Wonderland Carnival

Hospital

Halo One: Hospital:

August 10th, 1984.

He raced all the way to room 118 of the hospital. He found her sitting up in bed, waiting for him. He stood in the doorway to catch his breath.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she admitted. "I just collapsed."

"Why didn't you tell me that you were feeling sick?" he asked.

"I didn't want to upset you," she reasoned. He sighed as he buried his palm in his hands.

"I can't believe this," he muttered. "You can be such a child sometimes."

"I'm sorry," she murmured. He lifted his head and dropped his shoulders.

"Never mind that," he said. "I'm just glad you are alright." She gave him a little smile.

"Thanks," she replied.

"How long are you going to be here?" he asked.

"The doctors are keeping me here overnight," she said in a low voice. She drew her knees to her chest. "I hate here. I don't want to be without you."

"Well, I'm here now," he said. "I'm not going to leave you." She looked up at him with big eyes.

"You promise?" she asked. He sighed as he tried to make himself smile.

"Yes, I mean it," he said. She held the sheets to her chest.

"That makes me so happy," she said in a low voice. In the hall, a nurse spotted him in the doorway talking to the patient.

"Excuse me," she said. "Can I speak to you for a moment?" He turned to face the nurse.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Could you come with me for a second?" she whispered. He looked up at the patient in the bed with big eyes.

"Is this a bad time?" the nurse asked.

"Oh, no, no," he said. "It's fine right now." He turned back to the patient in the bed. "I'll be back, I promise." She trembled as he walked out of the room with the nurse.

"What is it?" he asked once he and the nurse were in the hall. She looked at him with a proud smile on her face.

"Your wife is pregnant," she announced. He looked at her with his jaw to the ground.

"What?!" he asked.

"She's pregnant by three weeks," the nurse told him in a calm voice. He felt like flying to the sky as he ran back into his wife's room.

"Honey, great news! We're going to have a baby!" he shouted. Her eyes grew big with her own shock.

"What?" she asked.

"You're pregnant," he explained. Her eyes lit up brighter than diamonds.

"You mean...?" she began to ask.

"Yes," her husband told her. She placed her hands over her belly.

"Wow," she said in a low voice.

"Yes," he said back. He couldn't help but smile; however such a joy can be short-lived.