NEW YORK CITY, NY – HOSPITAL – MAR. 17TH, 2002 – SUNDAY

     “Oh, thank God! Where were you?” Grace asked as soon as she saw Ashley. Grace and Tom were standing in front of Kirstin’s hospital room.

     “At the chapel.”

     When Ashley said that phrase, Grace started to cry. If Ashley was at the chapel, it was because the situation was serious.

     “Oh, my God. Why? What happened? Did anyone say anything?” Tom just rubbed his forehead and shook his head.

     “I don’t know! That’s the worst thing! I have no idea what is going on and why she was taken into surgery!” Ashley knocked the wall.

     “Ashley, just stay calm, man.” Tom was actually trying to help Ashley “We have to get some information. They just can’t leave us here not knowing what’s going on.” Tom left, trying to get some information.

     Grace wasn’t saying a word. She just sat in a chair in front of the room. Ashley sat beside her.

     “It’s serious, isn’t it, Ash?” Grace turned to face him.

     “I don’t know…” Ashley just shook his head.

     “Then why were you at the chapel?”

     “I just had to do something. Maybe that way, I don’t know… God will send us some sign of what’s going on in there. You know?”

     “Yeah…” Grace nodded “But… do you think like… this is serious?”

     “I…” Ashley was afraid of his own thoughts “I’m afraid it is, G. Otherwise, why would they be operating on her?”

     “Oh, God. And the baby?” Grace’s eyes were completely red.

     “I don’t know. I just… I just pray they are both alive. That’s all I want.”

     They stayed in silence for a while, both with their heads down.

 

     After a few minutes, Ashley looked up and saw Tom trailing their way. He immediately stood up.

     “So… anything, man?” Ashley asked, but he was hopeless.

     “No…” Tom just looked down and shook his head “What the fuck is going on, man?” Tom kicked the wall.

     “I don’t know!” Ashley shouted.

     “Now, you two, just calm down, alright? Please! You’re making me more nervous, if that’s even possible.” Grace said to the two of them.

     “Sorry… but why won’t they tell us anything?” Tom was frustrated.

     “I don’t know. But that can’t continue for too long. Soon, we’ll hear something. Just… I know it’s difficult right now, but just… be patient, alright?” Grace asked the guys.

     Ashley and Tom just looked at Grace, turned their heads and started pacing around. Grace was still seated, now holding her head with both her hands.

 

     “That’s the doctor, right?” Tom pointed so Grace and Ashley would see the man a few feet away from them.

     “Yes! That’s him!” Ashley affirmed.

     “Should we go talk to him?” Tom asked, seeing that the doctor was not looking at them.

     “No, he’s coming to us. I’m pretty sure he’s coming to us.” Grace tried to stay calm.

     “Ok.” Ashley said.

    
     “Hi.” after a couple of minutes, the doctor addressed to the three of them standing right in front of him.

     “Doctor, what happened? She was fine when the nurses took her to do the tests and…” Ashley started, but got cut off by the doctor.

     “What happened was…” the doctor went through her medical files “We were doing the ultrasound and everything seemed fine. So I just asked her to put her clothes back on. When she got up to get dressed, she started to bleed again. We immediately sedated her, because she was getting really nervous right there, and we didn’t need that kind of stress to the baby. So we sedated her and took her to the O.R.”

     “Why was she bleeding again?” Tom was in agony.

     “Well… we took her to surgery and just in surgery we were able to see that pretty close to the uterus, there was a vein that had a coagulum that wasn’t letting the ideal amount of blood get to the baby. So when we saw that vein, it had been torn apart, causing this particular external bleeding.”

     “But… that wasn’t why she bled the other time.” Grace frowned “Was it?”

     “No. Her uterus’ wall was too thick, and still is. But that wasn’t what caused this bleeding.” the doctor informed.

     “And why didn’t you see this vein before? That coagulum was there for a while, wasn’t it?” Ashley asked.

     “Not that long, but due to the location of this vein, we weren’t able to see it in an ultrasound.” the doctor looked at the charts again.

     “But… doctor… What does… that mean?” Ashley was afraid to hear the answer.

     “Well…” the doctor closed the files and looked at the three of them “Kirstin is fine. She is sleeping now and will be coming back to her room in an hour or so.”

     “And the baby, doctor?” Tom asked, shaking.

     “When we took her inside the O.R. and we cut her open, the baby was already dead. There was nothing we could do.”

     “NO!” Ashley and Tom screamed in unison.