Never Met a Girl Like Her | ✔️

(39)

H E A T H

Leonie was due at the hospital soon. We had an appointment at half twelve to get a glimpse of our peach. Or was it plum? Yeah. I think this week it was a plum. I looked down at my phone again and felt a bit restless. She was supposed to have met me here by now. I tried calling her again, but there was no answer.

"You're Heath, right?"

I looked up at a familiar face. A tall thin girl with bleach blonde hair and tanned skin stood in front of me in the same uniform that Leonie wore. I swallowed when I saw a few smears of blood on her blouse. She looked at me with a cautious stare.

"Leonie's boyfriend?"

I nodded.

"She's in the ER. She doesn't have her phone but she asked me to come and find you."

I didn't even stop to ask her what was wrong. I just took off down the corridor and passed the elevator, opting for the stairs. I heard the girl call out after me.

"She's in cubicle three!"

Shit. What the hell happened. Was it a car accident? A fight? Fuck, that'd be so like her to fight regardless of whether she's pregnant or not. Ugh of course she wasn't in a fucking fight. She's not stupid. I'm stupid for even thinking that it'd have been a fight. But what? What happened? Shit. Please, God. Please let her be alright.

I pushed the ER doors open and found a full waiting room. Patients were lined up along the wall because all of the seats were taken. I weaved through the room and barely stopped at the reception window. I knew the woman who was working, so I waved at the locked door and she smiled, unlocking it for me.

I walked in and the closer I got to cubicle three, the harder my heart was pounding. It was cancelling out the noise of the ER. The constant beeping of machines. The wail of the injured. The nurses sneakers squelching on the floor. I pulled the curtain back and saw Leonie on a bed. She had her hands over her face while the doctor and two nurses stood beside her.

"There might be some mild pain during the injection to numb the area," the doctor said. I heard it through a haze. All I could see was Leonie, trembling. "I promise that we'll take care to be gentle. The nurse will explain the entire process of a D&C with—"

"D&C?" I felt sick. This wasn't happening. No. A D&C meant one thing.

The doctor turned around and fixed me with an apologetic smile. It did nothing to soothe me. I couldn't breathe.

"You must be Heath," he walked forward and folded his arms. "We just confirmed about two minutes ago that the baby didn't make it. I'm really sorry. It's a sensitive and painful time so we'll give you a few moments alone while we organise the D&C. That's a procedur—"

"I know what a D&C is," I muttered. I hadn't stopped watching her. She'd uncovered her face now. She was staring at the ceiling with tears rolling down her cheeks. "Excuse me."

I stepped around him and walked to Leonie's bedside. Her expression was still, blank, almost void as she stared at the ceiling. Her cheeks were blotched and red. I knew that I was shaking. There was this desperate need to fix the situation. To do something to right it. But I couldn't.

Our plum was gone.

"He's gone, Heath." Her voice was quiet. Defeated. A new tear rolled down the side of her face. "I lost him."

"You didn't do this," I grabbed her hand and leaned down so that I was closer to her, pressing a kiss on her forehead. "Sometimes these things happen and there's no reason for it. No explanation."