NJR Short Stories

Product of Love Continued

I was swimming through the ocean. The waves were textureless. I didn't feel wet, I didn't feel cold, and I could breathe. Nothing was there under the water with me. Just the swirl of luminescent turquoise water swishing and swashing as the waves crashed together. I was swaying with the flow of the water but I wasn't crashing around like the waves. It was a beautiful sight but I kept floating through, swimming my way up higher, but the higher I went, the darker it got.

The water immediately disappeared and I was in shock. It took me a few seconds to realize where I was.

Pitch black everywhere .. But little crystals of white dotted the black mass.

The Stars were twinkling, winking at me as I floated through space. Once again my breath was taken away at the beauty, the large empty space that surrounded me.. Huge entity of peace.

I loved it.

Slowly as I floated through the blackness I felt nothing around me, and I wondered .. How long have I been here?

A steady beeping was sounding but quite faded and I looked everywhere I possibly could to see where the sound was coming from. Nothing was around me still but I could hear the beep gradually increase in volume.

My eyes bolted open and a shock ran through me as I released a brief gasp.

A light shone brightly overhead and everything was white.

After blinking a few times my eyes slowly adjusted to the environment and I breathed in, taking in the sickening sterile smell.

Only one place in the world could smell like this.

A hospital.

There wasn't anyone present in the room and as I glanced around there was a monitor on and the machines beside me were functioning with their beeps and signals.

I felt myself lacking oxygen and I breathed in deeper ending up in a small coughing fit.

Only then did a lady walk in with a wide smile plastered upon her face.

"Miss Hernandez, how are you feeling?"

I squinted, still trying to adjust to the sickly white room. "Suffocated."

My voice was dry and I needed water badly. I coughed once more hoping to relieve the parched roughness of my throat and the woman immediately reached for the water, pouring me a glass.

I took it from her willingly and chugged it down letting out a satisfied sigh. She took the glass from me and set it down taking her stethoscope and began her general examination.

"Aren't you going to tell me what happened?" I watched her as she checked my pulse, staring down at her watch keenly.

"Well.." She started. "You suffered a Subchorionic hemorrhage."

Hemorrhage? Bleeding, that I knew.

"What is that?" My voice shook, I was scared. Why was I scared? I seemed fine, I seemed okay, I was healthy.

Why was I here?

"It's bleeding in the uterus." She looked up at me knowingly, as if she expected something.

Then it hit me.

"The baby." I whispered. "How is it?" I smiled unsurely.

She paused for a while. A long time actually. It seemed a little too long.

"Your placenta was damaged Miss Hernandez. There was excess bleeding and it built pressure, causing the placenta to erupt. I'm sorry to inform that your child didn't make it."