So I managed to finish this chapter today. Thanks to everyone who reads and comments. I hope to update on Saturday or Sunday. Have a great weekend.
"Baby A is completely healthy. Growing much better than expected given your condition. "
"And ... the other baby?" Sheldon asked, already imagining the answer.
"I can't find baby B."
"Did I lose ... did I lose the baby?" Asked Amy. She looked pleadingly at the doctor, waiting for him to tell her that he needed a few more seconds to find the baby and that he was as healthy as the other baby.
Mont's gaze darkened "Amy... "
"No, no, no," she began to repeat over and over again. She tried to get up but Sheldon held her tightly by the shoulders.
"Amy, you need to calm down," Sheldon asked trying to stay calm. He felt his heart hammering against his chest. As if his heart threatened to explode. But he didn't matter now. He had to be strong, stronger than he had ever been, in order to support his wife.
"How can you ask me to calm down after what you just heard?" She yelled. "I knew that for a long time you didn't care about anyone but yourself, but I thought you would at least care about your children."
"Don't ... say that" It hurt him that Amy thought that about him and it hurt even more to see her suffer and not be able to do anything "I love our... " he inhaled deeply before correcting himself "Our child and it's in the baby that we have left in whom you should think. "
Amy's angry expression changed to one of concern and her eyes filled with tears at the thought the baby she just had lost… and the baby she was still waiting for.
"Why did this happen?" she asked to the doctor. Her lip trembled as she spoke "I did… I did everything you asked of me. I… I made no effort. I was resting all the time and… Amy's sobs grew louder.
"What's wrong? " Sheldon looked fearfully at his wife who seemed to be having difficulty breathing "Do something! " he yelled at Mont who signaled to a nurse who came over to the exam bed where Amy was sitting.
"She's having a panic attack," the doctor explained. "This sedative will help her calm down and keep her asleep for a couple of hours." She saw Sheldon with the intention of protesting what she added. "It won't cause any harm to the baby."
A few minutes later they had moved Amy to a gurney to take her to another room where she could stay until she woke up.
"This is all my fault," Sheldon exclaimed, putting his hands to his face to cover his eyes. He felt that his legs would give him away at any moment, but Dr. Mont had been watching him so he helped him up and led him to a chair.
"Sheldon, this is not your fault ... "
"Of course it is!" He yelled, though he quickly regretted it. Sheldon turned to see his wife, but she does not flinch and continues to sleep under the effects of the sedative "If I had not accused Amy of being unfaithful, she would not have had to drive from our friends' house to work. She would not have had the accident and our children would be in perfect state."
Mont was surprised to hear that. He had been observing them the days they were in the hospital and when they came to medical appointments and imagined that something had happened between the couple before the accident, although he did not dare to interfere in their relationship, but he could tell that despite everything they loved each other and he wished this would not make his marriage worse.
"What happened to baby B was not caused by the accident," the doctor assured him. "Even if Amy hadn't crashed, she was probably still going to lose one of her babies."
"How can you be so sure of that? I know miscarriages are common, but ... "
"Amy didn't have an abortion. "
"What the hell are you talking about?" Sheldon's head was spinning and he couldn't understand what the man in front of him was trying to tell him. "You said you couldn't find the baby."
"Exactly" confirmed the doctor. Sheldon felt even more confused "If Amy had had an abortion, she would have bled even more when the baby was expelled from her body or ... "
"Does that mean that the baby continues inside ...? "
"No, remember I told you that there was no sign of baby B in Amy's womb."
"What are you trying to tell me?" he asked, "That the baby just vanished inside my wife's womb?"
"It's exactly what I say. "
"What kind of stupid thing is that? " Sheldon stood up and walked away from the doctor "Surely you say it to ... "
"I'm saying it because it's the truth," Mont answered without caring about Sheldon's defensive attitude. Given everything he was experiencing it was completely understandable. "Amy experienced what is known as the vanishing twin syndrome. "
"Vanishing twin? What does that mean? "
"It means that one of the babies can be absorbed by the mother, the placenta or even the other baby. "
"I've never heard of that" he frowned "It must be an invention for ... "
"I like you, Sheldon" said the man seriously "But I would never invent a disease or medical situation to make a patient or his family feel better."
"I'm sorry," he apologized somewhat embarrassed.
"The vanishing twin syndrome is more common than you think. It is estimated that 30% percent of pregnancies had initially been twins, but one of the embryos was absorbed and since it is something that happens before the first ultrasound is done, it is very difficult to know for sure. "
"Why it happened? "
-The causes for which the syndrome occurs are unknown, but according to the evidence collected to date it would be the chromosomal abnormalities produced from the beginning of the embryo's development, and not a sudden event, in this case the accident Amy had, which caused one of the babies vanished.
Sheldon nodded not knowing what else to say. He heard that Dr. Mont said something else but he did not understand. A second later the doctor left the room.
He pulled the chair up to next to Amy's bed and took her hand in his. He couldn't help but remember a day when he was around 11 years old. He had entered the room of his parents and found her mother crying, he asked her if she was okay and she assured him that she was while her father took her hand. He left her room without wondering what was the reason for her crying and he had never thought about it ...
Until a few days ago when his mother spoke with him about his situation with Amy, and confessed the reason for her crying on that occasion. She had been pregnant and had lost the baby. She never talked about the baby with him or with his siblings but she confessed that she still thought about the baby every day.
Sheldon felt strange to discover that he may have had another brother. But he didn't understand why his mother had decided to tell him about it after all those years. She simply explained that what kept her going was George's unconditional support.
He now understood why his mother had told him that. She couldn't know what would happen but she was trying to prepare him in case the same thing happened with any of his children.
He had never believed that he would love anyone but his family, then he met Leonard and the others and inadvertently they became part of his family ... And then there was Amy. That woman turned his world upside down and now he was thinking of a baby he would never meet. He could never see his innocent face or hold the baby in his arms, but he knew that he would miss the baby to the last of his days.
Despite knowing that it wasn't his fault, he still felt like it was. And he was sure Amy would think the same. The little love from Amy that he had regained since they started living together in the new house would disappear when she woke up.
"I'm sorry, Amy." Tears began to drain from Sheldon's eyes as he stroked his wife's hand. "I…" He looked up when he heard the door open.
"Excuse me Mr. Cooper" Sheldon wiped away tears when he saw the nurse "But his sister is in the waiting room and she looks very worried about you and your wife."
"My sister?" Sheldon asked confused. Had Missy flown from Texas without telling him?
"Yes, your sister Penny says that she was calling you for hours but you did not answer the calls" upon hearing that, Sheldon stood up and touched his pants pockets. He didn't have his phone with him "I told her she couldn't come in since visiting hours ended, but she… "the woman made a face and he imagined that Penny had yelled at her" She insisted on coming so I said I'd come to talk with you. They are waiting for you in the waiting room.
"Thank you very much" Sheldon looked doubtfully towards where Amy was still asleep.
"His wife must still take a little longer to wake up," the nurse told him, noticing his indecision to separate, even if it were a few minutes from her wife.
"Why the hell weren't you answering the phone?" Penny scolded him when he appeared in the waiting room. "Do you know how worried we were for you?
"I don't know where my phone is," he said. "How did you know we were here?"
"Bert was at the party and he heard you yell at President Siebert that something had happened to Amy. He called us to let us know and we've been looking for them ever since" explained Leonard. He looked at his wife before asking, "Is everything okay with Amy and the babies?"
Instead of answering, Sheldon looked down at the ground. A tear slid down his cheek.
"Oh, honey" Penny covered her mouth with one hand while with the other she caressed her belly protectively "What… what happened? "
Sheldon told them everything that happened since Amy saw the drops of blood on her underwear until a few minutes ago.
"The doctor is right, Sheldon. This is not your fault" Leonard said putting a hand on his shoulder.
"But Amy ... "
"Amy is a smart woman and she won't blame you for it," Penny told him to comfort him. "She's going to need you."
"She also will need you. "
"And rest assured that we will be there for her ... and for you. "
"I must go back to Amy," Sheldon said, standing up after a few minutes of talking with his friends. Talking to them had really helped him. He still felt emptiness in his chest, but at least now he felt strong enough to go back to her wife's side and not fall apart the second he saw her cry.
"We will be here for anything you need," Leonard informed him. Sheldon nodded before heading to the room where his wife was.
Sheldon thought he would find the room empty except for his wife who was probably still asleep, but he was wrong. She was awake and was listening to Dr. Mont.
When Amy looked at him he stopped suddenly not knowing what to do. He didn't know if he would approach her and take her hand while they both listened to the doctor or stay as far away from her as possible.
"Come here, Sheldon," she held out her hand for her husband to take. He seemed a bit surprised but he took a couple of steps forward and took her hand in his "Samuel was explaining to me what happened to… the baby. "
"Amy, I... "
"It's not your fault, Sheldon" her husband wanted to protest but from the corner of his eye he caught sight of Dr. Mont shaking his head, so he decided to keep quiet.
"I was just finishing telling Amy that we'll keep her under observation for a couple more hours, just in case," he added.
"Are you sure?" Sheldon asked.
"Yes. Although Amy will have to return in three weeks to monitor the… growth of the baby. "
Amy squeezed her hand when she heard that and Sheldon knew she was thinking the same thing as him. She was afraid of what they might say to her in three weeks. Although they would return home that day, Amy was not thrilled by the idea.
When she woke up that morning, she didn't imagine that she would end up in the hospital, much less that she would come home with only one baby in her womb.
She understood that there was nothing in the world that she could have done to avoid losing one of the babies, but that did not mean that her heart was not tearing inside with every second that passed. And she was terrified of coming back in three weeks and hearing that she had lost the other baby.