Consciousness came to Haruka as a splash of warm liquid across her legs.
Gasping, Haruka tried to sit up, only to find a painful pressure in her
pelvic area nearly incapacitating her. There
was a pulsing virtue about it, and Haruka knew without a doubt that it was the
baby.
"Ohmigod," Haruka whispered.
"This...this can't be happening..."
But it was.
Taking a deep breath, Haruka rolled off the bed, the
movement awakening pain across her spine and heels. Grunting, Haruka grabbed her
car keys, the keys to her hotel, and her cell phone.
Not bothering to grab her coat, Haruka limped out the door.
The trip to the elevator was pure agony, but Haruka managed
to make it and stagger inside. Hours
seemed to pass before she made it to the first floor, and still hours more while
she located her car.
*Damn it all,* Haruka thought.
*Why couldn't I have just let the valet park it?*
Finally finding it, Haruka rolled inside the Ferrari, and
literally flew from the indoor parking lot.
As she whizzed down the streets, Haruka realized that she didn't know
where the hospital was. Picking up her cell phone, she dialed information.
"Moshi, moshi--information."
Greeted the receptionist. "How
may I help--"
"The hospital."
Haruka managed, cutting the woman off.
"Where are you, sir?"
After telling the woman, there was a pause.
Then, "Right up the main street, next to the post office--"
"Thank you."
Haruka hung off, and whirled her car in the opposite direction of the one
that she had been traveling in. In
a matter of fifteen minutes that seemed far longer, Haruka was parked in the
emergency section. A member of the
staff ran up to her car, just as she started to get out.
"Hello, ma'am."
He said. "What's your
problem?"
"My," Haruka wheezed, "Baby...it's
coming...too soon."
"Hey!" the man yelled, signaling one of his
coworkers. "Over here."
As soon as the other man arrived, Haruka was placed in a
wheelchair, and the three of them zipped into the hospital.
"Okay," the first man said, "I'll need some
information." getting out a chart and a pen, he asked, "Last
name?"
Now grateful that no one could recognize her as a female,
Haruka answered with the first name that came to her mind.
"Chiba."
"Last name of the father?"
"Chiba."
"How many months along are you?"
"Four."
The questions dragged on and on, until they reached the
emergency pregnancy clinic, on the far end of the hospital.
Once there, Haruka was given something for the pain.
Shortly after, she blacked out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Haruka came to, the sun was shining into her room, and she was
dressed in a white hospital gown. The
room around her was all white, and it had a clean look and smell to it.
The curtains were pulled just enough to shield her face.
Memories came back to Haruka in a rush, accompanied with
pain. Jerking her hand up, she rung
the bell next to her bed, and waited tensely for a nurse to arrive.
Shortly after, a middle-aged woman came trotting into the
room, followed by a young male doctor. Both
were dressed in white hospital scrubs.
"Oh, good."
The doctor said, taking a seat in an over-stuffed chair next to Haruka's
bed. "We were wondering when
you'd come to."
"My baby." Haruka
reminded.
"I thought," the doctor said, "That it would
be better to have your husband here with you..."
"I have no husband."
Haruka replied, the words hurting far more than she had expected.
"Then the last names--"
"Are just a coincidence."
Haruka replied briskly, remembering her lie.
"Please, doctor," she said, sighing. "My baby."
The doctor sighed, the movement knocking sandy colored hair
into eyes that were nearly white. "We
couldn't save it, Ms. Chiba. Everything
that could have been done..."
Haruka let the doctor's words trail by her, unheard.
*My baby...* Somehow, her mind just could not comprehend such a loss. *I never even had it.* She
swallowed.
"What was it?"
Haruka asked, her voice sounding alien.
The doctor looked at the nurse.
"It was a girl." He
answered.
Haruka blinked now. "A
girl..."
The doctor nodded. "Would
you like me to contact the father?"
Haruka nodded deafly.
"Five, five, five, one three ten."
She spewed out the cell phone number, one that she had memorized by
heart.
Rushing off to attend to it, the nurse cast one last
sympathetic look in Haruka's direction, then was gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Mamoru came rushing into the room, Haruka was lying in the bed, her
expression devoid of emotion. Obviously glad to see him, the doctor got up from
his vigil.
"I'll leave you two alone."
The doctor said graciously, making quick use of the exit.
As soon as he left, Mamoru knelt down next to Haruka's bed.
"Haruka," he breathed. "I
came as soon as I got the call. Why
didn't you contact me sooner? And
where's our baby?"
Haruka choked. "There
is no baby."
Mamoru froze. "What?"
Where they had not come before, tears now poured from
Haruka's eyes. "A girl,"
she whispered. "A beautiful,
wonderful, little girl..."
"Haruka," Mamoru placed a hand on her own.
"I don't understand. What
happened?"
"I," Haruka choked.
"Had the baby."
"Ohmigod..."
"It was too early," Now they were both crying.
"She's dead," Haruka sobbed. "Dead,
dead, dead." Her tears
quickened, and Haruka threw her arms around Mamoru, burying her head in his firm
chest. "Oh, God, Mamoru, she's
dead..."
Mamoru clutched Haruka tighter, rocking her back and forth,
as much to comfort her as to comfort himself. "We'll get through
this," he soothed. "I promise you, 'Ruka, we will."
"But," Haruka hiccuped, "I don't *want* to
get through this...I just want our baby back..."
"So do I," Mamoru kissed the top of her head.
"So do I..."