The Intern - SEQUEL to The Mentor

I Didn't Know

Trigger warning: fertility - I know this is a spoiler but I also want to protect my readers

Ben's POV

"Ben!" I sit straight up in the bed unsure if I had actually heard my name or if it was just in my dream. The clock reads 5 am on Tuesday, so Rey is already up getting ready to go to work and the covers are flipped back on her side.

Her workdays are long but I'm looking forward to her having Friday off so we can enjoy a 3 day weekend together before I have to go back to work next Monday.

"Ben!" She yells again with a sob and panic in her voice, catapulting me out of bed. I rush to the bathroom and push the door open to find her in the fetal position next to the toilet, her blood-soaked shorts laying in the tub, and she's crying.

"Rey, what's going on?" I crawl onto the ground slowly and pull her to me.

"I don't know, I won't stop bleeding and I have a weird pain in my lower stomach. This isn't normal for my period, something isn't right."

"I'm taking you to the hospital," I say as I help her up from the floor and get her a new pair of pants.

I'm not cleared to drive yet, but I don't care. Rey is hunched over and crying, so there is no way I'm making her drive herself to the hospital. "You're going to be okay babe," I say as we pull out of the parking garage and I run my hand down her hair.

Reys POV

Ben called the parks department and told them I wasn't coming in while the doctors ran tests and examined me. I lay back on the table under the florescent lights of the exam room and Ben sits next to me in a chair, holding my hand and running circles with his thumb. The tables have turned and he's back to taking care of me, the concern on his face though is killing me and I can barely bring myself to look at him.

The doctor comes back in, pulls her rolling stool out, and looks at me.

"So we know what is happening and you're perfectly healthy so you don't need to worry about that." She says and Ben squeezes my hand, but I don't respond. The doctor has a very serious face so I know she's I'm about to tell me something I'm not going to like. "However, the bad news is that the symptoms you were having were the result of a miscarriage and you, unfortunately, lost the baby." She says with more hesitation.

Ben and I look at each other completely confused. "The baby?" I squeak out as my vision gets fuzzy.

"Yes ma'am." She gives me a cautious look. "I'm assuming by that reaction you didn't know and you two weren't trying." We both shake our heads in disbelief at her. "From the information you gave me, I'm assuming you were about 8 weeks along." I stare at her not knowing what to say and I can feel tears trying to frantically push their way through.

"When you've had time to process, I would suggest talking to your normal doctor. This does not mean you won't be able to have children in the future, miscarriages are common and from the trauma, I know you two just endured, it's probably just due to stress." She looks between the two of us who are still just blankly staring at her and holding hands. "When you're ready, you can get dressed, and then you're free to go. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances." She shakes both of our hands and then leaves us alone.

The minute the door closes I burst out in tears and Ben climbs up to lay on the table and pulls me onto his lap. He runs his hands along my hair as I cry into his chest, he doesn't rush me, or try to shush me, he just waits for me to process patiently.

"I had no idea." I sniffle against his now damp T-shirt.

"I know honey." He responds.

"I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry? This isn't your fault."

"I know we weren't trying but it hurts. It hurts to know that we created life and we lost it."

"As the doctor said, it's common. Don't worry, we will have babies and you'll be an amazing mother. All when it's our time." His voice is steady and calm as he continues to stroke my hair.

"Okay." I sniffle as he kisses the top of my head.

He helps me change back into my street clothes and we walk hand in hand down to the parking garage. On the way home, he swings through our normal coffee and bagel shop, ordering for me and we head back to the apartment in silence.

When we get home, I immediately take zori outside to do her business and by the time I get back upstairs, Ben already has the bathroom cleaned up for me so there's no trace of what happened this morning. I walk into the bathroom as he puts the cleaning supplies away and I undress to get in the shower.

Ben leaves me alone in the bathroom as I get in while he goes to take the trash out. I close my eyes and submerge myself under the rain from the showerhead and allow myself to slowly collapse onto the floor. I lean up again the cold tile wall and pull knees to me, tears streaming down my face.

Ben returns and gets into the shower, sits down next to me, and pulls me into his arms under the water. He knows I feel responsible but doesn't know what else to do or say to make me feel better, so he just holds me.

Ben's POV

Thursday I have my follow up appointment where they start to clear me for more activity. Rey went back to work today after the miscarriage on Tuesday so my mom drives me to the hospital so I'm not breaking the rules of no driving like I did Tuesday. Of course, my mom scolded me for it but she also understood why I did it.

I sit on our couch flipping through the magazine Nick dropped off earlier, while Zori snores next to me. He tried to have small talk with me, but quickly gave up when I would only give him a couple of words every time he asked a question. Today has been an emotionally charged day and he was the last person I felt like talking to.

After my doctor's appointment, my mom had come upstairs because she knew I wasn't okay and she just held me like she used to and rubbed my back. She let me cry and process and come to terms with what the news Dr.Holdo gave me could potentially mean.

"Hi, Hun," Rey says as she walks through the front door. Her face drops a little as she turns to find me sitting on the couch, two glasses of wine already poured. "What going on?" She asks hesitantly as she makes her way over.

"I want to tell you about my checkup today," I say and hand her a glass as she sits.

"Is everything okay?"

"Kind of." I take a breath. "So they cleared me to drive and start physical activity as I feel like my body is ready. Including shenanigans." I smirk at her and she smiles a little. Her eyes still search mine and I can sense how nervous she is. "The bad news though, is they want me to see a urologist. Dr.Holdo is concerned that the crash and surgery may have affected my ability to have kids." Her eyes are huge and I can see tears forming.

"You might be sterile?" She asks.

"Yes, apparently."

"Okay, but like I've been up close to your penis since the accident." She blushes a little as she says this but she is still very serious. "It was fine, nothing was wrong with it."

"Externally no, but internally there might be something wrong. I was a mess down there, you've seen those x-rays." I continue to search her eyes and squeeze her hands. This is the second blow we've had this week with fertility and I'm scared of sending her over the deep end emotionally. "They don't know for sure, let's not go dark until after we know for sure okay?"

"Okay." She squeaks out and leans back against me on the couch.