Chapter 10

AN: Hi folks, bit slower with updates for this as I have destroyed my hard drive and it now needs to be replaced. Fortunately I managed to rescue the story. Here is chapter 10 and the bit that several reviewers asked for. I hope it doesn't upset anyone too much but is obviously dealing with a miscarriage storyline.

Elizabeth took hold of Henry's hand as they followed the nurse down the corridor to the post-surgical room that Stevie had been moved to. Elizabeth really didn't like hospitals but in particular she didn't like feeling out of control in regards to her children. She thought of the last time one of them had been hospitalised overnight. Allison had broken her arm at a soccer game. It had been a nasty break and the doctors had wanted to monitor her. Elizabeth had paced a hole in the floor and had chewed out anyone who'd tried to keep her from her little girl. Now at least with the job she had she was getting in to see Stevie as quickly as was safely allowed.

The nurse pushed open the door and showed them to the side of Stevie's bed.

Elizabeth gasped. She hadn't really known what to expect. The last time they'd faced this issue she'd been the one in the bed and hadn't realised what she'd looked like. She felt Henry squeeze her hand but she wasn't sure whether it was to lend support or because he was in need of support himself. Most likely both. But she couldn't look away from her daughter, who looked so small and pale. Stevie was breathing by herself but was hooked up to several monitors and all Elizabeth wanted to do was to grab her and take her away from all her problems. It was irrational, and Elizabeth knew that, but her need to protect her baby was overwhelming.

Henry took Stevie's hand in his and wiped a stray piece of hair from her face. He was glad she was still alive because there'd been a point when he'd been holding her on the bed in the barracks when he hadn't been sure if she'd manage to get through this. He started whispering to her. "Hey, baby girl, you need to wake up. Your mom and I are both here and we need to see your beautiful eyes."

He was interrupted by the nurse they'd both forgotten was there. "We expect your daughter to wake soon, Sir. It's possible she'll be very upset, which is natural, so if you feel she needs a sedative or any other help, please just press the button above her bed." The nurse nodded and smiled briefly at them then turned to leave her patient with her parents.

Henry pulled a chair over to the bed so Elizabeth could sit down, glancing at the monitors next to the bed as he did so. He then moved a chair to the far side of the bed and sat down. They both picked up one of Stevie's hands and their spare hands inevitably found each other's across Stevie's body. Elizabeth started rubbing her fingers across Stevie's knuckles, encouraging her to wake up.

They were silent for a few minutes, listening to her breathing and the monitors beating with her heartbeat.

Henry looked over at Elizabeth. "I thought we'd lost her," he said quietly, clearly upset. "There was so much blood."

Elizabeth looked straight at him and squeezed his hand. "But we didn't. She's right here."

Henry blinked back tears. "I know, I just… I thought the worst I could ever feel was if I lost you, and waiting to hear about Iran nearly killed me, but this… she's a part of me and you and she could've gone. I've never felt like that, ever."

Elizabeth started to cry. She felt exactly the same. When they'd finally had Stevie it had seemed like a miracle. She was a part of both of them and had come after her first failed pregnancy. But Henry had a much closer relationship with Stevie than she'd ever had with her. Henry really was the Stevie Whisperer.

"Do you remember when this happened to us?" Henry asked quietly.

Elizabeth looked at him incredulously.

"Sorry, stupid question. We just don't talk about it a lot and I wondered…"

"I always found it easier not to think about it. When I had the ectopic pregnancy, I reasoned it'd been necessary to save me. But when I had the miscarriage, I hated the fact that my body had ended the life of my baby."

"Elizabeth, it wasn't your body's fault. It just happened."

"I know… The one I do think about, though, is the one between the girls. I was so excited to be having another baby. I wonder… I wish… maybe it's better that we didn't find out the sex but sometimes I so badly want to picture the baby and I can't.

"I dream about it a lot," Henry said quietly. "Less now, I suppose, now that the kids are grown up, but in the past I've dreamed that we had four kids, not three. You know the mind's a strange thing because in every dream I've had I don't think the fourth child has ever looked the same or had the same name."

"We kinda made an unconscious decision to put it behind us, didn't we? Do you think it was right to do that?"

Henry looked over at her. "Babe, everyone deals with these things in their own way. For us, we had a little girl whom we loved, then we were lucky enough to have another little girl, and we chose to focus on them, rather than the ones we'd lost. That's not to say that people who think about the children they've lost are wrong but it also doesn't mean that we were wrong, either."

"I did think about them," Elizabeth said quietly, almost whispering.

"I know, honey."

Elizabeth looked down at her daughter. "What do we do about Stevie?"

Henry sighed and thought about the question. "You know when you were in surgery when you had the ectopic pregnancy, there was a really nice nurse..."

"'Cute' nice or 'nice' nice?" Elizabeth jumped in, and they both smiled.

"About twice my age and 'plump' nice," Henry scolded her gently. "Anyway, she sat with me for a time when you were away and told me that there were two options in this scenario. One, the pregnancy goes too far and either the mother dies or she can't have any more kids, or two, the foetus is in the wrong place and unfortunately dies. In neither option would the baby live. But I had to make a decision. Either we lost our baby, or I lost you both. I made a choice that day and I prayed that you'd live and could still have children. And I've never regretted that choice. Stevie's going to be devastated but she's alive and the doctor believes she can still have children. I'll never regret praying the same prayer today as I did 23 years ago."

"You never told me that before. That was why you were so fantastic when I got out of hospital, wasn't it?"

"You needed to know that I didn't blame you and that I was so grateful you were still with me. Both of those thoughts meant that I could take care of you like you needed me to."

"Do you think Harrison will be the same?"

"I'm not sure. He seemed to have a lot pegged on Stevie and the baby being a new start. I hope he can accept that this has happened but, if he doesn't, she'll be our priority, like the kids have always been."

"Agreed."

Elizabeth kept stroking Stevie's hand and, letting go of Henry's hand, began rubbing Stevie's forehead like they'd both done when Stevie was little. After what seemed like hours, but was only 30 minutes or so, Stevie began to come around.

"Mom…?" Stevie whispered as she tried to open her eyes and focus on the room around her, trying to work out where she was.

"Yes, baby, your dad and I are both here."

Stevie grimaced. "Pain…" she mumbled as she looked at her mother.

Henry sat up straighter, squeezing Stevie's hand gently to get her attention. "Where does it hurt, honey?" he asked, getting ready to press the button above her bed.

"Baby..." Stevie barely managed to whisper, "What happened?"

Elizabeth gently rubbed Stevie's cheek. "Honey, I'm so sorry, but you had a miscarriage."

Stevie started sobbing. "I lost it?"

"You had an ectopic pregnancy. The baby was in the wrong place and it couldn't get any bigger there," Elizabeth tried to explain without using the words that had been said to her, 'Your body got rid of the foetus.' She'd taken a long time to get over that guilt and wouldn't put that sort of guilt on her daughter. She didn't want her to have the added suffering that she'd had.

"Am I okay?" Stevie asked in between quiet sobs, her mind quite befuddled by the events of the night.

"Yes, sweetie," Henry replied. The doctor says you'll be fine, sore for a bit, but you should make a full recovery."

"Are you happy about this?" Stevie asked belligerently, always willing to try and push her parents.

"Oh, Stevie, no. Your dad and I know exactly how this feels. You see, it happened to us, too. I know you're upset and scared but we love you and, once you're feeling ready to talk, we'll tell you everything about what happened to us and why this isn't your fault. We could never be happy that you've had to experience this."

Stevie started to really cry and Elizabeth gently got onto the bed and lay beside her, hugging her close and hoping to take some of Stevie's pain away. She watched as Henry wiped his eyes before taking one of each of their hands in his.

"Sweetheart, we're going to be with you through all of this. You can count on that," Henry stated, trying the best he could to console his daughter.

Stevie took a breath, then a quick gasp as she realised her body was in pain.

Hearing the gasp and noticing the change in her breathing, Elizabeth looked up at Henry. "I think we should call the nurse to tell them Stevie's awake and to get her some pain medication."

Henry nodded and pressed the button.

Stevie looked up from her mother's arms. "Where's Harrison?"

AN: thanks for reading, as always it would be great to hear what you think. More will come, once I work out how to get chapters onto this server without my laptop. Thanks again for the support. Having tried to work with my beta unsuccessfully this afternoon this could take awhile but most of it is written and once I have a laptop back it should be updated regularly. So sorry, at least there isn't too much of a cliff-hanger, believe me you wouldn't have wanted up to chapter 12 then a break. Catygirl.