A soft, desperate cry escaped from the room down the hall. The cry continued to grow, till it was barely below a tortured scream. Extreme fatigue labored Diana's body as she pulled herself from the bed.
"I've got it." She whispered to her husband when she heard him stir beneath the sheets. She blindly stumbled to the baby's room down the hall of their cramped apartment. She pushed open the door, flipped the lights on, and took a few faltering steps over to the wooden crib in the corner. Her son lay in the crib, his was face red and flustered from crying, and his tiny fists waved violently in the air.
"Come here baby," she said, as she gently lifted him out of the crib as he gasped for air. She gently cooed to him and sat in the rocking chair on the other side of the room. She held his convulsing body to her chest and rocked back and forth. Her eyelids fluttered in attempt to keep herself awake. The baby had been crying for what seemed like days. Diana and Dan had taken him to the few specialists they could afford, and each doctor had found nothing wrong with the tiny boy. They continued to assure the worried parents that their son suffered nothing more than allergies, gas, the usual. Diana wasn't so sure. She'd never been a mother before, but she somehow she doubted that babies cried for hours on end, every day, every night.
Finally, his warm body relaxed against her chest, and his little sobs began to die down. She continued to rub his tiny back until she was sure he was sleeping. Being as careful as she could not to wake him, she stood up and pulled him from her chest trying to lower him back into his crib. As she lay him back down, she noticed his body was limper than usual. Assuming it was the effects of sleep deprivation working on her mind, she gently touched his face, knowing the simple gesture would normally instigate a reaction. When his miniature eyelids laced with blonde lashes neglected to flutter, panic began to rise up in her throat. She hastily picked up the baby again.
"Gabey? Gabriel?" The child didn't stir.
"Dan!" she screamed, clutching her flaccid child to her breast. She pulled a tiny green blanket out of a stack of baby clothes and stuffed animals, wrapping it around her son. She called for her husband again.
"Di? What is it?" Dan appeared at the door, looking haggard from exhaustion. Diana couldn't speak; tears and lethargy held back any words she could have said.
"God…no…please…" Dan whispered, and then darted down the hall to call the hospital. Diana rocked the baby back in forth in her arms, if not a bit roughly, desperate to get a response from her baby. Dan ran back to the baby's room, carrying her black coat and purse. He held the baby as gently as he could despite his shaking hands, as his wife quickly threw her black coat over her baby blue nightgown. Taking the child in her arms again, Diana followed Dan out of the nursery and down the hall. Dan grabbed the keys, and they rushed out of their apartment and down several flights of stairs. Dan opened the car door for his wife, then jumped into the driver's seat of their tiny car. Diana continued to clutch the baby to her chest as they flew past the city lights shining in the darkness of night. Tears continued to fall down her sunken cheeks, and simple prayers escaped her chapped lips.
They flew in the sterile glass doors of the local hospital, both crying, screaming. Nurses came and all but snatched the baby from Diana's shaking arms. She turned around, and collapsed into Dan's arms, sobbing into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her trembling body, and wept into her disheveled hair. Another nurse led them to the waiting room.
Time passed. Dan had fallen asleep in his chair, but Diana couldn't bring herself to sleep. They had waited for hours, still with no word on their baby. Daylight now shone into the tiny window on the wall across from where they sat. A doctor opened the door.
"Mr. and Mrs. Goodman?" he asked, his voice gentle.
Diana tapped Dan on the chest, and sat up.
"Mr. and Mrs. Goodman…your child is…dead. I'm sorry." He said, then turned on his heel and walked back to where he came from.
Diana was shocked. She couldn't cry anymore, her tears were spent hoping for his life. Her face fell into her hands. She screamed. She screamed as loud as she could. She screamed so long and hard that she fell from her chair and lay curled up on the floor. Dan tried to comfort her. He could barely contain his sadness, but he tried to be strong for his wife. He knelt down, and held her shaking body. He tried to get her off the floor. She wouldn't budge. She only screamed. It seemed like the least she could do, for the tiny life that would never get to live, the tiny life that she had made. He was gone. Gabe was dead.