Hello everyone,
First thank you for your patience. I had to rewrite this and the chapters that followed because I was not comfortable with what was written before. Again, thanks for your patience.
~*~*~*~
Mitch gently opened the door to Salina's room. Brad was sitting in a chair he'd pulled up to her bedside. Brad nodded to him as he got up and left the room.
"What happened?" Mitch asked roughly.
"You got here fast." Brad sighed. "She was pregnant and lost the baby."
"What? How?"
"She was assaulted and by the time they got her here she miscarried."
Mitch put his hand on his head and turned away. "God." He looked at the door before looking back at Brad. "Where's Storm?"
"I don't know. He's not taking this well."
"He's not here?"
"He found out she was pregnant when they told him she lost the baby." Brad replied angrily. "He left after they sedated her." Brad took a deep breath. "Will you stay with her. I need to go find him."
"Yeah, yeah of course."
~*~*~*~
Storm sat in his car, eyes closed and head on the headrest. He had not moved from that position since he got to the cemetery. He wanted to get out of the car but couldn't seem to move. The feeling of disappointment, anger, loneliness, fear, loss, filled him all at once, in complete chaos. He wanted to scream at the world and at Salina to get answers to the questions he that kept playing in his head. Why did she leave the house? Why didn't she tell him as soon as she found out she was pregnant? He would have come back immediately. He should have been with her when she went to the hospital. He should have been with her when she went to the police station. He should have been with her from the very beginning. Somewhere in the daze of everything, he realized his phone was ringing. Looking at the screen, he saw that he had missed so many calls, and it was Brad calling again but rejected the call. Immediately after, he received a text message asking where was. It was one of many. The phone began ringing again and this time he answered.
"What?"
"Salina needs you..."
"What's wrong? What happened? She was sedated when I left."
"She still is but Storm she's going to need you and you need her."
"I don't..."
"Storm don't do this to yourself or her. Salina has been alone for so long and the last thing either of you should be right now is alone. You can't go through this by yourself. Storm come home, please."
About two hours later Storm walked into his house to see Brad pacing the living room.
"What are you doing here?" Storm asked putting his keys on the kitchen counter.
"I'm so sorry Storm. I don't know what you're going though but you'll both get through this."
"Yeah, you can go," Storm said dejectedly and turned to his bedroom.
He stopped at the door and looked at the bed. It was unmade. He could see where Salina had flipped back the covers when she received the call that had changed everything. He stood there and saw her in bed sleeping soundly and the picture of her wrapped in the covers that she had sent to him, was vivid in his mind.
"Storm, take a shower. I'll wait," Brad said, standing behind him.
"No you don't need to..."
"Storm, I'm not leaving. Go," he gently cajoled.
Storm looked back at him and released his breath heavily before turning for the bathroom.
~*~*~*~
Storm was looking for his keys. Going back to his bedroom, he sat on the bed and tried to remember where he had put them. He looked back at the bed as he had done so many time, thinking of Salina laying there, resting because of morning sickness. That's where he should be right now, holding her in his arms as their baby lay nested safely between them. But that was not the life he was living at the moment. Instead he was living a nightmare where his baby was no more. He picked up her pillow and buried his face in it. It smelled of her, sweet and soft. He got up and returned to the kitchen and that's when he saw Brad holding the keys in his hand.
Storm reached for the keys but Brad pulled them back. "I'm driving."
"I don't have time for this. I need to get ba..."
"Yes, I know and I'm driving." Storm looked on angrily, "You're tired and shouldn't be driving." Sighing Brad continued, "You need the help and support and you're getting it."
Storm turned and walked to the door.
~*~*~*~
The silence was heavy as they drove to the hospital.
"I realize she didn't tell you she was pregnant, do you know why?"
"No," Storm replied looking out the window. "She only said she needed to speak with me in person."
"Maybe she wanted it to be a surprise..."
"Maybe...yeah," he replied absently.
Storm picked up his phone and sent Dara a quick message telling her that he would be out of the office for the day.
When they got to the hospital, they sat silently. Storm couldn't seem to get out of the car and go into the building. After about twenty minutes of silence, Storm spoke.
"I couldn't concentrate on the meeting" he began, staring ahead and looking out the window. "She was all I kept thinking about. The last few days were perfect. We talked, we played, we were that much closer. All I wanted to do was come back home, to her. All I kept thinking about was how happy I was. When she sleeps at her apartment, I feel lonely; my bed feels too big and empty. But when she's at my place, I feel at peace, calm. When I get home and I see her car in the garage, I don't park beside her as I could, I park behind her so she can't leave. The night before I left, we watched the sunset and were so contented. I asked her what she wanted at that moment, if she could have anything. She paused, looked up at me and said, 'I want the fairytale.' I knew without a doubt that she loved me and I wanted to give her that fairytale. I want to be the person who made her happy. Two mornings ago, she told me she was still sleeping and I called her a bedbug." Storm smiled at the memory. "Later that evening she left me a message saying she needed to speak with me, in person. I texted her but she didn't reply until the following day." Storm sighed then closed his eyes. "In that meeting, I was thinking about the perfect ring setting because I was planning on asking her to marry me."
