122 - Benjamin Scott

122 - Benjamin Scott
Benjamin Scott

My heart was racing as I watched the color drain from my little devil’s face, leaving behind the rosy hue she always shows when she looks at me, catching her off guard. I felt her limp body in my arms while our babies stirred inside her. Maybe they sensed that their mother wasn’t well at that moment.

“Don’t leave me…”

I held her tightly, her body lifeless and heavy, as if the very essence of her being was slipping away. Her blood stained my shirt, but I didn’t care. I just pressed the makeshift towel against the wound on her side, begging for the bleeding to stop. Her robe slipped from her shoulders, exposing her pale skin, and my trembling hands struggled to cover her again.

“Hang on, little devil!” my voice was hoarse, nearly breaking. “Please, my love… just a little longer.”

In the front seat, Oliver drove like a madman, weaving through traffic and ignoring red lights. The improvised car siren wasn’t enough to convey the desperation consuming me.

“We’re almost there, Benjamin! Just a little further!” he shouted, trying to offer me some reassurance.

I glanced at Camilla’s face, so serene amidst the chaos. Four lives were inside her, and I didn’t know if we could save them. My hand gently touched her rounded belly, as if I could somehow shield them.

“You’ll all be okay. Every one of you. I promise,” I whispered, more to myself than to her.

The car screeched to a halt in front of the hospital, and the doors flew open in a frenzy. Medical teams rushed toward us, opening the back door where I held my wife.

“She’s been shot! She’s pregnant with quadruplets!” I shouted, nearly choking on the words.

A doctor pulled me away after I placed my wife on the stretcher, watching helplessly as they wheeled her inside the hospital. I saw my cousin get back in the car and drive off to clear the emergency entrance.

I followed the doctors and the stretcher carrying my unconscious wife as they entered a small room and began monitoring her vitals. The monitor showed her heartbeat was weak, heightening my anguish at the helpless scene before me.

“We’re taking her in immediately! Sir, she’s in hypovolemic shock. We need to perform an emergency C-section!” the doctor explained quickly, but my mind struggled to process his words.

I looked from the doctor, who kept talking, to my wife, who was being prepped for surgery.

“Will she… will she survive? And the babies?” I asked, gripping the doctor’s arm too tightly.

He hesitated for a moment, looking straight into my eyes and holding my arm. I knew it was his way of trying to calm me.

“Mr. Scott, we will do everything we can to save your wife and your babies, but we must act now. Every second counts for all five of them.”

Reluctantly, I forced my fingers to release the doctor, who was there to do his best.

I nodded, hearing Oliver call me. As I turned toward my cousin, I saw them wheeling Camilla’s stretcher down the hallway toward a sign that read "Surgical Center," leaving me behind.

I forgot about Oliver and ran after them, wanting to be there for my children’s birth. But a nurse stopped me at the surgical center doors.

“Sir, you can’t go in…” she said, stepping between me and the stretcher.

“I’m not leaving!” I yelled, a mix of desperation and anger boiling over. “They’re everything to me!”

“Benjamin…” a faint, cutting voice made me freeze.

I moved past the nurse and approached my little devil, whose eyes remained closed, her hands lying limply at her sides, clearly delirious. I leaned closer and kissed her lips, which still murmured my name. Though her lips barely moved, I knew she was calling for me. A sob escaped my chest as I bent down, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“I’m here, my love. I’m not going anywhere…” I murmured.

I looked up and saw the doctors approaching with an entire team in tow. Given the urgency of the situation, I knew our obstetrician wouldn’t arrive in time for the surgery. I glanced at the doctor and entrusted him with my wife.

“If anything happens to my family, I’ll take both your hands!”

“I’ll do my best!” he assured me before they took her away.

A wave of cold swept through me. I knew there was nothing more I could do now; everything depended on the doctors and my faith in everything I had learned while growing up. I pressed my forehead against the cold door, praying as I had never prayed before.

“Please… save her… save them all…”

It felt like the corridor was swallowing my soul at that moment, as if I were on the verge of losing everything that truly mattered. When the tears began streaming down my face, I felt a hand touch my shoulder.

That light touch on my shoulder pulled me out of my desperate trance. I turned slowly and saw Andreia. My father-in-law stood with a bandage on his shoulder, he must have been hit by Oleg’s men.

His face mirrored my devastation, his red eyes searching for strength he didn’t have at that moment.

“Benjamin…” her voice came out as a whisper. “She’s strong. Camilla will fight, just as she always has.”

I shook my head, but the words couldn’t get past the knot tightening in my throat.

“It might not be enough, Andreia,” my voice finally broke through, filled with fear and bitterness. “What if…”

She gripped my arm tightly, as if trying to stop me from continuing.

“Don’t say that. Not now. We’re not giving up on her.” My knees nearly gave out, but she held me up.

The corridor began to feel increasingly suffocating. Doubting my wife’s chances of surviving made me feel even worse. I needed to step away, to ensure everything was being arranged to keep my children safe while their mother was fighting for her life.

If I stayed there, hearing the muffled voices behind the doors, the beeping machines, and the hurried footsteps, I was certain I would lose my mind. I’d barge into that room and hold my wife’s hand, refusing to let go.

“Four lives, Andreia,” my voice cracked again. “Four babies… They haven’t even seen the world yet. And Camilla… she still has so much ahead, with me, with them…”

“They’re doing everything they can, Benjamin. Everything.” Andreia tried to stay strong for me, but her face mirrored the same terror. “You need to believe that now.”

I wanted to believe. I wanted to cling to any hope, but the darkness was overwhelming. I stood there, almost motionless, as time seemed to drag. My father-in-law and cousins managed to pull me into the waiting room, where I could see the surgical center doors still shut, separating me from my little devil. Every second felt like an eternity.

Finally, after what felt like hours, the door opened, and a doctor appeared. He was dressed in surgical scrubs, his expression unreadable. My heart pounded as I took a step forward.

“Mr. Benjamin Scott?”

“Yes, that’s me,” I said, my voice barely audible.

“We’ve stabilized her, but the situation is still critical. We need to act quickly to save the babies. She’s continuing to lose a lot of blood,” he paused, meeting my eyes. “I came to get you to witness your babies’ birth.”

Hearing that only heightened my anxiety. I glanced around at everyone, seeing in their eyes that, from this moment on, I was becoming a father. I nodded and followed the doctor, who asked a nurse to guide me as he walked away.

I put on the hospital gown, and in less than ten minutes, I was there, sitting beside my wife’s head and kissing her forehead gently. I tried not to let the terror in my heart show on my face. Camilla looked pale, paler than I’d ever seen her, with tubes and wires connected to machines fighting for her. Her breathing was shallow, but she was there. She was still with me.

“I’m here, my love,” I murmured, holding her cold hand. “I’m with you.”
She didn’t respond. She couldn’t. But I hoped that, somewhere deep down, she knew I was by her side.

“Let’s begin,” said the obstetrician, his voice firm but laced with tension.

I rested my forehead against hers, feeling an even tighter grip on my chest. Everything was happening too fast and yet in agonizing slow motion. The sound of surgical instruments echoed in the room, mingling with the beeps of the machines monitoring my little devil.

“The first baby is coming!” the doctor announced a few minutes later.

I heard a faint, high-pitched cry, the most blessed sound I had ever heard. My heart raced, and tears streamed down my face before I even realized it.

“A boy!” the nurse said, holding a small, blood-covered body full of life.

I looked at Camilla, hoping for some reaction from her, but she remained still.

“Did you hear that, love?” I whispered, my voice breaking. “Julian is here…”

A few more minutes passed, and another cry echoed.

“The second boy!” Another cry, this one louder than the first.

Vincenzo came next. I glanced at him briefly as another doctor held Will, who seemed the most restless of them all. And finally, the sweetest, most delicate cry I’d ever heard, Giorgia arrived. When I looked at her, I saw that her eyes were just like her mother’s.

Each cry was a sound of hope that I clung to as an anchor, keeping me from drowning in fear. While the babies were taken for evaluation, my focus shifted back to Camilla. The doctor remained silent, but his expression revealed the gravity of the situation.

“We’re struggling to control the hemorrhage,” he finally said, addressing the team with urgency.

“Please… save her!” I pleaded, my voice breaking. “She needs to see our children. She needs to be here with us!”

I kissed her forehead again, letting the tears fall freely.

“Camilla, you did it… they’re okay. Now it’s your turn. Stay with me, please. Don’t leave me to do this alone,” I whispered before being led out of the room.

I looked back and saw the doctor working, but I knew he was racing against time. The beeping machines seemed to grow louder, each sound echoing like thunder in my chest. My world revolved around her, and at that moment, all I could do was wait and pray as I went to meet our children.