[Sam260]

Silas rested his head on the bed rail and reached over with his uncuffed hand, squeezing Sidney's hand lightly "It is not your fault, Sid..." Silas said quietly, knowing exactly what his husband was thinking - it was annoying, in a way, to be so emotionally connected that they could practically feel and hear each other's thoughts "We did not know that you would go into labor then... Please, do not beat yourself up over this." Silas squeezed Sidney's hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing his husband's knuckles lightly.

---------

A few hours had gone by since Marc's return with the news of their daughter's condition. Kris had left to go take care of not only his own children, but also relieve Maria from her duties as the nanny and take Theo, Titan, Jasper and Duke back to their house until everything was settled down again. Marc had stayed behind, wanting to get updates on not only his patient, Calla, but Silas as well.

Silas was still cuffed to the bed, the two officers were still posted outside of the room, and the hospital seemed to be getting more hectic as the night wore on. Silas was fidgeting like a school kid who had to use the restroom, he was uncomfortable, and he did have to use the restroom as well. Sidney was trying to keep him calm through it all, despite his own exhaustion and worries, but not much seemed to be calming Silas down at this point - even Sidney, the miracle worker on Silas' anxiety, was having trouble.

The NICU doctor - a woman around Marc's age - came into the room with a smile on her face "Hello, I'm Doctor Rachel Namead. I am overseeing your daughter's care up in the NICU." she said as she came further into the room, shaking hands with Sidney and Marc, but she - like everyone it seemed - refused to touch Silas in any fashion.

[hockeypreg2]

Sidney sat up a little in the bed, clutching at Silas's hand. He was so exhausted and aching from the quick birth. He had been given pain medicine and it had helped quite a bit, but it was starting to wear off and he didn't want to ask for anything more until he heard about Calla. Then he could ask for something to help him sleep as well. He knew they were going to take Silas after that and while he didn't want that to happen, he knew they couldn't fight it right now. They were lucky the officers let him stay this long.

"Hello Dr. Namead," Marc said, shaking her hand. "I'm Dr. Andrews. I'm Mr. Flint's OB and family friend. We've been waiting to hear from you."

[Sam260]

Rachael nodded her head as she pulled up the metal stool and sat down, resting her feet on the bar "Yes, and I apologize for the wait - I am sure you are all anxious to know how your daughter is doing." Rachael opened the file she had in her lap and looked at Sidney and Silas "When your daughter was delivered, she must have had a bowel movement during delivery - as we were not there, we cannot be certain, but the symptoms she's presenting with, they all point to Meconium Aspiration Syndrome."

Rachael twisted her hands together slightly "We've got her on a tube to draw out all that she may have inhaled during delivery, it is still coming out green as we speak now, but it is lessening by the minute." She took a breath and looked at both parent's seriously "I want you both to understand that this is no way your fault. Your daughter was likely under stress and this is what caused her to have a bowel movement in the womb - This is not a reflection on you or how you proceeded during delivery. Quite honestly, I'm impressed - most parents have a difficult time delivering their spouses children."

Rachel glanced at Silas' cuffed wrist and then back at Sidney "She shouldn't be in the NICU more than two days, but her health otherwise is perfect. Her lungs have developed fully and properly, she shows good brainwave activity, no infections, her bloodwork came back clean. I can say with absolute certainty, that you will be able to take your daughter home within the next five to seven days, depending on how she responds to the meconium treatments."

[hockeypreg2]

Sidney exhaled shakily, chewing on his lower lip. "Is she being fed? She didn't nurse at all. She's so tiny."

"They are taking care of her," Marc promised him. "She isn't actually tiny. She's just tiny compared to her brothers. She's a good size for being 33 weeks."

"Silas?" Sidney said gently, stroking his husband's hair. "She's okay. She'll be okay. You did so good, baby." He leaned over, wincing, to kiss him. "You took such good care of us."

[Sam260]

Silas nodded as he kissed Sidney back "Yeah... and now I'm a prisoner... I save my daughter and husband, just to go to jail." Silas said and shook his head, banging his forehead against the bed rail, muttering curses in Greek under his breath things like 'stupid' and 'idiot' flying out of his mouth at a rapid pace.

Rachael stood up, feeling that the family clearly needed some time to process the news and calm the beast of a man back down. She slipped out quietly and exchanged words with the two officers outside before disappearing quickly down the hall and back to the elevator.

[hockeypreg2]

"Silas, Silas, stop!" Sidney ordered, sliding the hand that didn't have an IV in it between Silas's head and the railing. "Don't hurt yourself. That doesn't help anything."

Marc moved over to Silas's side. "I'm going to touch you, Silas." When Silas didn't stop him, Marc gently pulled him back upright, his hands cupping his face. "I promise you that we will take care of this. You are going to have to be booked and we can't post bail until Tuesday because it's a holiday weekend but one of us will do it first thing Tuesday morning. Just listen to the officers and don't fight."

"Please Silas," Sidney said softly. "We need you too much."

The officers stepped back into the room. "We need to take him now."

[Sam260]

Silas was reluctant to leave, but the officers seemed less than understanding now - it had been over eight hours, well past their work hours, and they just wanted to get home to their own families -- Silas sighed and nodded, giving Sidney one last powerful kiss "I love you, Sid... Make sure our daughter knows I wanted to be here for her..."

And, with that, the officers un-cuffed Silas from the bed rail, maneuvered his hands behind his back to re-cuff him and guided him out of the room. They took him all the way to the parking lot, loaded him up in the car and just like that - Silas went from having never been in the inside of a police cruiser, to being a criminal locked up inside of one.

He was pissed, at himself, for letting his anxiety get the best of him - he really did never mean to hit the nurse, and everything that followed just domino effected around him after that. The guards were stupid enough to try and touch him, even after seeing what doing that resulted in - They were lucky that Silas was less coherent and faltering at that point, or more pain would have been caused, and more charges would have mounted up on Silas' plate... Now he just had to wait three days before he could see his daughter properly, and his sons would be worried and missing him - his family was suffering now, because he had made a mistake.

[hockeypreg2]

Sidney watched him go, his expression lost. Marc finally gave him more pain medication at his request. "Call my parents for me and get them here right away?" Sidney asked. "We're going to need their help."

"I'm on it." Marc promised, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Go to sleep."

----

Jay Forbes sat in the waiting room after posting Silas's bail, checking his phone every few minutes. Sidney and his mother were at the hospital with Calla and the twins were home with Maria. Jay refused to let Sidney go to get Silas. He would get his son-in-law.

The door finally opened to reveal Silas. Jay stood up, taking in Silas's haggard expression, the three day beard. He looked absolutely wrecked. Jay opened his arms to him.

"Oh son," Jay said gently. "Let's get you home."

[Sam260]

Silas shook his head as he hugged his father-in-law "I need to get to the hospital... I have to see Sid, our daughter..." Silas said quietly, his voice on the verge of breaking.

It had been a rough three days - being the strongest guy in county lock-up certainly did not have its perks. His first few hours in lock-up he was met with two guys who thought they could out-fight him, and thankfully there were guards close-by that saw the altercation and that it wasn't Silas' fault when he defended himself. After that incident, he had been moved to a less populated area where all he had to deal with was hands that wanted to touch him.

It took all of his control and self-discipline not to snap the neck of the smallest guy he had ever seen before; it was a real miracle that Silas wasn't facing murder charges at the moment -- and he was more than thankful for his father-in-law coming to pick him up "I will make sure to repay you the bail money..." he said quietly, scratching at the rough hair that had grown on his face and neck "I just... right now I need Sid."

[hockeypreg2]

"We're going home to shower and change clothes first," Jay said firmly. "Then I will take you right to the hospital. Maria is going to take the twins to the park so they will be out of the house so we will not be slowed down. Silas, you look like shit. Take the time to make yourself look presentable for Sid."

Jay put a gentle hand on Silas's arm, leading him out to the car. "I'm going to give you my phone and you can look at the videos on it of your children and Sid. He got to hold Calla yesterday and Meg filmed it so you could see."

[Sam260]

Silas nodded and took the phone once he was situated in Jay's car - he wasn't used to having a father-figure telling him what to do, and it was nice... not having to be the one in charge all of the time. He took Jay's cellphone and scrolled through the pictures and video's that had been taken of their daughter and Sidney while he was sitting in county lock-up. There was no mistaking or hiding the tears that slid down his cheeks and soaked into the beard he was now sporting.

Then they were pulling up to the apartments, and Silas was reluctant to return Jay's phone, but he did and then they were out of the car and heading up the elevator to the fourteenth floor. Silas entered the apartment and frowned - he had hoped to see the twins, as well, but because Maria took them to the park - that would have to wait until later. He went into the master bathroom and stripped his clothes off; the bathroom was spotless now, as opposed to how he had left it when Sid went into labor - Maria, or someone, must have cleaned up.

He sighed as he got into the steamy hot shower and let the hot water rain over his back and neck. A quick trim to the new beard, giving himself a goatee styled beard instead of the scraggly looking thing he had previously -- he hoped Sid would like the 'new' look, if not, he'd shave it off. He made sure to trim his hair, too, going back to his normal short - almost buzz-cut length. And then he was dressing, black polo, black jeans, and his black combat boots.

It took a little over an hour to get ready, and then to the hospital, but now they were there and Silas was walking into Sidney's hospital room - he was carrying a 'It's a Girl' balloon, a pink teddy bear and a large bag of homemade pita chips "I brought you some gifts." Silas said with a wide smile, coming closer to his husband's hospital bed.

[hockeypreg2]

"Oh Silas," Sidney held out his arms to his husband and pulled him in to a tight hug, holding him so close. "I am so happy to see you, baby. I love you." He tipped Silas's face up to look at him, brushing his fingers over his goatee. "Oh baby."

Meg smiled at them, leaning against her husband. "Perfect timing. Sidney's going to get released and we can go up to see Calla. I'm sure she'd love to meet her Adda."

[Sam260]

Silas grasped the hand that was stroking his goatee and smiled warmly "I love you too." he kissed Sidney's fingers lightly and inhaled shakily "Do you like the new look?"

He nodded at his mother-in-law's words, but in truth they sounded a bit garbled in his ears. All he had eyes for, now, was Sidney. All of his attention was on his husband "You look so good, Sid... Much better than before... How are you feeling? Was there anything that I missed that I should know about?"

[hockeypreg2]

"I like it," Sidney said still smiling at him widely. "And I'm doing okay. Still sore but all the side effects I was having stopped when she was born. And she's doing good. Dad showed you the videos right?" At Silas's nod, Sidney squeezed his hand. "She's so strong. She keeps pulling at the tubes and lines they have in her. They're planning on taking out everything today to see how she does. If she does well, she can be moved to the regular pediatric unit."

[Sam260]

Silas nodded and kissed Sidney softly - it felt weird, with the extra hair on his face and he wrinkled his nose "Gonna take time getting used to that..." then his face went beet-red as another thought passed his mind, but he held his tongue since his in-law's were in the room "Perhaps we should go and see our daughter then. I cannot wait to meet her, properly." Silas sniffed and wiped at a tear on his face "I'm still... I'm very sorry for all the pain I know I must have caused you..."

[hockeypreg2]

"Shh," Sidney said soothingly. "We're fine. Our friends and family are here. Everyone is taken care of. I just have to sign some paperwork and then we can go upstairs. If you want, you can go up with Dad now and Mom and I will come up as soon as I'm officially released."

Jay nodded. "I know where we're going if you want to go up."

[Sam260]

Silas shook his head and sat on the edge of the hospital bed, hand still holding onto Sidney's like a life line - which it was, in a way; they were each other's life preservers in a sea full of scary things. "You two can go up... I would like to stay with Sidney..." Silas said, looking at Meg and Jay with a slight smile.

They both nodded and passed out a round of kisses and hugs to their two sons "We'll be upstairs with our granddaughter then." Jay said as he took his wife's hand and left Sidney's room quickly.

Silas sighed and laid his head down against Sidney's chest "So, Calla's... uh... Meno...Meni... That thing with the poop? It has cleared up and she is getting stronger now?" Silas asked quietly, tilting his head just slightly so he could see Sidney.

[hockeypreg2]

Sidney cradled him close, smoothing his hand over Silas's hair. "They think they got it all out. She still has a breathing tube but she keeps fighting it. She's so big compared to the other babies in the NICU. She's almost six pounds. Marc is pretty sure she would have been almost nine if she would have gone full term."

The nurse came in, looking slightly surprised to see Silas. "Mr. Flint, I have your paperwork. We can release you now."

Sidney released Silas, looking relieved. "Thank you. We want to go upstairs."

[Sam260]

Silas inhaled shakily and kept his eyes down - this nurse, also happened to be the one he assaulted - her nose looked a lot better, if not a bit crooked now. "I'm... I'm sorry." he whispered, twisting his hands around in his lap nervously.

Silas had hoped not to have to see this nurse again, thinking she had worked in the emergency department; but clearly this was not the case. They were likely short-staffed because of the holiday, now that he thought about it, and she was probably just volunteering to help out... And by her helping out, she ended up with a broken nose.

The nurse seemed rather nervous herself, standing as far away from Silas as possible when she handed Sidney the paperwork - she was on the other side of the bed, where there was hardly a place to stand because of all the balloons, flowers, and gift baskets that were littering the floor and every surface possible.

[hockeypreg2]

"Oh," Sidney said softly when he realized which nurse it was. He quickly signed the paperwork and gestured at the flowers in the room. "Will you have the flowers and gift baskets distributed to the other parents on the floor? My parents have already taken the ones we're keeping home."

The nurse nodded, holding the paperwork. "All of your information is on your copy." She started walking to the door and then paused, turning back to them. "I'm sorry about what happened. I didn't ask them to do that." She hurried out of the room, leaving them alone.

Sidney got out of bed, stretching his arms above his head. He had been able to walk around since the day after Calla was born, but to be completely free and released from the hospital was even better. "Okay, let's grab what you brought and put it in my bag and go see our daughter."