Maria huffed as she managed to get out of her car.
She closed the door and straighten out of her blouse, a beautiful white one which fit her perfectly over her swollen stomach. She felt a small kick and chuckled as she placed a hand over her stomach and started rubbing it
"You already know we're going to see your father huh? I'm pretty sure he's as excited to see you too." She chuckled as she fixed her long blonde hair into a high ponytail and placed her purse over her shoulder and started walking.
Maria had missed working in the hospital, she worked as a Orthopedic surgeon. Mostly working with any sport stars that had suffered any injuries on the field. She had trained hard and had quite a hand which was the reason why a lot of stars had requested her.
She also had missed seeing her husband and famous surgeon, Stephen Strange. The two had met through her sister Christine Palmer after a Christmas party that was thrown by the hospital when Christine and Maria had worked their first year there. Stephen had accidently spilled a drink on her dress and he had given her his suit jacket to cover up the mess and he had joked that he would like to be repaid in a date since he had caught a cold that night. The rest was history.
The two had married a year later and everything was great. Of course Maria knew that her husband had a huge ego and always loved attention and everyone who had worked with him sometimes got frustrated but Stephen had showed her a soft side.. One that made her love him more and more by each day.
Christine would always say that Maria was the light in Stephen's life. To which Maria would laugh and lightly shove her sister but she knew that whenever Stephen was around, his eyes were only on her.
Maria walked through the doors of the hospital and went to the front desk. There she met with the woman who worked the front desk.
"Hey Maria, here to see Doctor Strange?" The woman had asked and Maria nodded "Here for him and I have an appointment for an ultrasound to check on the baby" She smiled slightly and the woman grinned
"How's the baby? How many months are you again?"
"She's doing very good, causing me to have these weird cravings and causing me to get sick at times. Two more months and she's due" Maria said rubbing her stomach slightly as the woman clapped her hands together
"Oh I'm so glad! You deserve to be a mother Maria! You and Christine are the sweetest pair. I'm very sure your parents are proud of you" She said as Maria smiled
Maria and Christine had a three years age difference, with Maria being the oldest. The sisters were very close because of how their parents were, her mother was soft spoken and very kind while their father was brave yet gentle too. The sisters had loved spending time together as children, always looked out for each other and always having each other back. Maria had hoped to have multiple children close within age also so that her children had a close relationship. She also had hopes that Christine would also have children so their children would also be as close.
"Pretty sure.. Is my sister around too?" Maria asked and the woman nodded "Great, I have to speak with her also.. I must ask her an important question" Maria said grinning while the woman gave her the room number that Stephen was working in.
She was greeted by a few co-workers that she had worked with, a few stopping her to rub her stomach and talk to the baby. Maria smiled and talked to them for a bit until she saw her sister rushing to her, looking panicked
"Maria!" Christine said running over to her and hugging her real quick before rubbing her stomach real quick "Hello Elizabeth, Aunt Christine would love to sit and chat with you but do you know where your husband is Maria?" Christine asked her sister as Maria nodded and she grabbed her sister's hand and started to rush towards the operation room that her husband was working at.
Soon Christine and Maria were in the front door of the operation room, they looked in and saw Stephen working on a patient. He stopped once he saw Maria and Christine and the woman next to him signaled that she could take care of the patient from there. Stephen nodded in thanks and took off his mask and jacket covering him and hung it up. He greeted Christine with a smile and he brought Maria in for a kiss as she chuckled and he bent down and kissed her swollen stomach
"How's my princess doing?" Stephen asked as he felt a few kicks and he chuckled and soon he looked at the panicked face of Christine and he stood up right away
"What's wrong?" He said as he grabbed Maria's hand and the trio started walking as Stephen looked through the scans on the tablet and he gave Christine a look
"I think I found the problem, Dr. Palmer. You left a bullet in his head." He said as Christine narrowed her eyes.
Maria had noticed that Christine and Stephen had a weird relationship. The two of course were co-workers and she respected his work but Christine would sometimes wonder why her sister was with the guy who had the biggest ego ever. Maria and Stephen were very different from each other but she guessed opposites attracted.
"Thanks. It's impinging on the medulla. I needed a specialist to diagnose brain death. Something about that doesn't feel right to me" Christine said as all three pair of eyes widen as they realized that the patient would be in risk of being killed early.. Unless Stephen and Christine got to him first.
"We have to run! Expect you Maria! I don't want my daughter to feel uncomfortable!" Stephen asked as Maria chuckled. What she loved about Stephen was that Stephen would always think of their daughter. From the moment he would wake up, he would accidently wake Maria up because of him rubbing her pregnant stomach and speaking to his daughter about what he was planning to do in the day. To sitting Maria down every night to eat dinner, of course Stephen cooking and giving her a fruit salad.
" Dr. West! What are you doing? Hey!" Maria heard her sister shout as she stopped the nurses that were rolling the patient's body away and Doctor West gave both Stephen and Christine a look
"Organ harvesting. He's a donor." Doctor West said trying to take the patient away but Maria came in time and stood by her husband and sister as they were fighting with the other doctor
"Slow down. I did not agree to that." Christine said looking at Doctor West before he snorted
" I don't need you to. We've already called brain death." Doctor West said before Maria shook her head
"Listen to them Doctor West, they could save him" She said as the doctor narrowed his eyes
"You may be Stephen's wife and also a surgeon but I know what I'm doing, maybe when you give birth.. You can work and not just judge my work" Doctor West said as Stephen narrowed his eyes as he showed the other man the tablet
"What do you see?"
"A bullet" Doctor West said as Stephen nodded "A perfect bullet. It's been hardened. You harden a bullet by alloying lead with antimony, a toxic metal, and as it leaks directly into the cerebral spinal fluid... Rapid-onset central nervous system shutdown." Stephen looked at Christine and Maria as Christine started moving the patient while Doctor West tried to convince Stephen to help but he shook his head
"I'll let my sister-in-law help me, I trust her more because the love of my life trusts her" He said as Maria smiled while Stephen looked over and winked at his wife as he rushed with Christine to save their patient.
"Your baby is doing great, she's developing quite well.. She should be growing very fast now since it's the last two months.. Of course be careful with running or anything that could make the baby uncomfortable" The Doctor said as Stephen intertwined his fingers with Maria as they looked at the screen showing their baby
"Do you guys have a name for her yet?" The Doctor asked as he shut off the screen and Stephen grabbed some napkins as Maria and him started cleaning Maria's stomach which was full of gel now
"Elizabeth" Stephen said proudly as Maria chuckled "Stephen and I decided on that name because it's very formal and cute at the same time and of course Stephen wanted a formal name for a baby" Maria laughed as Stephen narrowed his eyes playfully before the doctor handed the sonogram pictures and Stephen placed one picture in his wallet while Maria smiled in placed in her wallet. The couple walked out of the room and were greeted by Christine who smiled brightly as she embraced her sister and gave her brother-in-law a hug
"So how's Elizabeth doing?" Christine asked as she rubbed her sister's stomach and Maria chuckled as she rested her hand on her sister's hand
"She's doing great, probably happy that she's hearing her aunt's voice" Maria said as her younger sister smiled "Well I can't wait to meet my little niece, she needs to come sooner so Aunt Christine can spoil her rotten" She smiled as Stephen snorted at her
"Don't worry, she'll already have her father spoiling her rotten, she doesn't need anything from you because I will get her everything" He said while Christine narrowed her eyes and she looked up at her sister and she hugged her
"I need to get back to work, tomorrow would you like to get some breakfast.. I also have a surprise for you!" Christine said as Maria chuckled and she kissed her sister on the cheek "Good, because I need to see you tomorrow about something" She said as Christine smiled and she looked at Stephen who chuckled
"I'm talking tonight at a Neurological Society dinner. Come with us" Stephen said as Christine gave him a look
"Another speaking engagement? So romantic for you and Maria, I see date night for you two never changed" Christine said as Stephen frowned
"All three of us had fun!"
"No. You've had fun. They weren't about the three of us, they were about you." Christine said as Maria looked down and chuckled, although Stephen had many speaking events, the spotlight was always on him and the sisters would always sit around and watch Maria's husband take in the glory
"Not only about me.. Maria loves it too right?" He asked turning to his wife who smiled softly "Whatever makes you happy Stephen, I would be happy" She said as Stephen smiled and took her hand squeezing it
"See? I have the best wife ever" Stephen said proudly and he went to rub her stomach "I'll have the best daughter too!" He said and burst into laughter once he felt his daughter kicking "She really loves to hear my voice"
"Glad someone does" Christine muttered and Maria had started to laugh while Stephen pouted
Maria was finishing her make-up as she checked her self out and adored the beautiful white dress that she was wearing, of course she didn't wear heels so stuck with flat shoes since she knew she would be walking and talking to people who were fans of Stephen tonight.
She exited the room and walked past the nursery that their baby would be staying at, a beautiful cradle in the middle of the room with beautiful curtains over the cradle. The room surrounded by drawers and expensive toys that Stephen had brought home one day. She had fought with Stephen that the baby didn't need huge stuffed animals but Stephen thought it would make the room cuter.
She went towards the soft rocking chair and foot rest that Stephen had built for her, relaxing in the chair for a few moments before looking at the ceiling and seeing the glow in the dark stars that Stephen and Maria placed there.
Stephen and Maria loved getting the room together, it got them more excited for the arrival of the baby. They always discussed about what the baby would look like and thinking about where the baby would take her first steps and what her first word would be.
She walked out of the nursery and back into the bedroom and grabbed some earrings and put them on before going into her drawers and taking out a beautiful box before opening it and smiling widely at what was inside.
When Stephen and Maria discovered the baby's gender and thought about the name right on the spot and after both approved of the name, Maria had went out to her and Stephen's favorite jewelry place and went to get him a beautiful watch that he thought about buying and it had a message in the back of the watch. When she had returned home, he was there sitting at the table with a beautiful box. Inside was a beautiful heart-shaped necklace that had a E on the front while it had a message in the back. She always wore the necklace for occasions.
She placed the necklace on and went into the living room and saw Stephen, his back towards her as he was looking out the window and she went towards him and she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his back, he relaxed and smiled
"I can't wait til Elizabeth is born" He said and Maria chuckled "I know, me too" She replied and he turned to her "I want to give her the whole world, to make sure she's the happiest girl in the world.. Next to you of course" Stephen chuckled as she smiled and leaned forward to kiss him, he wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her in closer as they shared that tender moment together
"I love you" She whispered
"I love you too.. Mrs. Strange" He said as he kissed her forehead and grabbed her hand and they went towards the garage.
"We're still going with Elizabeth?" Stephen asked as he looked down to his phone for a moment, getting a call on his phone and he quickly looked over at his pregnant wife.
"Yes I still love the name Elizabeth, I already had her name engraved in the watch I gave you" Maria said as she rubbed her swollen stomach, smiling slightly as she felt the baby kick.
"Well we need to decide on a middle name, she's going to be here in less than two months and we can't even give her a middle name.. Hold on a second.." Stephen said as he started talking on the phone with his assistant. Maria started tracing circles on her stomach as she felt their daughter kicking a lot. Over the past month the baby had started kicking a lot. Mostly when she heard her father's voice. Never did Maria thought that when it came to their daughter, Stephen had to softest side for their baby. Sure he treated Maria like a queen, but with their baby it was different.. Yes Stephen was... Difficult to work with at times. But everyday with their daughter, she fell in love with him more and more every single day.
"I'm planning on asking Christine on being her god-mother" Maria looked over at Stephen who gave her a look
"She's already your sister and now you want her as the god-mother?" Stephen asked and Maria narrowed her eyes
"Yes she's my sister, and I love her enough to make her my daughter's god-mother" Maria said as Stephen sighed and intertwined their fingers
"Yes dear, we'll ask her tomorrow... I'm sorry I need to get back to this call" Stephen said as he went back to his call.
"Your dad is always busy with work, but I promise when you're here he'll be around to love you.. We'll be a happy family" She whispered softly to her stomach as Stephen caught her words and smiled softly as he talked and he squeezed her hand.
When Maria looked up, it felt like everything was in slow motion as she saw the bright lights nearly blinding her as she shouted "Stephen!" and next thing she knew, Stephen was swirling the car trying to avoid the passing truck. Stephen saw in the corner of his eyes that Maria was trying to protect her stomach but it failed as her stomach hit the front of the car and his hands ended up getting crushed.. broken.. The car kept flipping and soon landed face first into the water.. Before Stephen passed out he saw blood coming from Maria and all he could think of is that his wife and daughter.. They needed to be safe.
Maria opened her eyes slowly once she heard her sister's panicked voice and groaned and looked over a bit to see her sister and a couple of other nurses pushing her in a stretcher, her sister looking at her with tears in her eyes
"It's okay Maria, we're going to make sure she's safe.. We're going to make sure she's alive.." Christine said as she grabbed her sister's hand as Maria felt tears in her eyes, she wanted to believe her sister but she felt sick to her stomach once she realized that she couldn't feel her daughter.. She couldn't feel her kick or anything. It felt like everything was going slow-motion as tears escaped her eyes
She couldn't lose her baby, she felt a great bond with the baby growing inside of her. From the first time she found out she was pregnant, she was scared. Scared that she couldn't protect her baby and that she would fail as a parent. But having Stephen with her, it made her feel like she could take on anything when it came to parenting.
"She's my sister! That's my niece! Save them!" Christine begged the doctors who promised they will do anything in their power to save the baby and Maria.
"Get the sonogram on, we need to see if the baby is still alive" One doctor had said and Maria closed her eyes softly as she was silently praying that her baby was alive.. That her daughter survived the car crash and was going to be alright, that she was going to be born the right time like she was suppose to.
Her eyes opened a bit once she felt the cold gel on her stomach, hearing the doctor's panicked voices as they were trying to search for a heart-beat. Maria still praying that her baby was still alive.. She was praying that she would witness her baby girl grow up.. To see her first steps, to see her daughter off to pre-school, to see her daughter in middle school, high school, Stephen and Maria watching their daughter going off to prom. Stephen giving away his daughter at her wedding, Maria and Stephen being grandparents.
Maria wanted to sob but she couldn't because she was too weak, she closed her eyes and tears escaped her eyes as the doctors shook their heads "There's no heart-beat.." One whispered as the other one looked down at Maria and looked at the other doctor
All of her dreams were gone.. Her daughter was gone. No first steps, no taking her daughter to school, no watching her daughter go off to prom, getting married, having children.. A life. It was gone.
That day, Maria felt like a part of her had died along with her daughter.
Author's Note: I've actually changed my mind and decided to published this story first and publish chapters two and three together since this chapter is actually the hardest one and we don't need two emotionally hard chapters in one go.
So this was a rough first chapter.
I feel like this was a hard chapter to write, the fact that this is my first married couple I've written is hard too. The next chapter won't be easy either since it's the after-math.
I gave Maria and Christine a close relationship because Christine is the only person of Stephen and Maria's normal life and Maria will cherish her sister and even the sister's story will be sad towards the end.
Next Chapter:
The aftermath of the car crash.
Things will never be the same after the loss of the baby.