"I-I'm sorry for disturbing, Atobe-san." Atobe's assistant, Yusuke, stuttered out apologetically, "But it's regarding your wife."

Atobe raised a brow. The only one capable of getting to him in such a short time would be either Hitomi, his parents, or Michael.

"Ah~n? Tell Michael I'll be done soon."

"Sir, it's an emergency." Yusuke frowned.

Even Atobe's business partners had understood the somber tone of Atobe's assistant. The head of the corporation that Atobe was speaking with stood up, holding his hand out.

"I understand you're needed elsewhere, Atobe-san. We'll meet again another time, and I'll follow your wishes for now to hold back on my dealings until you've returned to work."

"Thank you." Atobe shook his hand, watching almost impatiently as they left. As soon as their backs were turned he grabbed the jacket off his chair and his cellphone, looking at Yusuke.

"Cancel my meetings for the rest of the day."

"Yes sir, Michael will call you on your personal cellphone."

Atobe nodded, "Very well. I want the helicopter ready for me by the time I step off the elevator."

"Yes, sir."

What could possibly be happening? Atobe answered the cellphone, and listened as Michael explained.

"Where is she?" Atobe asked as soon as he entered the hospital.

George pointed down the hall, "They put her in room 217, left side, sir."

Atobe rushed to the room, seeing doctors and nurses hustle in and out.

"Hitomi!"

After a painful cry Hitomi tried to peek through the curtain, "Keigo?"

"Sir, we need you to step outside for just a moment." The nurse said, standing in Atobe's way.

"What? That's my wife in there." Atobe's glare almost made the nurse break protocol, but the doctor's call for the nurse made her push him towards the door.

"We'll call you once she's stabilized, sir. Just sit tight, please!"

"Stabilized? What the hell is going on?!" Atobe barked at the door.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. She should have been holding her son by now, watching him sleep and seeing his tiny chest breathing up and down. Maybe even seen him cry.

She didn't have the heart to hold him, and turned her head away, trying desperately not to cry herself. Her hands gripped the blankets underneath, bunching them up in a vain attempt to release the anger within her. She was too exhausted and worn out to throw a tantrum. The doctors and nurses cleared out after cleaning the mess made during labor, leaving her alone with Atobe.

Atobe, on the other hand, had glanced at his son before they took him away. He would never forget the little one's face. Before he could find a way to release the anger inside him he felt Hitomi's hand slip into his.

She looked down, avoiding eye contact as she frowned, "I'm sorry..."

"You did nothing wrong." He sat down beside her, pulling her into his arms as he kissed the top of her head. Feeling his love for her caused her to break down, crying into his chest as he tried to console her.

She could feel his tears land on her head.

"We will get through this." He said to her, "We will get through this together."

Kamiko's hand covered her mouth instinctively as she gasped at the news the doctor had given. Apparently Atobe had told the doctor that it was okay to tell his friends waiting outside. He wasn't going to be seeing them for at least another couple of hours.

"Oh no..." The Echizen's heart broke for the couple.

A still born during labor was uncommon, and to hear how the baby died because of a tangled umbilical cord was heartwrenching, especially when Kamiko had seen how religiously Hitomi had kept up with her health.

"Is there anything we can do for them at this time?" Fuji asked, bringing his arm around Kamiko's shoulder to pull her close to him. The girl was shell shocked, on the verge of tears, and Fuji couldn't imagine what the Atobe couple was feeling.

"We have a midwife who specializes in helping the grieving process of parents, if they want to talk to someone. But your support is going to be very crucial in making sure they can overcome this. Despite how well her pregnancy went, this is one of those things where we may never have an answer as to why it happened."

Fuji nodded, thanking the doctor for his time before sitting down with Kamiko.

"Are we late?!"

Shishido ran in with Oshitari, and sensed something wrong with the couple immediately.

"Why the long faces?" Oshitari asked.

Kamiko frowned, and Fuji was the one to reply, "The baby didn't survive."

She didn't feel like getting out of bed. Hell, she didn't feel anything sometimes. She couldn't go outside for fear of the press bombarding her. A nosy patient had heard of the still birth, and leaked it to the media. Atobe didn't go back to work for one week, and the two didn't know what to do. They kept up somber appearances for everyone in the house, for friends and family that would come by to see how they were doing, and sometimes even to each other. But they both felt like breaking down.

Hitomi once found Atobe staring at the crib that was supposed to be in their room, his tears falling onto the polished wood.

Atobe found Hitomi in the baby room, sobbing hysterically with a stuffed animal clutched in her hands.

They both realized that they would have to try to resume their lives before the baby. So Atobe forced himself to go to work, and Hitomi was currently trying to force herself to get out of bed.

"Keigo is at work... I can at least get up."

She sat up easily, throwing the covers off of her as she urged herself to at least accomplish a daily task. But the fact that she could so easily get up, or even see her feet, reminded her of the lack of life. Her baby had died before she could even have a chance to raise him. But she had already loved him so much.

She felt like it was going to be another miserable day.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters/plot/etc., of the PoT manga/anime.