Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach. Don't really own this idea, actually. Do own Yukio Ryuichi (poor me)
Author's Note: I would like to apologize in advance for any sore spots this chapter may hit
Chapter 4 – Complications
Ichigo was torn. On the one hand, now that the shock had worn off he was thrilled. He was going to be a father! He was really going to be a father! Who wouldn't be happy about something like that? On the other hand though, he hated seeing what it was doing to Rukia.
It seemed as if lately she couldn't hold anything down. And it wasn't just morning sickness either; whenever she tried to eat something, even something small like a cracker, she always ended up throwing up about an hour later. She always seemed pale and tired, and she was losing weight. Ichigo was worried.
He thought about it as he lay in bed one night. It was past midnight, but he wasn't even remotely tired. It had been a week since they'd found out about Rukia being pregnant. Even though they had no clue whether it was going to be a boy or a girl, they were already talking about different names. Rukia was partial to Kaien for a boy. Ichigo wasn't sure why, but he wasn't going to ask.
Smiling, he reached over and wrapped his arms around Rukia's still-small body. She jerked involuntarily, but it was small movement, almost unnoticeable. Ichigo knew what it was. Even five years later, she still tended to jump, just a little, if she wasn't expecting the touch. He understood that, and he'd learned not to take it personally. She was like that with everyone, after all.
Thinking about this brought Ichigo's mind back to Yukio. That bastard was still out there somewhere. Ichigo had been careful not to watch the news around Rukia (he didn't want to scare her), so he had to wait until he was in the car to listen to it on the radio, or get up after Rukia was asleep and watch it then. But he'd learned enough. No one had any clue where Yukio was. It was as if he had simply disappeared off the face of the earth. But it was speculated that he was heading back to Karakura Town, the sight of his arrest. This news just made Ichigo even more nervous about leaving Rukia alone, but of course, she was only alone during the day. Yukio may have been a lot of things, but stupid wasn't one of them. He wouldn't attack her in broad daylight. Thinking like this made Ichigo feel a little better. A little. But not much.
A soft groaning noise from beside Ichigo jerked him back into reality, and he looked around. Rukia was stirring, though her eyes were still closed. Upon closer inspection, Ichigo saw that her face was twisted into a look of...fear? Ichigo wasn't sure. It was a look he didn't see very often on Rukia's face. Frowning, he shook her gently. She shivered under his touch, but didn't wake up. He wondered what she was dreaming about. It took a lot to scare Rukia.
"Hey," he shook her again, trying to wake her up. He didn't like to see her scared. "Rukia, wake up, come on..."
It took a couple of minutes, but finally she jerked awake, surprising Ichigo. He pulled away quickly, and the result was him falling off the bed, hitting his head against the side table. "Oh no," Rukia groaned, looking over the edge of the bed at him, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he rubbed his head as he sat up, "Nothing broken"
"Well, you have a hard head anyway," she shrugged as she laid back on her side. Ichigo, muttering under his breath, pulled himself back into bed, shuffling slightly so that he was closer to her.
"So what were you dreaming about?" he asked when he was comfortable again. He felt her body stiffen beside his.
"N-Nothing," Ichigo knew what 'nothing' translated into. Instead of pushing it, he rolled over so he was facing her, reached over, and wrapped one arm around her. She moved closer to him and rested her head against his chest.
"How do you feel?"
"Terrible," her eyes were closed again. Ichigo knew she just wanted to go back to sleep, so he kept quiet. Within minutes, her breathing evened out, and he knew she was asleep again. Smiling slightly, he rested his chin on top of her head. Maybe he couldn't protect her from the nightmares. But he could – and would – protect her from everything else.
Rukia awoke early the next morning. She was still shaking. It wasn't that she hadn't already accepted what had happened to her – that had been the easy part. But when the memories came back to her, and she wasn't expecting it...
Trying to push the thoughts out of her mind, Rukia rolled over to look at Ichigo. He was still fast asleep, his face devoid of it's usual scowl. Rukia allowed a small smile to play over her lips. He was so cute when he was asleep...
A wave of nausea rolled over Rukia. She darted out of bed (as always, she took the time to kick Ichigo's knee; why should she be the only one that suffered?), ran across the hall to the bathroom, collapsed in front of the toilet, and threw up. She wasn't sure why, considering she hadn't eaten anything since she'd last thrown up, which had been about noon the day before, but it didn't matter, in the long run.
She heard Ichigo shuffle in, as always, just as she was finishing. He kneeled down next to her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry," she whispered, leaning against the wall. Her pajamas felt incredibly big on her, which was saying something considering they were her size.
"For what?" Ichigo sounded surprised, "It's not your fault, idiot"
She found the strength to reach up and slap him. Rubbing his arm (she hadn't bothered with trying to find his head), he continued, "Come on. You should try and eat something-"
But she shook her head. "What? Rukia you have to eat"
Why bother, she wanted to say. No matter what she ate, she always ended up just throwing up again. That was how it had been for the past week.
"Rukia?"
"Please, Ichigo," she muttered, closing her eyes, "I just...want to go back to bed, okay? I'm tired, and you're always saying I should rest-"
He sighed, apparently recognizing his defeat, and scooped her into his arms. She didn't try and protest. She felt too miserable, and instead she just rested her head against his chest. "This isn't right, is it?" she muttered as he laid her down again, "I should be able to at least eat something, right?"
She didn't know anything about being pregnant, and she wasn't sure why she was asking Ichigo, considering he didn't know anything either. She was surprised when he said, "No. I don't think it is. But don't worry. It'll be okay"
Maybe that was why she had asked. Just to hear, "It'll be okay"
She curled up under the blankets and opened her eyes just enough so that she could see Ichigo. She almost wished she hadn't. If she hadn't, she wouldn't have seen his eyes as he said, "It'll be okay," because his eyes made it all too obvious; he was lying.
It was mid-day before Rukia even attempted to eat something. Ichigo had gone out and bought some soup. It wasn't even been an hour before she threw up again. "That's it," Ichigo said, worry clouding his features. "I'm calling my dad"
He didn't even give Rukia a chance to protest, but that was okay. Because she had absolutely no thoughts of protesting on her mind.
Ichigo sighed as he dialed, watching Rukia intently. She was curled up in the corner of the couch. Her face was as white as a sheet, and she was shivering.
"Hello, Kurosaki residence"
"Hey, Yuzu, is Dad busy?"
"Uh, I think he's with a patient...wait, she just left. Feel better!"
"Yuzu!"
"Oh, right. Why, is something wrong?"
Ichigo looked over at Rukia, who's head was resting on the arm of the couch. He said in a quiet voice, "I think there might be something wrong with the baby"
Yuzu gasped. "That's terrible!"
Ichigo heard Isshin saying on the other end, "What's terrible?"
"Can I bring her over?"
"Yes, of course," he heard some papers rustling, then Yuzu said, "Yeah, come over right away"
"All right," he hung up without another word, and looked over at Rukia again. She'd fallen asleep. Sighing, he grabbed her jacket. It may have been summertime, but she always seemed cold now.
Ichigo sighed and leaned his head against the wall. It had been about half an hour since he had brought Rukia to the clinic. He was in the waiting room doing just that; waiting. It was an annoyingly long wait. "I'm sure Rukia will be okay," Yuzu assured him with a smile. She and Karin had wanted to help Isshin, but he'd told them to keep their brother company. Which they were doing quite dutifully.
"Yeah," Ichigo muttered, "She'll be okay. The baby'll be okay. Everything'll be okay"
"You're being unusually positive," Karin observed.
"It's better than thinking about what might really happen," at that moment, Isshin walked out of the small room he'd been treating Rukia in. Ichigo jumped up. "Well?!"
He noticed how somber Isshin looked. "I hate to say it Ichigo, but..."
Ichigo gripped his fist tightly. "Is she going to lose the baby?"
"Chances are...yes," it felt as if someone had pulled the rug out from under his feet, "She's losing weight fast, and if she really can't keep any food down like you said...well, I just don't see how it'll be possible for the baby to survive"
Ichigo struggled against tears. Isshin, seeing his son's obvious distress, went on, trying to ease the pain. "I'd like her to stay overnight, just for some observations. Ichigo, I'm-"
"Can I go in and talk to her?"
"She fell asleep"
"Then can I just go see her?" Isshin nodded. Ichigo walked past his father into the room. As he went to close the door he heard Yuzu say, "Is she really going to lose the baby?"
He didn't wait for the answer, but just shut the door. He walked over to Rukia's bed. She looked so small, just laying there. Ichigo took her too pale hand into his own, once again fighting tears. He reached his other hand over and rested it on her stomach. He couldn't believe it. His little son or daughter was going to die before he or she was even born. It just didn't seem right. Please God, he begged silently, Please, don't let this baby die
Rukia was, understandably enough, devastated when Ichigo told her the news. But she handled it okay. She refused to cry in front of the others, out of pure habit, but when everyone went to bed (Ichigo gained control of his old room, refusing to leave Rukia), and Rukia was left alone in the clinic, she allowed the tears to fall down her face.
Yuzu made a special soup for lunch the next day. Though Rukia really wasn't hungry, she ate a little bit anyways (not even a full bowl, but a little was better than nothing). Yuzu frowned when she saw how little Rukia ate, but didn't comment on it.
Ichigo called out of work that day, and spent the entire day in the clinic with Rukia. He noticed that there was a little more color in her face, but didn't point it out. He didn't want to give her any kind of false hope.
Author's Note: I hate this chapter. Hate it with a bloody freakin' passion. I hate the idea associated with this chapter. I don't even know why I wrote it. You see – as much as I want to kill myself for admitting it – this chapter was inspired by a friend of mine, who had a miscarriage a few months ago. I hate it because it was so sad, and my friend and her husband were both really upset (which is understandable, of course) and I felt like there was nothing I could do to help. Anyways, now I'm sure you understand my apology before the chapter started, and I would like to say it again; I'm sorry for any soft spots this chapter might have hit. I really don't like it. At all. But anyways. Despite the fact that this chapter is probably the worst, reviews would be nice. I'd like this chapter to bring me up to 100, if that's okay. Is that okay? - Sam
