The Red String Of Fate: The Ties That Bind

Wishful Thinking / Viability Or Die Trying - Sasuke

'She's losing the baby.'

Sasuke had gotten on the first train as soon as he had received the message from Konoha. His new wife was losing their baby. And he wasn't there.

Once again, he was a fucking idiot. His life was unraveling, and he wasn't there. It took him three damn days to get to the hospital from where he was. On the far side of the continent. But he was now running wildly down the hallway, racing toward the room number that he was given. If she was even there still. She had probably passed their child and had either been moved to another room or even discharged-

"Sakura!"

He flew into the room... and it was Sakura in the bed. She had a cloth over her eyes, and she was gripping the bedrail. She called out to him though gritted teeth.

"Sasuke..."

He fell to his knees beside her bed.

"Sakura, what's happening?"

"Stopping... labor-"

And then she let out an agonizing cry, scaring him. Ino came in.

"Sasuke, I need to see you."

He touched his wife's white-knuckled hand briefly before getting up and joining Ino in the hallway.

"Has... she not passed the baby?"

Oh no, had she waited for him? Ino shook her head no.

"She's on magnesium to try and stop the labor. But as you can see, it's hurting her physically. She's not taking the magnesium well, but it's the only thing that's working for now. She can't do this for five more weeks, minimum.  This is insane."

Sasuke ran his hand through his hair.

"She's been doing this for three days?"

"12 hours on, 12 hours off. I'm hoping that eventually the contractions will stop, but that's wishful thinking."

He knew that his wife was going to try and stop this labor and carry this child to viability.

"I'll talk to her."

He re-entered the room and quickly realized that there would be no talking to her right now. Not until she was off of this drip and her pain had subsided. He did the only thing he could do right now, sliding his hand into hers and holding it tightly as she suffered.

***

Five hours later, they were unhooking Sakura, who was breathing heavily, tears coming from the corners of her eyes even though she was not crying. Sasuke watched her sadly.

"You can't keep this up. You can't keep doing this. You could be doing untold damage to yourself."

Sakura looked up at him, her bottom lip bleeding from biting it through the pain.

"I can't lose this baby, Sasuke. I can't. That will do untold damage to me as well."

He swept the blood away from her lip with his thumb gently as he spoke as gently as possible in such a terrible situation.

"You can't hurt yourself like this. If we let this one go, we can get you healed and try again in a couple of months. The grief will be hard-"

"The grief will be unbearable. This baby is our fresh start. I'm not letting it go. I'll die trying."

Sasuke sighed.

"What about our daughter?"

"She has a mother in Mizuka. I haven't been around for most of her life."

"Then... what about me?"

He gazed at her, wishing he could stop this pain. But he knew he couldn't. Sakura was as stubborn as he was.

"This is our baby, Darling. This is for us. I can handle a little pain for the next couple of months. It'll be worth it when we get to hold our new child."

There was no talking her out of this she was either going to deliver this baby after viability or die trying.

"What's your goal? 22 weeks? That's viability, right?"

"My goal is 28 weeks. Every moment Baby Uchiha stays safely tucked away in my womb gives them a better chance."

"There's no fucking way, Sakura. Be realistic."

He was trying to be gentle but come on.

"Okay, maybe 26 weeks."

So 22 weeks. 24 if they were lucky. He took a deep breath and chose his next words carefully.

"Okay, but if you become too weak or incapacitated, I'm making the call to deliver this baby to save your life. I don't want to lose my wife as well."

She gave him a small smile.

"Thanks, Sasuke. And thank you for getting here-"

"You don't need to thank me. I'm your husband. You're carrying my child. My job is to be here, caring for my family."

"Don't you need to finish your atonement?"

He shook his head no.

"My atonement is officially over. They can finish up without me. My new job is to be here and support you on your journey to get Baby Uchiha here safely. Whatever I need to do."

Her face lit up with love for him, actually making him blush. Being married was hard but rewarding.

As someone who had always been a loner, having to consider someone else's needs and feelings was a change of pace for him. But hopefully it would get easier since he was committed to staying in the village long term. He'd done well for the month-long stretches he had stayed.

Now, he just had to do it forever. Which was terrifying.

But as he watched his love lay in the bed in front of him, carrying his child, how could he not?