Disclaimer: This chapter is sad. And a bit graphic? It is about a miscarriage, so read at your own risk.
I want you to know that this was really really hard to write. I did not enjoy it, which is why it took so long. But, it kind of evolved into this, the original idea was definitely not this.
They were laying comfortably on the couch, watching The Notebook. It had been Stiles' idea. Lydia had had the flu recently, and she wasn't seeming to be getting better. Stiles figured the pregnancy was making it worse, but he was still worried.
She was in the second trimester now, and the morning sickness had finally ended, but, this flu was taking a lot out of her.
She was laying down, resting her head on his lap, as he played with her hair with one hand, the other rested on her stomach. The movie wasn't very interesting, but Stiles loved studying her features. Every once in a while, he would just marvel that she actually chose him, willingly too.
A small smile broke out on his face, realizing that soon, their family would be growing. "Are you excited?" He whispered.
"For what?" She asked, glancing up at him.
"Next week. Finding out our baby's gender."
"Of course I am." She said smiling, placing one hand on her stomach.
"Do you think it will be a boy or a girl?" He asked.
"I don't care. They'll be perfect either way." She answered.
"I agree." Stiles said. He leaned towards her stomach, tickling it slightly "I am so excited for you to come." He speaking into her abdomen.
"Stop, that tickles." Lydia smiled. Stiles laughed and tickled her some more as she protested. "Stop, I'm trying to watch the movie." She said squirming. Finally, he stopped and kissed her tummy before kissing her forehead.
"Okay, okay. I'll behave." He said smiling, and went back to playing with her hair and lightly running his hand up and down her arm. Lydia's body suddenly tensed and she let out a small gasp of pain as she curled into the fetal position.
"Lydia? What is it? What happened?" Stiles asked concerned.
Lydia still had her eyes clenched shut, "It's probably nothing." She breathed, finally relaxing.
"Was- was I too rough?" He questioned.
"No, it wasn't that." She said, but Stiles could tell that it had worried her.
"Well what was it?"
"Probably just a Braxton Hicks contraction." She said grimacing, moving the weight off her lower back.
"I thought those weren't supposed to come until 20 weeks."
"They can come earlier, and we're basically at 20 weeks anyway." She answered.
"Okay, well, do you need anything? Like, ice cream? Toast? Pudding?"
"Actually, do we have any apples left?"
"Let me check. Stay here." He got up and walked into the kitchen, and looked in the fridge. "Apples. App-les. Come on. We gotta have apples." He muttered to himself, opening every drawer in the fridge, and looking behind the milks and juices. "We don't have any left." He hollered.
"Do you think, maybe, you could go get some?" Lydia asked.
"Yeah." He answered, walking back into the living room. Lydia had moved to a sitting position, and was holding her head in her hands. "Are you sure you want me to go? Cause, I will. But, I don't want to leave you if anything is wrong."
"I'm fine." She said, closing her eyes and furrowing her brow.
"You don't look fine. But I'll go get some if you really want"
"Tomorrow works." Lydia answered, squeezing her eyes closed again.
"Lydia. What's wrong?" He asked, sitting next to her on the couch. "You look pale."
"I don't feel very well." She replied dismissively. "I-I think I'm just going to go to bed now." She slowly stood up, and teetered when she stood all the way up. Stiles jumped to his feet to steady her.
"Lydia. You've felt like this for a week, need to go to the doctors. Or we could go to the ER, or-or call Melissa. Just make sure everything is okay."
"I'll make an appointment tomorrow, sound good?" She said trying to smile, but it quickly turned into a grimace.
"I'm sure, if we just run to the ER right now, they'll check you out, give you medicine and we'll be outta there in no time." He smiled.
"Oh don't even, you know it'd be an hour of waiting in the waiting room, then an hour waiting for a doctor to come and run an hour of tests, and then they'd let us know that it was nothing, just braxton hicks, and they'd tell us first time parents don't know anything. I personally would rather skip all of that and go to bed. Which is where I'm going, right now." She said, yawning.
"Fine. Fine. I'm going to stay up and work on this case for a little bit, okay?" He said, as his wife nodded. "Get some rest, and if you need anything, just holler. 'Kay babe?"
Lydia nodded again and gave him a half smile.
Stiles leaned in for a kiss, but Lydia dodged it. "If I'm sick, I don't want you to get sick too."
Stiles laughed and kissed her on the forehead, "Alright. Goodnight babe." He watched her walk down the hall to their bedroom. He was still worried, but there was nothing he could do. He sighed and ran his hands over his face before turning the tv off and grabbing a file out of his briefcase. He set it on the table and sat down to work.
Stiles woke up to his name being called. He sat up from the table, a paper stuck to his face, he peeled it off and squinted at the clock. 3:09. He yawned as he stretched his arms and rolled out his neck.
"Stiles!" He heard again. This time, it registered. He stood up quickly, knocking the chair to the ground and ran into the bedroom. The lamp was on, the blankets had been thrown off the bed.
Stiles stomach fell when he saw fresh blood on the sheets. "L-Lydia?" He called out.
"Bathroom." He raced across the room and flicked on the bathroom light to find his beautiful wife curled up into a ball, crying on the bathroom floor. A small pool of blood was barely visible around her lower half. "It hurts." She cried out.
Adrenaline took over, and he rushed to her side. "Hey, it's gonna be okay." He said, scooping her up in his arms. "Let's get you to the hospital."
He got her into the car and carefully strapped the seat belt around her, the ran to the drivers side, he jammed the keys into the ignition and backed up. Thankfully, it was 3AM and traffic was almost nonexistent. He sped through the neighbourhood, going 25 over the speed limit. The hospital was a 30 minute drive away, but, he was hoping to cut that time in half. Lydia tried stifling her cries, but it didn't work. "I'm ruining the seat." She pouted.
"The seat doesn't matter. Are-are you in labour?" He asked. "No no. It's too early. And this is constant pain." She gasped. "It hurts so much." She grunted.
"I know. It'll be okay." He reassured her, but he wasn't too sure he believed it himself. He pulled into the ER, and jumped out of the car, running to Lydia's side. She had opened the door, and was attempting to get out, but she was too weak. Stiles caught her as she doubled over in pain. He ran through the entrance. The ER was thankfully empty. He set her in a nearby wheelchair and wheeled her up to the desk.
"Help! We need help."
Soon, Lydia was being wheeled away on a gurney, and Stiles was left standing in the ER alone. He sat down shakily, as the excess adrenaline coursed through his body, his limbs went numb and his breathing grew rapid. He needed to do something, he couldn't just sit around.
He pulled out his phone, and dialed Lydia's mother's number. He stood and began pacing. He glanced at the clock as the phone rang. It was 3:27 in the morning. No one was going answer, but he wanted to let their parents know. As expected the phone went to voicemail.
"Hey Ms. Martin. Um, it's Stiles. Just wanted to let you know that some complications came up, and Lydia is in the hospital. We just got here, and they took her in for tests. I'll call you with updates when I can. Don't worry. I'm sure things will be fine." He hung up, almost proud that he managed to get it out without sounding too worried.
He hit number 2 on the speed dial and waited. The phone finally went to voicemail, "Uh hey dad." His voice quivered, "Um.. Hi. Just wanted to let you know that, uh, Lydia and I are at the hospital. Um. They uh they just took her in for tests and stuff. She was in a lot of pain and there- there was so much blood dad. But I-I don't think things are looking good for the baby-" his demeanor cracked, and tears started flowing. "Dad I don't know what to do, an-and I can't help her." He paused to try and recompose himself, but failed. "I just-I- dad, I'm scared." He took another breath. "But uh. I'm going to go now. So. Don't worry, okay? Well. Not yet. Okay, okay. Bye. Love you." He hung up and blinked the tears from his eyes.
He looked down and realized he had blood on his arm from carrying Lydia. He went to the bathroom and washed his hands and arm. He ran his hands over his face. His jaw trembled as he tried not to cry. "Everything's going to be fine." He said to himself. "It's fine. She's fine. The baby is fine." He whispered. He looked himself in the mirror, and rubbed his eyes before walking out and sitting in the waiting room. He tried reading the magazines, and playing games on his phone, but he couldn't focus on anything. He ended up just sitting and jittering in his seat.
He glanced at the time on his phone, it was just after 4, he had only been sitting there for under 30 minutes.
"Stiles." He whipped his head up at the sound of his name and jumped up.
"Yeah." He said walking up to the doctor.
"My name is Dr. Dufour, we're doing the ultrasound soon, could you come with me?" She asked.
"Yeah." Stiles said, following her through the maze of hallways. Dr. Dufour finally stopped at a door, opening it for Stiles. A numbing wave of shock rushed over him when he saw Lydia. She was practically as white as the pillow she was resting on, her eyes were red and puffy, and she was hooked up to several different monitors and fluids.
"Hi." She said in a quiet voice, devoid of emotion.
"Hi." He walked over to her, and kissed her forehead, cheeks, and nose. "I love you." He whispered.
"Alright, we're going to start the ultrasound." The doctor interrupted. Lydia and Stiles nodded in unison. Dr. Dufour put the gel on Lydia's stomach, and began. Stiles and Lydia watched her face intently for any sign of hope. Dr. Dufour sighed, and turned the monitor around, Lydia and Stiles could see the baby moving slightly, and watched it's heart beat, still alive. Lydia cried as soon as she saw the monitor, and Stiles let out a sigh of relief. "We're gonna keep you here though, your blood is being tested, you mentioned flu symptoms, so we'll look at that. Best result, you'll be on strict bed rest for the remainder of your pregnancy. But we still need to prepare for the worst, okay?" Dr. Dufour said.
"Okay." Lydia answered. "And how are you doing with the pain?" She asked. "The morphine is working."
"Good. Let's get you in a room so you can rest."
As soon as Lydia was settled in her room, Stiles left voicemails on their parents' phones, letting them know what was happening. When he got back to the room, Lydia was already asleep. She still looked scarily white, but, the doctors seemed to think things would be fine, so Stiles kissed her on the forehead and went to sleep on the couch.
It felt like he had just fallen asleep when he woke up again. He looked around confused, trying to figure out what had woken him. He faintly heard Lydia say his name, and immediately he fell off the couch and was at her bed side. "Hey babe, what's wrong?" As soon as he put his hand near her he could feel the heat radiating off of her. He put his hand on her forehead, a sickening pang hit his stomach. He had never felt such a high temperature, and yet, Lydia was shivering under the thin blanket.
"Can you get the doctor?" She asked. Without saying anything, Stiles ran out the door and called for help.
A nurse came running from around the corner, passing Stiles, into the room. "She's burning up." Stiles said, following the nurse.
She took out a fancy thermometer and rolled it across Lydia's forehead. "103.6..." The nurse trailed off, looking up at the monitor tracking Lydia's heartbeat. "And tachycardia." She said to herself, picking up Lydia's chart and writing something down.
"Wha-what does that mean?" Stiles asked.
"It just means the heart is beating faster than it should be." She replied. "Isn't that bad?" Stiles asked.
"Well, it's not good, but it doesn't necessarily mean something life threatening." She answered walking out of the room.
Stiles pulled a chair up to the side of the bed, he took Lydia's hand in his, and helplessly waited for the nurse to return.
Soon the nurse was back with Defour. "Hi Lydia, how do you feel?" She asked, grabbing the chart, looking it over.
"Good." Lydia mumbled.
"I need you to be 100 percent honest with me, okay? How do you feel?"
"Not good." She answered.
"I can see that." She said sympathetically. "Your tests aren't back yet, but, obviously whatever is happening is happening very quickly. I hate to say it, but, I think we're looking at the very real possibility that we're going to have to induce labour today-" Lydia shook her head, protesting the thought of that. "I know it's hard. But, if your fever gets worse, and your heart rate continues at the pace it's going, your chances of living through the day are slim. So, we're going to watch you very closely for the next hour. If your fever continues to climb, we're going to have to induce you. Okay? As much as you love and want this baby, you are my patient, and you are my main concern."Lydia nodded silently, tears rolling down her cheeks. Stiles placed his hand on Lydia's back, trying to comfort her, but not knowing what to do. "We're going to do everything we can, okay? A nurse will bring you some more blankets. We're probably going to be in and out of here every 15 minutes to check on you, but try and sleep." Dr. Dufour said leaving the room.
Neither Stiles, nor Lydia spoke for a long time. The only sound was Lydia's ragged breaths. Neither knew what to say, or how to articulate the feeling of their worlds crashing down.
Stiles finally broke the silence. "I'm going to call our parents again. If they answer, do you want them to come down here? Do you want your mom?" He asked concerned.
Lydia shook her head, "She's in Cancun, remember?"
"Do you want my dad to come?"
She shook her head again. "Not right now."
"Okay."
"But, later?" She offered.
"Okay. Can I let Scott and Kira know?"
"Don't call them now, I don't want them to be worrying all day."
"Lydia, but-but, you-"
"Please. I don't want to worry anyone." She said weakly.
"Okay." Stiles sighed, as he leaned down and kissed her burning forehead, and tucked the blankets up around her. "I'll just be outside, 'kay?" Lydia nodded, her eyes fluttering closed. "Love you." He said, kissing her head once more.
He walked out of the room, and closed the door behind him. He only took a few steps before the realization of what was happening hit him. His breathing sped up, inhaling and exhaling sharply. He slid down the wall, bawling into his hands. He didn't care who saw him. They were most likely going to lose their child today, and the thought of losing Lydia was to painful to even think about. It was hard enough seeing her so sick, and there was nothing he could do. He continued to cry for the next few minutes. He wanted to go sit with her, but, he didn't want to cry in front of her, he needed to be strong. His breathing slowly evened out, and he rose from the floor.
He took out his phone and called Lydia's mom. "Hey Ms. Martin. It's Stiles yet again. Things aren't looking too good, Lyd has a really high fever and, they'll probably have to induce labour. Um, so things aren't going great. I'll keep you posted." He hung up, dialed his dad's number, and waited for the voicemail.
"Stiles?" Stiles jumped at the sound of his name coming through the phone.
"Why are you calling so early?" His dad asked. "It's almost five AM."
"Dad-" His voice broke as all the fear built up again.
"What is it? What's wrong?" The Sheriff asked immediately, concerned.
"We're at the hospital right now, we-we're probably going to lose the baby, and Lydia isn't doing well an-and-" His sobs cut him off.
"Stiles, what hospital are you at?"
Stiles took a moment to calm down before answering "Stanford Medical Center, but dad, she doesn't want anyone here right now."
"Stiles, even if I leave now, I won't get there until around 8."
"I don't know why she doesn't want anyone here."
"She's just scared. She's just scared, Stiles. Does Lydia's mom need a ride? I could pick her up and we could-"
"Nah, she's on vacation."
"It's gonna be okay son."
Stiles shook his head, "How? How will this be okay?" He asked, disbelieving.
"Stiles, bad things happen. But they are growing experiences. You guys will get through this. It will always hurt, but it will get better, okay, son? We turned out fine, even though I didn't know how I was going to raise you without your mother. We did it. We worked together, and you and Lydia will too. Anyway, I'll be leaving in 30 minutes. I gotta swing by the station and leave some instructions. I love you, son. I'll be there soon, okay?"
"Love you too dad." He said hanging up the phone.
When he got back to the room, he saw a blanket and pillow on the couch for him. Lydia was already asleep, and him sitting around worrying wasn't going to help anyone, so he gladly made a bed for himself on the couch.
He woke up to the sound of Lydia retching. He threw the blanket off himself and ran to her side. She hadn't made it into the bed pan, her skin was glistening with sweat, and tears were falling from her eyes. "Lydia. Honey." He pressed the panic button for the room.
"I don't want to lose the baby." She cried weakly, struggling to keep her eyes open. Stiles lip trembled and the tears that had been welling up fell as he blinked. "I know." He whispered. The nurse finally came in, and took Lydia's temperature.
"104.4. I'm going to get the doctor." She said running out.
Stiles closed his eyes, and tightened his grip on Lydia's hand. "Stiles?" Lydia asked, almost inaudibly.
"Yeah, baby?"
"I'm scared." She said weakly.
"I know I know. I am too. But it'll be okay."
Soon, the nurse was back, with Dr. Dufour. "And what did you say her temp was 10 minutes ago?"
"104.2"
"Why didn't you get me then."
"I was on my way, but, Mrs. Greenburg was ready for her epidural and-"
"We have other nurses for a reason." She said, cutting the nurse off, "Okay," she said, speaking to Lydia. "I'm hoping this is your fever breaking, but, we have no choice, we have to induce now, we finally got your scans back, and your amniotic fluid is dangerously low." Lydia nodded, exhausted, unable to protest anymore. "Do you want an epidural?" Dufour asked.
Lydia shook her head.
"Honey, are you sure?" Stiles asked.
Lydia nodded.
"Okay, we're going to give you a Pitocin drip, which will start labour." The doctor said nodding towards the nurse. "You'll probably be ready to deliver in about an hour, okay?"
Lydia nodded silently, tears streaming down her face.
"You just need to hold on a little longer." The doctor said, standing up to leave.
Stiles got up and followed her out the door.
"Hey, uh, is she gonna be okay?"
"Her tests should be in anytime now, all evidence points to a bacterial infection, but we just need to confirm it before we can treat her."
Stiles nodded, and walked back into the room. He sat on the couch, watching Lydia. She looked weaker each time he looked at her.
"Stiles?"
"Yeah?" He asked, getting up and walking up to her.
"Come here."
"I am here, Lydia." He said, worried that she was getting delusional.
"No, here." She said, patting the bed.
"There isn't enough room, and, I don't want to hurt you on accident."
Lydia scooted to the very edge, leaning against the bed rail.
"Please?" She asked.
Stiles obliged and carefully laid on his side next to her. He kissed her temple and she leaned her head on his, then reached for his hand, resting it on her stomach. "He's kicking right here." She said quietly, moving his hand.
"He?" Stiles asked.
Lydia just nodded. "Can you feel him?" She asked.
"Yeah." He answered, feeling the tiny foot pressing against his hand.
"What do you want to name him?" Lydia asked.
"Lydia, he's not gonna ma-"
"He still needs a name." She argued, with tears in her eyes.
"Okay." He said. "What about Jack?"
"It's too close to Jackson."
"How about, James? After your grandpa." Stiles offered.
"James Stilinski." Lydia said softly, holding her stomach. She leaned into Stiles' shoulder, and couldn't stop the tears from flowing. "I'm not ready." She sobbed. Stiles wished there was something he could say to comfort her, but he was feeling just as lost. He wrapped his arms around her and they cried together.
Okay. Well, that was terrible. Seriously. I hated writing it, and it wasn't originally going to go in that direction at all. And the medical stuff is... made up? It was hard to research.
So, I'm sorry. I'll post the second part soon, and I already have a small happy one written, so, look forward to that.
I'm sorry.