and kissed a very tearful Abby. “Morning Princess.”

  “I think little madam just wants her bottle,” Cole laughed as Abby cried harder.

  They both headed back towards the bed and Ally placed Ben into the bed as she took Abby from Cole. He reached into his pyjama bottom pockets and pulled out two bottles. One for Ben, who happily flopped back in the bed and began drinking his bottle, and one for Abby who guzzled it down happily.

  Cole left his little family in the bed and headed out of the room and arrived back a few moments later with a big box, wrapped in colourful wrapping paper.

  “Happy Birthday buddy,” Cole exclaimed as he placed the box down in front of Ben. The little boy squealed and dropped his bottle before he launched himself at the box. Ally laughed hard as Cole helped Ben rip the wrapping off.

  When they were finished opening the presents and both babies had their bottles, Cole and Ally each took a baby and headed down into the sitting room, to where Ella, James, Nan and Pop were all waiting for Cole and Ally to arrive downstairs with the babies.

  “Happy Christmas,” they all cheered in unison as Cole and Ally walked into the living room.

  “Happy Christmas,” Cole said and Ben just squealed once again.

  “Happy Christmas everyone,” Ally ch
irped happily.

  After they done Santa Claus with the children, they all exchanged gifts and took a lot of pictures of both babies. It was the picture perfect Christmas morning. And as Ally looked around the room, she saw she was surrounded by some of the most important people in her life and she felt truly happy. Life was pretty perfect.

  At midday, the rest of the guests began to arrive, Caitlin and Nathan were the first to arrive. Sid and newly pregnant Hannah arrived a short time later. The next to arrive were Gus, Laura and Ally’s sisters. Ally’s two uncles and their families were the last to arrive.

  Rosie and Nick also joined them but this time, they were guests too. Cole had hired caterers for the day.

  One of the waitresses arrived with a tray of champagne and passed out a glass to everyone.

  Cole tapped the side of his glass to get everyone’s attention.

  “Firstly, on behalf of myself and Ally,” Cole began. “I would like to thank you all for coming and helping us celebrate this very special Christmas. Our first Christmas as a family. It’s been a tough year, we have had some wonderful highs and some pretty bad lows. But through it all, one thing never failed us. And that was family. You are all our family. We are so blessed to have each one of you in our lives. And on behalf of Ally, Ben, Abby and myself, I would like to say thank you all, and wish you all a very Happy Christmas.”

  “Happy Christmas,” they all replied as they raised their glasses.

  “OH MY GOD!” Ally exclaimed as she grabbed hold of Caitlin’s hand. “You got engaged!”

  “Nathan surprised me this morning,” Caitlin beamed with happiness. Ally threw her arms around her friend’s neck and hugged her tightly.

  “I am so happy for you,” Ally said, then she turned and hugged Nathan too. “You take care of my woman.”

  “I will,” Nathan replied. “You have my word.”

  Cole hugged Nathan and then Caitlin and wished them all the best.

  Sid and Hannah joined them as Cole asked the waitress to bring them more champagne and an orange juice for Hannah.