Warning! This chapter is going to be emotional, on very many levels.
Emotions and Feelings Equal Disaster
Dick sat on the bed thinking about everything that had happened in the past three hours. Three hours ago he was hearing his baby's heartbeat and seeing a picture of his baby. And now after being shot in the shoulder because of the crazy son of a bitch Lawrence Crock, Dick was no longer a father. After getting in the ambulance Artemis had gotten a sharp pain in the middle of her stomach making her double over in pain. Seconds later blood began running down her leg. Dick didn't know much about pregnancy but he knew that wasn't a good sign, once they got to the hospital Dick demanded that Artemis be checked out, doctors rushed her for an ultra sound where the heartbeat of their baby could no longer be heard. The doctors said that the stress of being in the middle of the gun fire and watching Dick get shot was too much for the baby. Dick had refused to leave Artemis' side, holding her in his arms even though his shoulder was throbbing and blood continued to flow out of the opened wound. It wasn't until Zatanna showed up and swore that she would watch over Artemis that Dick finally agreed to getting his shoulder stitched up.
"Alright Mr. Grayson your free to go, you'll want to keep the bandages on for the next couple of days, changing them every morning. I'll schedule you for an appointment in two weeks to have the stitches removed. Just try to take it easy so you don't rip it open again" the doctor said taking her gloves off and throwing them away.
Dick nodded his head as he carefully pulled his shirt over his head "Thank you" he said getting off the bed and leaving the room. Slipping his jacket on he turned to his left to see Bruce leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
"The hospital called told me what happened, I'm so sorry Dick" Bruce said softly.
Dick shook his head leaning against the wall and sliding down until he sat on the floor "I had never been so scared and excited in my life. I know it wasn't the ideal situation and that we haven't known each other very long but I was so excited. I was going to be a father, I was going to have a family again one that was actual blood. I know that you, Silena, Tim, Damian, Jason and Alfred are my family in every way that counts but I was going to have someone that was half me. And I really do care about Artemis, I truly do. I just, I don't know what to do Bruce" Dick said looking up at his father with tears running down his face.
Bruce sat down on the floor next to him wrapping his arm around his shoulder and pulling him into a hug "I'm sorry Dick neither do I, but I want you to know that Silena and I are always here for you, and were going to be here for Artmeis as well" Bruce said gently.
Dick didn't say anything except openly cry into his father's chest for the baby that no longer existed.
Line Break
Looking inside the little window Dick saw that Artemis had fallen asleep and Zatanna kept her word staying with her the entire time. Quietly opening the door Dick stepped inside.
"How's she doing?" Dick asked quietly moving to sit in the chair on the opposite side of the bed.
Zatanna sighed "She's devastated, blames herself, mostly blames her father though. She had the doctors do a D&E, she didn't think she'd be able to wait it out until everything happened on its own. They gave her some medication to help her sleep. How are you holding up?" Zatanna asked looking up at him as he moved some stray hair out of Artemis' face.
"I'm barley holding up. I never thought this would happen; I never should have let this happen, when I learned about the hit her father set on me I should have stayed away until it was taken care of. I put her and our baby in this situation. This is my fault" Dick said his eyes never leaving Artemis' face.
"This isn't your fault; the only person to blame is her crazy father. He's the reason for all of this" Zatanna said softly.
Dick closed his eyes "I know that, but I have to accept that I'm partly to blame for this as well. When the doctors release her I need you to go home with her, stay with her, make sure she's okay".
Zatanna frowned "What do you mean? Aren't you going to be taking her home?"
Dick shook his head "No, I need to make sure Lawrence is ended. I need to make sure he pays for what he did to his daughter and unborn grandchild" he said standing up from the chair. Bending down Dick lightly kissed Artemis on the forehead "Take care of her for me, please" Dick said looking at Zatanna.
Zatanna nodded her head "I will, I promise. Just be careful okay".
Dick smiled sadly "I'll try. Thank you Zatanna" he said before leaving the hospital room.
Line Break
"I want this ended, and I want it ended now Harper. Tell me your wife has something we can use to put him away for life" Dick said as he Wally, and Roy stood in one of the interrogation rooms at the police station.
"Right before you got here I got a message from Jade, she's got the evidence we need. Between her evidence and the gunman that shot you earlier rolling over on Crock, he'll be put away for life. Jason sent a message to Wally, there's a shipment coming in at midnight tomorrow, Crock will be there personally to make sure it comes in safely, along with Talia, Jade and Jason. We have to take him then" Roy said.
"Good, we'll sneak up on him from every angle. Anything that we can use against Ra's?" Dick asked.
Roy shook his head "No, he's proving to be much harder to get any evidence on, it almost looks like Crock is running the whole show on his own. Jade said she hasn't seen him at all in the past three weeks, and Crock hasn't mentioned him at all".
"If we can take down Crock, Ra's entire drug cartel will cease to exist, and it will only be worse for their cartel if we can manage to get Talia as well" Wally said.
"Which is why everything has to go smoothly tonight, there can't be any slip ups. Everything needs to be a clean take down" Roy said looking at Dick.
Dick glared at him "I know that Harper, and it will. You don't have to worry about anything". Dick said before opening the door and leaving the room.
Leaning against his locker Dick pulled out his phone, he had one missed call from Silena, five text's from Tim, and two missed calls from Artemis, along with a voicemail. Pressing play Dick held the phone to his ear "Hey Dick its Artemis, the doctors released me I'm on my way home with Zatanna now. I was hoping you'd be the one to take me home, but Zee told me what you said and what you were doing. I don't blame you for what happened, and neither should you. I know you're going after my father with even more passion now, but I want you to be careful Dick, please just be careful. I… be careful please. Call me back please".
Closing his eyes Dick put his phone back in his pocket where he felt something he had completely forgotten about. Pulling it out he saw it was the ultrasound picture of the baby. Tears welling in his eyes Dick dropped the picture punching the locker repeatedly until Wally ran into the room grabbing his shoulder and stopping him.
"What the hell are you doing?" Wally yelled at him.
Dick didn't say anything as he slid down the lockers, resting his head on his knees he picked up the picture, handing it to Wally.
Frowning Wally took the picture not realizing what it was at first "She's pregnant?" Wally asked shocked.
"Was. On the way to the hospital she had a miscarriage; the doctors said it was too much stress on the baby after being shot at, and then Artemis seeing me getting shot. There's no more baby" Dick said roughly his voice thick of emotion.
Wally didn't say anything except sit down next to his best friend and hug him in his time of grief.
Line Break
Artemis sat on the couch with her knees up to her chest and favorite blanket wrapped around her body as she stared blankly at the TV.
"I'm going out to pick up the Chinese food, you going to be alright?" Zatanna asked from the front door.
Artemis nodded her head "I'll be fine Zee".
"Okay I'll be back in half an hour" Zatanna said leaving the apartment.
Once the door closed Artemis once again blankly focused on the TV in front in her, occasionally checking her phone to see if Dick had called or text. After ten minutes of staring at the TV and nothing from Dick, Artemis stood up carefully moving towards the bathroom. The doctors told her she'd be sore for a couple days after the procedure and her stomach would eventually go back to being flat instead of slightly rounded. That was the worst part of the whole thing, the slightly rounded belly made her realize what she was missing every time she went to look or touch it. Hands tightly gripping the sink Artemis looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was up in a messy bun, her eyes had dark circles underneath them already and the whites of her eyes were blood shot from all the crying. She never thought of having kids, it was always her career first but when she found out she was pregnant she had never been so scared and excited in her life. Even though she wasn't very far along she had grown to love the baby that used to be growing inside of her, looking forward to the day that she would get to meet him or her. But now because of her father that day would never happen.
Anger building up inside of her Artemis once again looked at her reflection before pulling her fist back and punching the glass, causing it to shatter into pieces all around her. Breathing heavily Artemis grabbed the towel on the rack and wrapped it around her bloody knuckles, deciding it would be better to clean it in the kitchen.
Artemis had just finished cleaning her hand and wrapping it in bandages when Zatanna walked in with the food.
"Hey I stopped and rented us a movie" Zatanna said as she shut the door behind her and walking into the kitchen setting the food on the counter where she noticed the bloody towel and first aid kit. "Artemis what happened?" Zatanna asked softly looking into her best friends red swollen eyes.
"There was a miss-hap with the mirror" Artemis tried to say jokingly, but it came out cracked and broken. "I….I don't know what to do Zee" Artemis said finally releasing the tears.
Zatanna immediately pulled her best friend into her arms "I know sweetie, but I promise you it'll get better. I'm so sorry sweetie" Zatanna said as her own tears fell down her face.
I know this is a sad horrible chapter, and I apologize for that. Trust me writing this was horrible for me, I've personally been through a miscarriage before and it's awful. I promise the story will get better and happier, and that Sportsmaster will be taken down like he deserves. There will be a happy ending and soon, I promise. I wanted this story to have a different type of style to it, instead of going straight to the happy ending I wanted to see them go through a tragic horrible event that would ultimately bring them together. I hope you guys like it, please read and review.