guarding my angel || "guardian angel" sequel

33

**Lauren's POV**

"Why is this happening?!" I scream in frustration as I have another contraction. "The baby won't survive this early on!"

"Lauren, we're doing everything we can, but we need you to stay calm, okay?" the doctor orders. I nod and fall back against my pillow, gripping Darry's hands so tight my knuckles are turning blue.

"Why is the baby doing this?" I ask him, the exhaustion causing me to cry. He kisses the top of my forehead, but doesn't have a response.

We knew this was going to be a battle from the moment I found out about the Intrauterine Asphyxia Growth Restriction, but I never thought this would be a battle we were fighting this early. The baby's due date is still two months away, we don't know the gender, and we haven't picked out names yet.

"Lauren, I think this baby wants to come out today," the doctor says. My heart sinks.

"I'm going to need you to start pushing, okay?"

I begin to push with all my might. I'm so exhausted, but I keep going. Darry holds me through it all, both of us crying our hearts out over an impossible situation where there's not one good outcome.

Finally, all of the pressure is relieved, but I don't hear crying.

There's a bustle of action around my lower area. I watch as the doctor carefully holds the baby up so we can see.

"It's a girl," he says with a smile. He hands the tiny baby to a nurse, who soon calls the doctor over as well.

I look up at Darry and my heart breaks, because we both know what we're about to hear. I cry into his shoulder, not taking my eyes off our baby girl.

The doctor returns with our daughter wrapped in a blanket. He hands her to me and I cradle her against my chest, Darry's arms wrapping around mine.

"I'm so sorry," the doctor says. "We'll give you guys the time you need."

The doctor and nurses leave the room, shutting the door behind them. I look at the tiny baby in my arms.

"She's beautiful," I say through tears. "She's absolutely beautiful."

Darry breaks down into sobs and lays against my shoulder.

"We should pick a name," he chokes out. "She deserves to have a name."

I sit silently;  we never discussed names. We were far too wrapped up in the situation to even consider it.

"It has to be special," I choke out.

"Elle," Darry says, stroking a finger against her cheek. I break into sobs.

"Elle Shaynne Curtis," I finish. Darry smiles the most broken smile I've ever seen.

"That's perfect," Darry says before crying again.

We gifted our daughter with each of our middle names, mine as her first and his as her middle.

We both know we only have minutes with her. She was born way too early, and isn't developed enough to survive longer than a few hours. There was nothing we could do, and we both knew that.

"I love you, Elle Shaynne," I say through tears, smiling at how beautiful she is. "I'm so, so sorry."

Darry and I remain there, our arms wrapped around our daughter. Somehow, I thought things would turn out differently. I assumed that I would carry all the way to term, and that the baby would be okay. I never prepared myself for a moment like this, one that was a very probable outcome.

"How can something so perfect be taken away from us?" Darry says, crying harder than I've ever seen someone cry.

"I don't know," I whisper. "This isn't fair."

Darry leans against me, his arms still wrapped around me and our beautiful baby. We look down at her and appreciate every part of her, telling her we love her more times than I could count.

And I can promise you, when our sweet angel was taken up to Heaven, she knew for sure how loved she really was.

**Jessica's POV**

I open my eyes slowly, very slowly. I'm greeted with a very consistent beeping sound and a lot of white surrounding me. My lips feel chapped and my eyelids are heavy. I turn slightly to my right.

I find Ponyboy sleeping in a chair in the corner of the room in a very uncomfortable position. The clock above him reads '1:48am'.

I eventually put it together that I'm in a hospital.

I look back at the ceiling and breathe deeply. I can't feel any pain, but I'm incredibly cold.

I turn my head back to Ponyboy and watch his chest rise and fall. His face looks a little cut up and bruised, and his left arm is wrapped up in something.

I try and move my legs, but I'm unsuccessful. That's not a good sign. I try to move my arms, and I can barely lift them from the bed. Ponyboy shivers in his sleep and moves slightly, so I lay still again. I wish I had some kind of blanket or something, I'm fricken freezing.

I can't sleep, and pretty soon I give up trying. I stare up at the ceiling, trying to remember what happened that could've caused all of this.

I remember feeling like I was flying, and hearing a loud crash.

A car accident. We were in a car accident.

My breath catches, causing Ponyboy to jolt out of his chair. His fear visibly melts as he sees that I'm awake.

He rushes to my side, sitting next me as he clutches my hand. He carefully kisses my forehead, and leans against me.

"You're okay," he says softly. I nod against him, shaking from fear and coldness. Softly, he strokes my hair, calming me down immensely.

He sits up with tears in his eyes, caressing my cheek. "I was so worried about you."

I attempt to speak, but he places a finger in front of my lips to quiet me.

"I love you so much, Jessica Elordi Georgeson," he says. My eyes well up with tears and he smiles. "Today made me realize that I don't ever want to be without you. I can't picture myself living a life that I enjoy that doesn't have you in it."

"I'll always be here, Ponyboy Michael Curtis," I say. "I love you, forever."

He pulls something out of his pocket and I cover my mouth with my hands.

"I was going to ask you last night before everything happened," he says with a laugh, looking at the stunning ring in his hand. "It was my mothers, and she always said that one day, after she'd had her turn, that it should be given to the most beautiful girl in the world."

Tears rush down my cheeks as he kneels so that he's eye-level with my laying body.

"I can't wait another second, not after yesterday. Marry me next month, after we graduate, and let me start my life with you while we're away at college," he says, tearing up again. "Let me give you forever, Jessica Elordi."

"Forever-" is all I can say before I'm throwing myself into his arms, kissing the life out of him. He softly kisses my chapped lips in a way he never has before.

In that moment, all of the pain fades. I'm no longer stricken with anxiety about Victoria and Lauren's pregnancies, Two-Bit's return, the Winston's new life, any of it. Instead, I thought of my own future. Ponyboy and I's family - three sons, Jason, Tyler, and Calvin, and two daughters, Paisley and Tatum. And a dog of course.

I've wanted to be Mrs. Curtis for as long as I could remember; and there, at 2am on the first morning of June, it was all finally coming true.

A/N im not 100% about darry's middle name but it's what everyone uses so i'm assuming it's right, if not pls let me know so i don't look like a fool. ily greasers