When You Get Caught Between The Moon And NYC... @moorenelli - Tumblr Blog

Presenting Lily Kay, part 5

Timeframe: Mar. 29, 1998 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The events that transpired next left Dudley’s mind in a blur: briskly walking alongside the gurney with Liza on it towards the operating room; getting walked through scrubbing up and getting into surgical garb; finally, manning his ‘post’ at Liza’s side, being given a chair to sit near her head. Just in the time it took him to enter the room, she’d already been transported onto the table, hooked up to an assortment of machines and monitors, had a mask strapped on her face, drapes positioned all over her body, and the surgical curtain had already been placed across her chest to obstruct Dudley’s view of what the surgeon would be doing to Liza. He nearly didn’t even recognize her beneath everything, which left him with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Almost unaware of what was happening around him as he focused solely on what little he could see of Liza’s face, he suddenly felt metal being pressed into the palm of his hand. “You’ll need to hold onto these for safe keeping until the surgery’s over”, a nurse spoke as she handed Liza’s wedding band and engagement ring to him. As he looked down at the bits of silver in his palm — these symbols of his love that he’d had to wait far too long to give to her in the first place — he felt an odd pang in his chest now looking at them in his hand once more and not on Liza. He glanced over at Liza’s hand, finger now bare; the imprints of her rings still visible. Even though he knew this were only temporary, that it wasn’t even her choice to take them off and that this was necessary, something about it just felt wrong to him. Perhaps it subconsciously stirred up some leftover feelings of rejection from the times he’d attempted to propose to Liza over the years when she hadn’t said yes; perhaps it was a fear of the unknown and a fear of potential finality in thinking of the “til death do us part” portion of their wedding vows; all he knew was the discomfort he felt in having to pocket the rings for now. His anxiety with the whole situation only increased as he reached for Liza’s hand; despite logically knowing it would be so, it alarmed him that she was so limp and lifeless. He could almost hear her snarkily teasing him about this in his head; ‘no shit, Sherlock, they knocked my ass out, what did you expect?’ It was a very different sensation than her just sleeping beside him; if he took her hand then, she’d instinctively squeeze his fingers, even in her sleep. The only time he’d ever encountered absolutely no response from her whatsoever had been the time she’d overdosed on his watch, and it frightened him just how much this brought that all back to him. It was his fault then, just like this was his fault now. Never having been one to handle the sight of blood or gore well, he intentionally fixated on just her hand and face, trying to pay no mind to everything else that was going on around him. He wished he had any way of communicating with Liza at this moment; that he was here, that he would reassure her he’d do everything he could to make sure she’d be alright, that he’d stay right at her side the whole time, and that he was keeping his promise he’d made to her so many times that he would hold her hand during their child’s birth. He also wished more than anything that he could apologize for things having to be this way, even though he knew there was nothing he could say or do that would give back the experience to Liza of what she’d anticipated, of what she’d so longed for, and now she wouldn’t be aware of any of it until it was all over. He knew he’d never hear the end of it either way, but god help him if this child didn’t make it… He didn’t even want to so much as entertain the thought, but between his melancholy feeling of finality even over something as small as Liza’s rings coming off, it wasn’t that large of a leap for his mind to make towards worrying if she’d leave him if Lily weren’t okay. Dudley wasn’t entirely sure if time was moving quickly or slowly; all he knew was he wanted to see his Liza May out of here as soon as possible, and to be able to hold her in his arms again. He’d have given anything to be able to hold her right then and there; it was killing him that all he was allowed to touch during the surgery was her hand. The hand on which the indentations from her rings were already fading away. He traced his thumb lightly over the delicate lines, inwardly questioning himself about why this bothered him as much as it did — he supposed he had to channel his anxiety into something. He glanced up at the clock on the wall and saw that it read a little past 4 in the morning. Has it really already been that long? he pondered silently; it feeling as though everything had moved so hurriedly that an hour couldn’t possibly have already passed just since being woken up. How many things can change in such a brief amount of time… His attention suddenly caught by a flurry of motion, for the first time since he’d been in the room, he glanced over in the direction of the curtain just in time to see the head surgeon lifting the tiniest of babies he’d ever seen from Liza’s body. Dudley’s heart began to flutter as the reality set in that this was their child; what they’d tried for for almost two whole decades….finally here before his very eyes. For all intents and purposes, despite her tiny stature, she looked like a normal enough baby, complete with a full head of hair. However, something was very obviously amiss. For as much as she stretched and flailed her tiny arms and legs, she made no sound. Her lips trembled as she gasped and gulped for air, yet still not a sound was made. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that by the hushed tones of the doctors, plus the fact that they never made any motion to really bring the baby to Dudley’s attention, something was very, very wrong. Setting off even more alarm bells in his head, as the baby’s movements slowly began to still, this was taking him right back to that fateful evening 14 years earlier. Feeling his mouth suddenly go dry as sandpaper, he almost couldn’t even get his own words out to ask, “Do I get to hold—” Cutting him off mid-sentence, one of the assistants quickly interrupted. “Not until the pediatrician looks at her.” “But what’s wrong with her?” “I can’t fairly tell you anything until the pediatrician’s looked at her.” Growing increasingly frustrated that he couldn’t get any information whatsoever about what was going on, he began to stand up to try and get a better look at the baby, but to no avail. Virtually the entire surgical team had more or less abandoned Liza and had circled around this tiny baby, all trying to get a better look at what was happening. One of the surgeons produced a stethoscope from somewhere — he presumed it was a safe assumption that this must be the on-call pediatrician — and although he couldn’t actually see the baby, he could, however, see the doctor’s concerned expression as he listened intently. Dudley’s mind raced with all manner of possibilities of what could be wrong, ranging from minor to the worst case end scenario, and everything in between. For as much as he’d feared that he wouldn’t have any paternal instincts with Lily — as he’d also worried with his boys — he was feeling pretty overwhelmingly protective of her right now. He’d seen that she was moving when she first came out. Nothing was allowed to happen to her while on his watch. If he thought it wouldn’t get him thrown out of the room, he wanted nothing more than to push through the crowd of doctors so he too could see whatever was happening right now. He heard some murmuring about a light, some medical mumbo jumbo he didn’t quite understand, although “pneumothorax” didn’t sound like a good sign even to the untrained ear, and more hushed tones speaking about whether or not she was stable enough to send her for a quick chest x-ray or not. Deciding against the idea, this was the first time any of them directly addressed Dudley non-dismissively since delivering Lily. “Mr. Moore, your daughter appears to have a collapsed lung, which is easily treatable and very common with premature infants, but will require some minor surgery, and we need you to sign a waiver and authorize us to use any means necessary to save her—” Dudley’s breath caught in his throat, and the words were no longer registering in his brain. His mind was spinning with the possibilities of had she made it to term, would this still have happened? Would it have gone any easier for her? Or would it still have happened just the same either way? It only added to his feelings of guilt, regardless, in feeling like this whole situation was his fault in the first place, and now look at everything he’d caused? His mouth felt dry as he tried to speak. “Are you sure it’s safe for a baby that little?” Almost as soon as he’d said it, he instantly regretted how idiotic he was sure he’d sounded asking such an obvious thing, but his worries were through the roof. They had to save this baby. If he somehow made the wrong decision, and Liza never got to meet her…..he didn’t want that kind of responsibility hanging over his head. “Look, I’ll be blunt: if we don’t do the surgery, she’ll most likely die within the hour. She isn’t getting enough air, and what she is getting is getting trapped around all her other organs with no way out, and will essentially choke them off. It’s her only chance. If we do the surgery, she’ll most likely end up just fine. Being the parent though, you have to give us consent to be able to do it legally, so—” “Alright, alright, just….just hand me the paper, I’ll sign. Just… save her, please. Do anything you have to do, just make sure you save her life…” Dudley hated how pitiful and desperate he sounded, but it was the truth. The only thing that mattered to him right now was making sure that baby lived, by any means necessary. He quickly scrawled his signature across the page on a clipboard he was handed, and before he’d even handed it back, the head surgeon was paging for more staff to come assist. He’d known going into this that Lily’s birth would never be an entirely smooth one, even if Liza had made it to term, but he wasn’t expecting all this… …nor was he expecting the other sudden turn of events that immediately began to transpire. The monitors hooked to Liza began beeping their alarms wildly, and an even larger commotion began to swirl around him. One attendant took Dudley by the arm and started ushering him towards the door. “Mr. Moore, we’re going to need you to wait outside, there’s going to be too many people in the room—” “But my wife!!” he cried in a panic, feeling all the blood drain from his face as he heard the non-mistakable sound of a flat-lining machine. “Liza, you can’t!!” he tried to call over the attendant’s shoulder, trying once again to push his way back into the room, only to be more forcefully removed; the last thing he heard before the doors swung shut behind him was the high pitched whine of a charging defibrillator. “We’re doing everything we can to save them both,” the attendant quickly tried to reassure him before rushing back inside behind the heavy doors. Dudley raced back over to the doors and stood on his tiptoes, trying to see through the window pane what was happening now, but signed in defeat that once again, as with most things in his life, he was too short. He walked dejectedly over to a nearby chair and slumped into it, burying his face in his hands heavily as hot tears began streaking down his face. This was not how this was supposed to go, and he couldn’t help but curse fate for being so senselessly cruel. He never figured his entire world could be ripped out from under him in a matter of minutes…

#moorenelli #dramadramadrama

#dudley moore #liza minnelli #moorenelli #arthur 2

Presenting Lily Kay, part 4

Timeframe: Mar. 29, 1998

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Liza? We have quite the situation here, and there’s not a lot of time to waste devising an alternate plan of action,” the doctor said as he pulled a thin blanket over Liza, having completed checking her and now removing his gloves. Fearfully, she asked, “Is my baby going to be alright?” She squeezed Dudley’s hand tightly, desperate for this nightmare to be over and to know one way or the other what was going to be the outcome. The wait was absolutely agonizing to her, and the worst part was simply not knowing which way things were going to go. Even if it weren’t the outcome she were hoping for, at least she’d be able to have closure if knew. “I can’t say for certain one way or the other given how premature she is, but here’s what’s going on: the baby is already beginning to descend into the birth canal. If we hurry, we can still get you in and deliver her by cesarean; she’s nearly at a borderline point though where that window of opportunity is about to close. If her head fully descends, you’ll be forced to deliver vaginally, it’ll be too late to operate. If that happens, you’ll be at even higher risk for damage to your hips than you already are. The danger is that with how fast you’re progressing, if you push so much as once, she’ll be too far down, that’s how close you are. It’s also very possible the damage may have already been done to your hips and that’s why you’re in so much pain.” Liza’s voice trembled as she asked, “Isn’t there any way you can make things stop, and put her back, and let her finish growing?” She felt absolutely helpless, not to mention horribly guilty that this whole thing was no doubt her own fault. As par her usual, she didn’t so much care if anything bad were happening to she herself; just so long as everyone else involved was going to be alright. The doctor shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry… Once the water breaks, that baby is coming out. I wish we could just put the baby back in there and let it keep growing as if nothing ever happened, but there’s no way to do that. I’m sorry… But we need to start prepping you for emergency surgery. A nurse is going to come in to give you an epidural and a shot to knock you out, and the next thing you know, you’re going to be holding your baby. It’ll all be over before you know it.” Liza began to cry harder, feeling like the absolute worst failure of a mother a person could possibly be. “But I was told I’d get to be awake for her birth! This is my last chance at getting this right, and if she doesn’t make it, you expect me to have to miss what little time she does have?” She was nearing the point of hysterics, hardly able to so much as catch her breath between choked sobs. “That was ideally the plan, yes, if you’d made it to term — or even just closer to it than this — and ended up having an arranged c-section where there was more time to prepare. But as this is an emergency situation, there’s not enough time to get you numb enough to keep you awake for the procedure, and this isn’t something we can perform without you fully numb. You’re going to be in a lot of pain afterwards, so you’ll thank us later for not putting you through that awake without appropriate anesthetic.” “I don’t care if I’m in pain or not! All I care about is that I get to see my baby alive!” Liza wailed; having a hard time lying still enough as a nurse began preparing her for the epidural. “Liza, there’s a good chance your baby is going to be just fine, even born this early. You’ll be able to see her as soon as you wake up.” “But what if you’re wrong? What if she’s not fine and you’re robbing me of my only chance to hold her while she’s still alive?” Liza wailed; crying even harder as the needle punctured her back. Dudley stroked her hair and held her close, trying to comfort her any way he could from the emotional and physical agony she was going through. “I know this isn’t what we’d planned, but we don’t have any choice, Liza. And I know it’s not the same, but if it comes down to it, if things really do get that dire, I’ll hold her for you and tell you everything—” “It’s not fair!” Liza wailed, not even caring how much like a little girl she sounded. “You’ve already gotten to be a daddy! You’ve done this before! If this is the only chance I’ll ever have, and I miss it, how is this fair? I did everything right this time!” she sobbed, her whole body shaking from the force. “Why is this happening to me again?!” The words cut Dudley like a knife; he agreed, it wasn’t fair that this was happening to her again, and if he could do anything to stop history from repeating itself, he’d go to the ends of the earth to see to it. But this was truly out of his hands, and the mixture of guilt and devastation at what was happening left him speechless. “I don’t know why it’s happening again, love. I need you to trust me that we’ll find a way to make everything okay though; I need you to calm down and let the doctors do their job. I need that, and you need that, and most importantly, Lily needs that. We’ll get through this together, baby. But you need to try and relax a little and let them do their job to help save her—” “I can’t relax, Dudley!” she cried, fingers curling tightly into the fabric of his sleeves. “You know what this means to me, and I’m going to miss it… all of it.” “Liza…” he whispered softly, stroking her hair some more as he saw the second needle approaching and knowing Liza would soon be out like a light. “You won’t miss anything. Everything’s going to go just fine, and I’ll be right here with you the whole time, and I’ll tell you everything that happened while you were knocked out. And I’ll tell you all of it while you’re holding our little one… You’re going to be a mummy so soon, Lize. Everything you’ve wanted for so long is about to be here… a little sooner than we’d banked on, but Lily just can’t wait to meet her mum.” Watching Liza’s eyelids slipping heavily to half-mast, he leant down to kiss her gently before whispering, “I love you, Liza.” Whether or not she actually heard his words was anyone’s guess as she began to slip into unconsciousness.

#moorenelli

Presenting Lily Kay, part 3

Timeframe: Mar. 29, 1998 Guest author: royaltyisshe64 Notes: This piece of the story might be a little confusing, but hang with us. This bit is written to be between Judy and Vincente in the afterlife, watching all the events transpiring below them. The inclusion of Judy and/or Vincente in the spirit realm is a recurring theme throughout the saga, but this is the first piece I’m posting that includes it. Keep an open mind; even if you don’t personally believe in spirits or an afterlife, in the fic!universe, they exist, and have been carefully written in such a way to hopefully not be overly preachy or to sound too closely linked to any one particular religion or anything. We’ve taken creative liberties in the abilities of spirits/ghosts/angels/paranormal/whatever you’d like to call them, and yes, they probably have more powers in this story than they actually do in reality. Our story, our rules. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “My god, it’s an absolute disaster down there! …Mmm, well, I certainly hope she has better luck this time… She does have the most talented genes — well, I have the most talented Gene now — and it would be frightful if she couldn’t…you know, pass them on. I always thought she’d make a splendid mother. I told her so. I always — always — encouraged her. In that direction. Don’t you think she’ll make a splendid mother?” “Jesus, you’re being cavalier,” Vincente replied, a hint of annoyance cutting through. “The last time this happened, you were no help at all, and this could so easily go the same way. Do you want that to happen?” Judy felt the words catch for a moment in her throat, about to say one thing, then choosing another. “Well of course not, darling, but what can I do?” Vincente crossed his arms, looking at her incredulously. “I can’t believe you. You saw what this did to her all those other times — and then you just let it happen to her again!” Judy fumbled for words, unprepared with an answer for that. “…You have no idea what it was like for me to see my baby cry like that. You have no idea.” Beginning to poke a pointed finger accusingly into his chest as she spoke, she continued, “Don’t you dare pretend like you’re the only one who cares about her. You’re not the only one who wants to see her happy. I just… what can I do?? Isn’t it… you know, some fate thing? Que sera, sera, or some such…nonsense?” Vincente straightened, towering height-wise over Judy even in the afterlife, choosing his words with pinpoint accuracy. “With an attitude like that, I don’t see how it’s an unreasonable assumption that you just don’t care! You were always the same way with her — as long as she was able to bounce back well enough from whatever hideous experience you’d put her through to keep taking care of Mama, that was all you were ever concerned with, wasn’t it?” The words hit their target like an expert bowman striking a bullseye, leaving her speechless. “That’s not true! …You…you know that’s not true!” “Oh really?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow and shifting his weight from one foot to the other, arms still folded across his chest. “You spent all those years crying on her shoulder, telling her your sob stories, how you wanted to die, how you couldn’t bear it anymore — she was a child. Or trying to be one. What right did you have to put all that worry in m— our baby’s mind?” Judy grew increasingly flustered as she knew she was getting cornered on this issue and that there was no way out of it. Her words began to run faster and more jumbled as she felt increasingly trapped. “She — she never complained — I’d’ve stopped, I’d’ve done whatever she said — she never said anything, she never said it bothered her! She wanted to help her mother. Like a good girl. She was always a good girl.” “That’s not what you told her.” “I did so! I told her—” Interrupting her mid-sentence, Vincente began talking over her. “Oh, that’s right. You’d tell her that when she was tucking you in, when she was drying your tears, when she was stroking your hair and holding your hand. You’d tell her that then…but all those other times… She never told me, but I saw the way she started to look at herself — the way she STILL looks at herself — what she does to herself. YOU started that.” Beginning to lash out defensively, Judy shouted “For god’s sake! I told you — I would’ve told her — it was for her own good! So they couldn’t do to her what they did to me! I wanted to get her out of that whole awful business! And wasn’t I right? You’ve heard what they all say about her, how cruel they are? Wasn’t I right to warn — to prepare her for that? Hmm?” Not backing down in the slightest, Vincente maintained “It wouldn’t have hurt so much coming from them if she hadn’t of heard it from you first!” Attempting to spin the conversation to make Vincente look not as blameless in all this so as to try and redeem herself somehow, she practically spat “I know how you feel about her — I mean, jesus, do I ever know that she can do no wrong as far as you’re aware — but you can’t blame everything on me! I didn’t make her stay with that no good son-of-a-bitch instead of doing the sensible thing and marrying Dudley then and there; I didn’t make her in—into a lush, and—and a, I don’t know, some kind of drug fiend! You—YOU were there for all of that! YOU indulged her! How is this more my fault than yours?!” Knowing that this conversation was beginning to go much the same way the majority of their marriage had, and knowing it was far too important to let Judy miss the entire point he was trying to make, he paused for a few moments, making sure she was done yelling long enough to drive a point home when she’d actually listen to him. Not above hitting where it hurts, especially when he knew it was absolutely relevant, he finally spoke, “You could have stopped him. You were there, but you wouldn’t see it. God, I could forgive everything else you put that little girl through, but that? TEN YEARS. She let him do that — she didn’t say a WORD — because she wanted to be there to protect you. From him… from yourself. And how did you repay her? How did you repay her for that, and all the other things she did for you? For letting him… do that to her… over and over again… for pumping your stomach, for keeping you and Lorna and Joey alive? You called her a tramp. You threw her out, but you kept her on a string; you kept calling her back and she kept coming back. You made her hate herself, but she loved you — she STILL loves you — SO much. Now, are you going to let her heart break again? You broke it first. You owe her, Judy. You OWE her this.” Feeling shell-shocked and speechless, there was nothing Judy could do but concede at this point. She knew Vincente was right; every word out of his mouth was 100% true, no matter how much she hated it — how much she hated herself for it. She knew it was wrong then, and had had nothing but time on her hands to feel increasingly guilty about all of this ever since. Quietly in resignation, she asked, “…What do I have to do?” “Just… just go down there, and don’t let that baby die. No matter what. Tell her she’s got to stay, that she can’t come here… not yet, anyway. She’s got to stay there, and let her mother give her all the love she’s got, and she’s got to love her back. Do whatever you have to do, but you MAKE her stay.”

#moorenelli #judy and vincente #bickering even in the afterlife #doomed to all eternity to forever fight with each other

Presenting Lily Kay, part 2

Timeframe: Mar. 29, 1998 Notes: Posting a shorter chunk this time, but still far from done. May make for easier reading though. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The ambulance ride was mostly a teary blur to Liza as panic continued to consume her further and further, with no signs of stopping any time soon. Most of the words from the medics weren’t registering in her mind as she heard them; it all became background noise to her as the worry of losing another child took over all else. Dudley held her hand, inwardly feeling both helpless and guilty for this sudden turn of events and that it likely wouldn’t have happened if he could have resisted Liza’s advances this time. As Liza had grown very quiet aside from her sobbing and occasional cries of pain, he knew there was nothing he could do or say at this point to make things better; she’d definitely let her mind get wrapped up in the trauma of the 1984 miscarriage all over again. Both for the delicate nature of the emergency and to help preserve Liza’s privacy and maintain a low profile as possible to try and avoid any potential media circus from developing, she was rushed through a back entrance and into a private exam room. Her general quietness in the ambulance had only been the calm before the storm; no sooner was she asked to change into a hospital gown and told the doctor on call would be in to examine her shortly, the reality of the situation came crashing down and her panic escalated. “On-call? No! I need my doctor! He knows the case better than anyone; I can’t have someone new take over!! I need mine; get him here!!!” As she sat up to continue her protest, another sharp pain cut her short and forced her back down; realizing that the only position lessening the pain whatsoever was on her back served only to make her feel even more helpless. “He’ll be contacted, but there’s not enough time to get him here. You need to be seen immediately, your baby’s not waiting.” Dudley began to ease the robe off of Liza, caring not that the nurse was still in the room and only wanting things handled as quickly and smoothly as possible. Despite Liza swatting at him and generally being difficult, and even a few failed attempts at taking a couple of swings at him, he managed to get her switched into the gown; dodging her fists of fury all the while. “Why are you doing this to me?? Why are you siding with her?!” Liza cried, trying to swat at Dudley again as she flung herself back in resignation. “I thought you loved me! Aren’t you supposed to side with your wife over other women??” Dudley sighed in frustration, trying to both maintain his composure and to also keep himself calm enough to collect his thoughts. “I do side with you over other women, Lize. This isn’t a matter of taking sides though; this is a matter of life or death! If you want this baby as badly as I do, you’re going to have to start cooperating with what they tell you to do. I’m serious, do you want this baby, Liza? Do you want her to live?” Beating her to the punch as it were, he grabbed for Liza’s wrist as her hand began to raise again and he held it firmly at her side, leaning closer to make sure there was no break in eye contact. “Do you WANT this baby, Liza?” Startled both by Dudley grabbing her and by he suddenly raising his voice toward her a little, Liza sunk back against the pillow fearfully; some part of her mind regressing to the days of Gero and the need to be entirely submissive and complacent. This was not lost on Dudley, and as he immediately recognized the fear in her eyes, he let go of her immediately and knelt beside the bed to be eye-level with her. She was unaware of the nurse exiting the room as Dudley stroked her cheek, softening his tone as he spoke to her sorrowfully. “I’m sorry Liza, I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you. I need you to—no, Lily needs you to just do what the doctors say so they can help you. And her.” Watching the silent tears stream down Liza’s cheeks, Dudley’s heart ached even more with the utter helplessness he felt for not being able to do anything to actually fix the situation. The doctor on-call entered the room and introduced himself and apologized for non-ideal the situation was (the nurse had briefed him on Liza’s discomfort with the situation) and reassured her that he’d be as quick and gentle as he possibly could, and did his best to reassure Liza that he’d see to it that she’d be fine. ‘It’s not me I’m worried about, it’s Lily,’ she thought silently, despite nodding without comment. Before he even managed to get her so much as in position to examine her, more nurses began entering the room, quickly hooking Liza to IVs and monitors, which, while a welcome distraction from the doctor’s poking and prodding, only caused her anxiety to soar through the roof over feeling too exposed in front of all these people; it was bad enough getting used to the idea of a strange doctor she didn’t know having to see her, but she wasn’t banking on so many nurses being a factor as well. “Dudley, I don’t want to do this anymore!” she wailed as she gripped his hand, sobs wracking her whole body. “Make them all go away, I can live without a baby if you just make them all go away….” Knowing full well that Liza didn’t honestly mean this, but that she was being pushed far beyond her comfort zone into full panic territory, he lent down to kiss her forehead and gave her hand one more squeeze before asking, “Doctor? Could I talk to you for just a moment?” “I really need to get this exam done on Liza—” “It’s important, and it can’t wait, please? And I think it’ll make the difference for making Liza more comfortable…” He looked pleadingly towards the doctor, who reluctantly pulled the sheet fully down over Liza’s legs before standing to follow Dudley into the hallway. “Alright Mr. Moore, what’s the problem?” “I think there’s a few things you should know about Liza…”

#moorenelli

#moorenelli #dudley moore #liza minnelli #otp

Presenting Lily Kay, part 1

Timeframe: Mar. 29, 1998 Notes: This one got to be exceptionally long, to the point where it even began intimidating me to look at to try and write any more onto it -- thus why I’m breaking it up into smaller chunks to make it postable. Honestly, I started writing this one two or three YEARS ago and never finished it. Here’s hoping if I start throwing it on the blog, the muse will return. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The early morning hours before the dawn had even broken crept by agonizingly slowly for Liza as she tossed and turned uncomfortably — or at least, as much as one can really toss or turn whilst trying to remain laying on their side at 7 months pregnant. The pains that had plagued her on and off for weeks and left her generally frightened about the potential of another repeat of history kept gnawing away at her; she tried to console herself with the thought that these were likely just more Braxton-Hicks contractions and hopefully harmless. Hopefully. She didn’t want to worry Dudley, but at the same time, it was getting harder and harder to mask what was happening with her. Every time the pain had begun to overwhelm her and he’d take notice, she’d chalk it up to her hips hurting her again — which, while not a total lie, wasn’t helping matters any either. It had gotten bad enough now to where she was barely able to sleep for any length of time at all without getting woken up by pains, which generally awoke Dudley as well and made her feel guilty for disturbing him. But this was soon getting to be something else, and she knew she’d have no choice but to tell him soon. She tried to reason with herself that, for as frequently as she was getting checked at the doctor’s, they’d of seen any warning signs if she were in trouble, and nothing had been mentioned to her except for some minor effacement; everything looked pretty normal, to her understanding. So in her mind, clearly this must not be that large a cause for concern if nothing of the sort had been mentioned. This particular time she’d woken up though, she’d been awoken by the most wrenching pain she’d experienced yet and buckled over. Despite her best efforts, she was no longer able to suffer silently and cried out in agony. Dudley’s eyes snapped open at the sudden anguished cry and he reached over to turn on the bedside lamp. “Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked as he turned his attention back to Liza, though he needn’t have asked. Given Liza’s high tolerance for pain, if she was at the point of vocalizing it, something was clearly very wrong. Quickly assessing the situation, he asked, “Do you need me to call an ambulance?” Still in denial about how bad things truly were, Liza briskly shook her head ‘no’, keeping her eyes tightly clenched shut against the pain. “I’m fine… I’ll be fine…” she choked out, hiding her face in the pillow. Sitting up and reaching over to pull Liza into his arms protectively, he begun to whisper “You’re not fine, Liza—”, only to be cut off by a blood-curdling shriek from Liza as he tried to move her. Quickly becoming unhinged with the apparent lack of concern Liza was showing about her condition, he insisted, “I’m calling.” “No, don’t!” she pleaded, extending an arm to try and block Dudley’s easy access to the telephone, but only succeeding in knocking it off the nightstand and to the floor. Panting for breath, she tried her best to reach the phone before Dudley could, but didn’t even come close to being able to reach the floor. She silently cursed herself for having a tall bed, only to be distracted by another wave of pain. After a few quickly mumbled “fuckfuckfuck”s under her breath, she resignedly let her head hit the pillow, tears slipping down her cheeks as she continued to insist, “I’m fine, Dudley, you don’t need to call anybody…go back to sleep…” “Like hell you are,” he muttered as he crawled over her form to the other side of the bed to retrieve the phone. He stopped dead in his tracks as his hand landed on a large damp spot on the sheets, and his heart sank as he realized there was no way this was another false alarm and that they both knew it. As he glanced down at her face, he could not deny the obvious terror in her eyes mixed in behind the pain, silently pleading with him to make everything better, to make this stop, to make this not be happening yet; to make this not be a repeat of Savannah. It broke his heart to know there was little to nothing he could do to stop this and that all he could do was to get her help and to try and keep her as calm as possible. Sighing, he lent down and set the phone receiver back on the cradle and kissed Liza’s forehead. “Just… wait here. I’ll bring you some water and we’ll figure out what to do from there.” Immediately he mentally beat himself up over you idiot! Don’t say the word ‘water’ to her when her water’s just broken! As nearly an afterthought, he emphasized, “Don’t push.” As he stood up from the bed, Liza frantically grasped at his hand, looking completely terrified at the prospect of being left alone right now. Her words came out rambling, running into one another as desperation dripped from her voice. “Oh god please baby, don’t leave me, please stay with me, I can’t do this alone, I need you with me, oh god please don’t go—” “I’m just going in the other room for a second, Lize. I’m coming right back, I promise you. I’m coming right back…” Crossing the room, he opened the bedroom door and whistled. “Emmi! C’mere girl! Come love on mummy!” He knelt down to pick up the little gray schnauzer and carried her to the bed. “Look Liza, Emmi came to cuddle with you!” Confident that Liza would be adequately distracted with her beloved dog for a few minutes, he quietly made his exit from the room before racing across the rest of the apartment into the kitchen, safely out of earshot to use the phone in there. He knew how easily triggered Liza was, especially on this topic, and he didn’t want to say anything in front of her that might upset her any more than she clearly already was for having to go through this. He quickly dialed 911 and turned his back to the bedroom; trying to listen to the dispatcher with one ear, and keeping the other focused on whether or not Liza was calling out for him again or not. He spoke in a hushed tone, taking great care to speak softly enough to where Liza wouldn’t be able to hear him even if she strained to listen. “My wife’s water just broke and she’s only 32 weeks pregnant….She’s in labor, she’s having contractions one on top of the other… She’s in a lot of pain, please get here fast…” He continued to give out the details as he kept trying to pay attention to both the dispatcher and Liza, who was growing more and more vocal about her pain. He glanced at the clock on the wall and noted it was still the middle of the night; he hoped she wasn’t waking any of the neighbors, but these were extenuating circumstances. Once off the phone and assured an ambulance was on the way, he raced back to the bedroom and began to hurriedly dress himself at top speed. “Everything’s going to be under control soon, love. There’s an ambulance on the way—” “I don’t need one!” Liza continued to stubbornly insist as she white-knuckled the sheets, arching her back against the pain ripping through her. “I’ll…..I’ll just keep my legs crossed! The baby won’t have a choice but to stay in!” She’d barely finished her sentence before her voice raised a few octaves. “DUDLEYITHURTSDOSOMETHING!!” she shrieked, twisting and contorting to try and find any source of relief. He raced to her side, her robe in hand. “Let me just get this on you; we don’t need anyone getting a peep show outside—” Liza dug her nails into Dudley’s arm. “DON’TMAKEMEMOVEITHURRRRRRRTS!!!!” Wincing as he slowly uncurled Liza’s fingers from his arm, he proceeded with caution as he carefully pulled the robe around Liza; moving her as little as possible in the process. He kept trying to remember back to when Tuesday had Patrick; was she in this much pain when she was in labor? He didn’t seem to recall having a hard time moving her around, but then again, it had been a couple of decades since Patrick’s birth, and he was sure the details were fuzzy. He also had to keep reminding himself that every pregnancy was different, and Liza’s were always a special case with complications most don’t have, so anything he thought he might know about childbirth… probably didn’t apply here. All he knew is that every little move he made in trying to pull the robe around Liza resulted in her either clawing at him, swatting at him, swinging at him,or any other number of attempted assaults to keep him from attempting to move her. Christ, if she was this bad just in putting her robe on, he hated to think what she’d be like once the paramedics got here… “Did you have to pick the gray one?” Liza whined, looking down at herself as Dudley tugged the robe shut around her and zipped it shut. “It makes me literally look like a beached whale! I look enough like one without any help… people are gonna yell ‘Shamu!’ at me! This is awful!” She looked around for any alternatives in plain sight but found none; she mentally cursed herself for having the most unattractive robe be the one that was still laying out from when she’d gotten out of the bath earlier. “Liza, nobody is going to say that to you—” “Oh yes they will!! You don’t hear the way people talk about me… Especially with this? They’re doing nothing BUT calling me fat! Why should I give them another reason and fuel the fire?” It was clear that this wasn’t just Liza’s usual dramatics; tears were streaming down her cheeks and the look in her eyes told him she fully believed what she was saying. “Baby, I doubt anyone’s even going to see you at this hour, but if they do, I doubt critiquing your appearance is going to be at the top of their agenda…” In his heart, he unfortunately knew that on some level, there probably was some validity to what Liza was saying, but he also knew how the tabloids worked and that while, yes, they probably would pick on her for this, they’d probably be even more vicious in whatever rumors they were about to spark of why she was going into labor so early… but he wasn’t about to put yet another fear into Liza’s mind right now. “If people are coming, I need to at least put on makeup! I can’t have anyone seeing me looking like this!” Ignoring the searing pain, she lent over as far as she could to pull open the drawer of the nightstand and retrieved her ‘emergency’ makeup; it wasn’t much, but it would have to do. Having at this point become a pro at applying her makeup without even having to look in a mirror, she quickly swiped some crimson lipstick across her lips, only to instantly lament afterwards, “Oh god, now they’re going to think I’m even more of a whore than they already do! Dudley, why am I such a slut? Why? Why the hell do I let myself get into these things in the first place…?” She was about to put on a quick dusting of eyeshadow as well but was wracked with another contraction; another that left her twisting and pushing herself up off the bed in pain as she screamed; the eyeshadow brush dropping to the floor. Really beginning to hit the point of panic, but trying his absolute hardest not to outwardly show it, Dudley cradled the phone receiver between his shoulder and ear while he crouched down to retrieve the dropped brush, hoping that once the contraction had passed, Liza could continue putting on her makeup as a means of distraction from what was happening. It worried him just how close together her contractions were; what would he do if the paramedics didn’t get here in time and he ended up responsible for helping her attempt to deliver at home? Especially with all the complications her doctor had warned Dudley would arise if she gave birth naturally, he silently hoped and prayed that he wouldn’t be put into that position, but now he was beginning to second-guess himself wondering if he ought to be double-checking to make sure the baby wasn’t on its way out this fast… not that he had any way of stopping it even if it was. He reached for Liza’s hand, fully prepared and bracing himself for her to squeeze the living daylights out of it (and mentally resigning himself to the fact that it would likely be a while before even touching his piano would be a possibility again) right as Billy picked up. A groggy “hello?” sounded on the other end of the line, and Dudley tried to lean the mouthpiece of the phone as far away from Liza as possible — which wasn’t saying much. “Hi, Billy? It’s Dudley—” The sound of shuffling covers dominated the line for a moment, and Dudley could practically see Billy rolling his eyes at him through the phone. “Do you have any idea what time it is right now?” “Look, I know it’s late….or early….” Dudley winced as Liza crushed a death grip on his hand; trying to keep his voice even keel for the sake of getting this phone call made. “It’s an emergency though… Liza’s having the baby tonight—” That woke him up. “Oh my god, what happened? She’s not even due for another couple of months, is she?” “I…don’t really know what happened,” Dudley lied through his teeth; not wanting to admit that his lack of willpower for keeping it in his pants was responsible for sending Liza into preterm labor. “But it’s bad. Her water broke, there’s an ambulance on the way, and we need someone to come stay with Kay here so she’s not alone. Please… I know it’s asking a lot, but you can go back to sleep in the guest room if you want; we just need someone here with her…” “I’m on it, I’ll be there in five. Keep me updated, okay?” “You’ll be the first one to know anything.” Satisfied that he’d at least gotten that squared away and would have one less thing to worry about in all this, he re-situated himself on the bed after hanging up and tried to sit Liza up so he could sit behind her and massage her back, but was met with another blood-curdling scream of pain at trying to move her. This was really starting to terrify Dudley as to why it was hurting her so badly to even move a little bit; he was no doctor, but he knew that this definitely wasn’t normal by any means. It broke his heart seeing her like this and knowing it was his fault; his fault for triggering the early labor, his fault for getting her pregnant this late in life, his fault for… just about everything under the sun that he could think of. All he knew was that his princess was in pain and he’d ultimately caused it, and he hated himself for that, and hated himself even worse for not knowing how to fix it. He would give literally anything if he could just take away her pain; she was the last person on earth who deserved to ever have to hurt after all she’d been through in life, and it killed him that the universe felt differently about such things and felt the need to put her through this too. He wasn’t really sure of what he was doing or how to help her; was he supposed to be rubbing her shoulders, or her back, or her belly? What would help her hurt less? He didn’t have a clue, but given how hard a time he’d had of things even managing to get behind her, he figured he’d just stick with her shoulders unless she said otherwise and focus on trying to get her to relax, if that was even possible. It was both surprising and alarming to him just how hard Liza was arching and pushing back against him, and it spoke volumes about just how intensely she was hurting. Even though he knew that in reality, it had only been a couple of minutes since he’d called for the paramedics, he couldn’t help but feel like these were the longest few minutes of his life waiting for them to get here and worrying what was going to happen to his Liza if they didn’t arrive soon enough. Between short, clipped breaths, Liza asked as she pressed her shoulders back against Dudley’s chest, “Honey? I need you to do me a favor…” Trying to cradle her close as best he could whilst still being careful not to get crushed between Liza and the headboard, he stroked her forearms as he answered, “Anything… Tell me what I can do to help you.” Trying to breathe her way through the pains, she spoke slowly and measured. “I need you to check… I… I think the baby’s coming… could you… maybe….?” She winced as she tried to brace herself against the pain, knowing it was only going to get worse before it could get better. “You mean you want me to…go look up…?” he asked awkwardly, gesturing equally as awkwardly downward, only to be met with an embarrassed nod on Liza’s part. “You do realize, though, that I don’t know what I’m doing?” “Dudley…” The warning tone in her voice indicated she was in no mood to be toyed with right now. “…alright, I’ll go look.” “You might want the flashlight,” she offered, nodding toward the nightstand. “…oh you mean UP up? I…guess I could do that…?” He shifted uncomfortably as he reached over to retrieve the afore-mentioned flashlight, wondering how he’d gotten himself into this situation again exactly. “Don’t be like that; you had no problem putting your face down there earlier tonight…” she said in an odd mixture of hurt feelings and assertiveness. Dudley was about to say something before thinking the better of it; no matter what he might say in this situation, it was inevitable he’d only make things worse, so he opted for a route of silence instead. He carefully raised the robe to around Liza’s hips; for this purpose, he was glad he hadn’t bothered trying to dress Liza for the hospital in anything more than that robe as it made his job here far easier. He eased her legs apart, being careful not to hurt her hips in the process. “Deep breaths, love… Good news is, I don’t see anything immediately from here, so that’s got to be a good sign, hasn’t it?” He stroked her thigh; trying to both simultaneously calm Liza and to quiet his own mind in its uncomfortable state with suddenly being expected to handle his favorite parts of his wife’s anatomy in a non-sexual context. He hadn’t realized he’d ever objectified her, but now was second-guessing himself given how he was reacting to this situation just how much he did that without ever realizing he had. “Dud, are you gonna do something or are you just gonna keep trying to seduce me?” The impatience to get this over with was very clear in Liza’s voice, and the embarrassment on her part had grown to such that she couldn’t even bring herself to make eye contact with him. Not realizing he was practically fondling her thigh, he let go and once again shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not a doctor, Lize, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do…” “Fine, forget it, I’ll do it myself. Forget I said anything, I didn’t know I was asking that much...” Her aggravation with the entire situation was only intensified by the pain she was in and her anxiety about what was going to happen, and she thought she could be bull-headed and swing herself out of bed and make it to the bathroom to figure something out. Instead, she got about as far as trying to pull her legs back together before gasping sharply and letting out a strangled cry; trying to force herself to hold it together and bear through it long enough to get up. Instantly plagued by guilt, he was having none of Liza’s stubbornness and he gently pushed her back down on the bed. “No, stop, I’ll do it. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking, lay back down, I’ll do it, okay?” Despite grumbled protests from Liza about “where the hell are they??”, he was able to get her to lay back down as she was before and reposition her easily enough. Still not entirely sure how to proceed or what Liza realistically expected him to do though, he reasoned that perhaps it would be easier to gauge the situation by touch rather than sight. “I’m sorry I made it worse, darling. Take some more deep breaths, I’ll handle the rest.” Not really expecting to find anything and half assuming that Liza was likely over-dramatizing the situation, either intentionally or not, he figured he’d do this just to keep the peace and humor her. He slid one finger carefully inside her, and only made it mid-sentence before realizing they were in trouble. “See Liza, I told you—” Hoping he was somehow wrong, he felt around and knew that for once, he should have trusted Liza’s instincts. “….oh shit.” “’Oh shit’ what??” Liza asked, beginning to panic even worse. She tried to sit up and only ended up yelping as she quickly found this was a horrible idea that only brought on yet another wave of pain; seemingly the only reprieve she’d gotten in the slightest was from laying flat. The only problem with this position is that the weight of the baby was making it very difficult for her to breathe, but any sacrifice that meant any relief from the pain was one she was willing to make. “Was I right??” “Just hold on a minute, I’ll let you know. But there’s definitely… something there, I’ll give you that.” “Well what the hell else would it be?? You think I’m giving birth to a litter of puppies?” “As much as you’d probably love that idea, no.” “And what’s that supposed to mean?” she asked defensively, taking his joke entirely wrong. “Are you calling me a bitch??” “What? No! I… It was a joke, Liza, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that, I swear! But can we put this aside for a minute? There’s definitely something here.” It took every ounce of willpower on Dudley’s part not to let Liza’s tension start getting to he as well, and while he knew it would be all too easy to dish back out what she was giving him, it would only make things worse and he didn’t want to end up barred from the birth of their only child together all because of an ill-timed joke. “But do you think I’m a bitch?” Liza began to weep; the combination of feelings overwhelming her. Dudley softened his tone and reached up with his free hand to take one of hers. “No, baby, I don’t. I promise you that.” He looked up at her and maintained her gaze for several moments, hoping maybe it might aide in calming her back down some before adding, “Let me just check and look if I can see anything.” Tears still slipping down her cheeks, Liza nodded as she laid her head back down and squeezed his hand before letting go of it. “I don’t deserve someone like you, angel… you’re too good for me…” “Oh nonsense, it’s the other way around if anything.” He flipped the flashlight on and angled it on the bed as he laid down to try and look; he needed both hands now to try and spread her open with one hand and gently stretch what he could with the other. He suddenly had a new respect for ob/gyns and the work that they did and actually being able to see anything, much less know what they were looking at. As he kept trying to maneuver his fingers to get a view of, well, anything, he kept talking to try to distract Liza from what he was doing. “I’m not sure what I ever did to deserve Princess Liza May in my life, but whatever I did, it must have been something good. You know you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, love?” He stopped cold as he was finally able to see exactly what Liza had been talking about, and grew very quiet for a moment. Liza picked up on this apprehension immediately. “Baby, what’s wrong?” Dudley’s silence had felt like it was stretching on for eternity, despite in reality only having been a few moments. Trying to pass things off as casually as he could as he removed his hands and wiped them on the sheets (he knew they’d have to be washed anyhow), he tried to maintain some semblance of calm in his voice, despite inwardly feeling the polar opposite. “Well… our daughter’s a brunette…” It took a moment for the words to register, but as soon as they did, Liza bolted upright. “WHAT?!?! You mean you see her?!?!? I didn’t think you’d actually see anything, oh my god Dudley what if they don’t get here in time???” Liza panicked, whimpering from the pain she’d just inflicted on herself from shifting positions again. The more she spoke, the more her words began to run into one another as her fears mounted. Dudley clicked off the flashlight and jumped up to ease Liza back down on the bed. “Shh, shh, they’ll get here Lize, I’m sure they’ll get here any minute. They’ll make it…” He tugged the robe back down over her legs, covering her back up and offering her one of the blankets for over her legs until they got here. “You’re going to be alright, and so’s our little girl…” He kissed her forehead, sitting down next to her on the bed. “We’ll take it all as it comes and play it by ear.” “Honey, I’m scared,” Liza whimpered, reaching for his hand. “I can’t lose another baby… not again. Not when we’re this close…” She squeezed his hand tightly as she attempted to force herself not to scream through another contraction, only mildly succeeding. “Nobody’s going anywhere, least of all this little one,” Dudley said, stroking her belly with his free hand. “Things are going to be different this time—” He was interrupted by a loud banging on the front door. “…oh thank god. Help is here!” He stroked Liza’s bangs out of her eyes and tried to stand up, only to get yanked back to her side roughly. “Don’t leave me!!” Liza cried anxiously, still twisted in pain. “Oh god please don’t leave me Dudley, I’m sorry for everything I’ve ever done wrong, please don’t leave me—” Her words were all running into one another again as she rambled through the pain, her chest heaving with quick breaths. “I have to go let them in, Lize, I’m coming right back! Honestly, I’ll be 5 seconds! Just… hang on, I’m coming back!” He kissed the top of her head before untangling himself from Liza’s grasp, much to her dismay, and dashed to the front door. His heart sank a little as it swung open and he found it was not, in fact, the EMTs, but Billy. He motioned him in and closed the door behind him quickly, not wanting to risk disturbing any of the neighbors by leaving the door open at this hour when Liza might potentially start screaming again. “Thank god you got here before I had to leave; I wasn’t sure if I could leave a key under the mat, or just leave the door unlocked, or—” His words were cut mid-sentence by another shriek from the other room. Billy and Dudley both turned their attention towards the direction of the bedroom door before Billy hesitantly asked, “Is she going to be alright?” “I hope so,” he said quietly, so as not to be overheard by Liza. “Perhaps you should go see Kay while we’re still waiting on the medics—” “DUDLEYYYYYY!” Liza wailed from the bedroom, sobbing hard as the fear came through just as clear as the pain in her voice. Both Dudley and Billy ran to the bedroom without a second thought; thankfully Kay was a heavy sleeper and seemingly unaware of anything whatsoever going on in the opposite end of the apartment. Dudley returned to Liza’s side and took her hand as he sat beside her on the bed, brushing her hair out of her eyes again. “Why aren’t they here yet??” she cried, looking pitifully up at him. Dudley felt helpless as he had no choice but to answer, “I don’t know why they’re not here, but they should be any minute, sweetheart. They’re doing everything they can. But look, Billy’s here? You won’t have to worry about Kay being here all alone while we’re gone.” Billy seemed as though he were bolted to the floor mid-way into the room; absolutely frightened by what he was witnessing. She may not have been actively giving birth in front of him, but this was still by far the closest he’d ever come to witnessing anything of the like, and he was scared out of his wits. Liza picked up on this quickly and, despite everything she was experiencing, she flipped into her typical Mama Liza mode, eager to try and put someone else at ease before herself. Although unable to speak without some tinge of pain coming through in her voice, she tried her best to remain as even keel as possible. “Billy… baby… come here. It’s just me, I won’t bite… Are you alright, dear? You look pale…” Billy stammered as he shuffled his feet, barely inching towards the bed and trying to resist coming any closer at all costs. “I-i-I’m fine, Liza, I just came to stay with, um, Kay, in the other room? I should probably, uh, go check on her…. or something…” “Are you feeling faint? Do you need to sit? Dudley, bring the chair over to him and get him a glass of WATEROHFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKITHURTSOHGODITHURRRRRTS!!!” she howled, gripping the sheets so tightly, it’s a wonder they didn’t rip as another contraction took hold of her. “I’m….gonna go check on Kay!” Billy said before sprinting out of the room, sweating bullets. This only upset Liza further and unleashed another onslaught of tears. “Oh GOD I didn’t mean to scare him off! I’m horrible! Dudley, I am a horrible, horrible person! Do you see what I just did?? I shouldn’t be allowed to be a mother…” she sobbed as she gripped his hand as tightly as she could, resting her cheek against the back of his hand. Dudley stroked her hair with his free hand, leaning close to her and trying to make her feel more secure any way he could. “No you’re not, babe, no you’re not. He’s just a little squeamish, that’s all. It happens to everybody over something.” “And his is my being an awful, disgusting she-beast!!” she cried, unable to look up at him. “She-beast? What… Liza, you’re not a she-beast.” “I AM!” “You aren’t. I promise you, you aren’t, and it was nothing personal against you in the slightest; I promise you that. When all this is over, I’m sure he’ll be able to tell you the same thing.” “He’ll only say it because you’ll tell him to say it!” she sobbed. “No I won’t! You’ll see, Liza, everything’s going to be alright. You didn’t scare him away.” “I did!! I’m a monster! A horrible, fat, ugly, disgusting, insane monster!” “Baby…” Dudley’s voice cracked; his heart breaking to see her like this. This not being lost on Liza either, she cried even harder. “Oh god!!! Now I’m doing it to you too!! I’m too horrible to liiiiive….” she wailed. Seemingly saved by the knock, Dudley stood up as he heard another banging on the front door. “That will be the paramedics, love. Stay right here; everything’s going to be alright now.” He untangled himself from Liza’s fingers again and rushed to answer the door a second time; if this turned out to be another false alarm, he swore he’d carry Liza downstairs himself and drive her to the hospital. Thankfully, this was not the case, and the EMT’s were quickly led through the apartment to the ailing Liza. On their way back out the door with Dudley following close behind, Liza cried out as they were rushing out the front door, “I’M SORRY BILLY! I’M SORRY I’M A MONSTER…”

#moorenelli #fanfic #fan fiction