CHAPTER EIGHT

"Arrgghh!"

An ear-piercing scream shattered the lively commotion in the canteen. It was coming from Cloe's room. Ved broke into a run, with Jack hot on his tails, the others not far behind. If anything happened to her, Ved didn't know how he'd manage to live with himself; Jack couldn't bear to think about any harm coming to his unborn child. He skidded to a halt outside her door, and Ved leaned heavily against the frame, forcing it to give way. The sight he was greeted with, however, made his heart turn over. Cloe was doubled up, screaming in complete agony. Normally so pragmatic, facing the situation that there was a problem with his baby, Jack was at a total loss as to what action to take.

"Move over, move over!" Trudy said, placing Brady in Lottie's care. She knew that having had a baby herself, she was probably the best person to calm Cloe. She also knew that Brady looked up to the older girl as a role model. Smiling secretively to herself at the sight of the two girls, Trudy turned her attention to the matter at hand – Cloe. She noticed that Amber, too, was rolling up her sleeves. Seeing the worried dejected looks on the faces of the fellow tribe members, Trudy took charge,

"Right, you guys. Cloe needs some peace and quiet for now, so everyone out of here! Yes that means you, too, Jack!"

"But….," Jack protested, "I'm the father. I should be there!"

"If there's any news, you'll be the first to know!" Amber claimed. "Please, Jack! You can't do anything to help her at the moment!"

The two girls shoved Jack out of the room, and faced a sobbing Cloe. Now, she was clutching her stomach, and was unable to stem the flow of tears running down her cheeks. Why was this happening to her? And despite Amber and Trudy's words claiming otherwise, Cloe knew instinctively that she was mis-carrying. True, she had never wanted the baby before now, but the truth of it was that the idea of being a mother had slowly started to creep up on her: when she dared to look outside; when she observed Trudy with Brady, Amber with Bray Jr.; when she listened to the happy laughter of the mallrat kids…..she had begun to love the life growing inside of her, and now it was gone….she knew that she was to blame. She was being punished for previously wishing it dead, and now it was. Regardless of the soothing comments being made, Cloe just wanted the earth to open up and to swallow her whole. After all, what did she have to live for now? Ved didn't want her, and she couldn't blame him….the one guy she had ever loved and she had blown it, just like she had blown everything that ever meant anything to her…her parents, Ved, her friendship to Jack, her friendship to Ellie and finally the life of her baby….it was all too much for Cloe; she felt her head grow heavy, her eyes started to droop and everything faded out of context.

She had been asleep for what had felt like hours, but may have been minutes – Cloe no longer had a sense of time. She heard hushed voices, and longed for Ved to come and hold her. To tell her that he would make things alright once more….but of course things would never be alright again! As her vision began to become more focused she recognised Amber's face staring down at her concerned. All at once, she tried to sit up, but suffered a huge blood rush to the head and had to lie back down again.

Amber whispered softly, "Cloe, Jack's been asking whether he can come in. He…."

Panic-stricken, Cloe replied, "No! I don't wanna see him! I can't bear to!"

"But, he's the father; he just wants to say his farewells, Clo! Surely you can't deny him that!"

Trudy tutted loudly.

"AMBER! She's just lost her baby! Do you think that maybe she's feeling vulnerable at the moment, and just wants to be left alone? Maybe she isn't ready to grieve publicly, with everybody surrounding her and analysing her every move. Give her some time to herself before she sees Jack….or Ved for that matter!"

"VED?" Cloe shrieked. "What's he doing here?"

"He came to see you of course! He still cares deeply for you Cloe! He's been worried sick, and together with Jack, he's been pacing outside of your room for hours just waiting to hear that you're fine!" Trudy declared.

"Oh please, please let me speak to him! He's the only person I want to see right now!" Cloe begged.

Amber and Trudy glanced at one another, and then at Cloe's excited face. How could they refuse her after the horrific ordeal she had just suffered?

"Go on then!" said Amber conceding, as Trudy motioned to open the door.

Jack and Ved's faces stared expectantly at her. Trudy beckoned Ved into the room, and motioned to Amber to leave the former lovebirds alone for a while. Jack was in utter disbelief.

"She doesn't wanna see me? But I'm the only one who knows what she's going through; that was my baby too, you know?" he argued angrily.

Ved entered the room, and Amber left. She and Trudy accompanied Jack to the canteen to ensure he was watered and nourished, due to the fact that he had been up all night waiting for a prognosis.

Ved stared almost numbly at Cloe. Her tear-stained face shone out in the otherwise darkened room. Her usually shining jet black hair fell lank down the sides of her face and stuck to the back of her neck; her sparkling emerald eyes had lost their gleam, and had aged the young beauty beyond her years. However, whenever he looked at her, Ved only saw her beauty. Her kindness, generosity, the way she could make him laugh, the fact that nobody had ever been able to make him happy the way he felt when he was with her. Her tired eyes gazed into his, and he felt such a rush of love towards her. She held her arms out to him and he grasped at the frail being in front of him. He held her tightly, and wiped away the fresh tears that were springing up in her eyes. Everything that had happened within the past few months was forgotten in light of the mis-carriage. It had taken such a tragedy to open his eyes to how short life really was, and to seize the day.

Ved opened his arms a fraction, and pulled Cloe away from himself,

"Look, babe! I know that this is probably the worst possible time to tell you this, but I love you! I really do Cloe! I know that it'll never replace the baby that you've just lost, but I've been thinking a lot lately….well, let's face it, I've had plenty of time to….and I really like the idea of being a father."

"What!" exclaimed an amazed Cloe. "You always said that being a parent was a mug's game! You said…!"

"Forget what I said, for a minute, Clo! I've changed my mind about it! I don't wanna be ancient and look back on my life and say, 'Oh this is all I managed to achieve!' I want more for myself, and I want more for us! I want us to have a baby together!" Ved persisted.

"Oh, Ved!" Cloe sighed. "That's what I want more than anything else in the world: you, me and our baby! And I want lots of them….lots of little Veds and little Cloes all running around causing chaos….that's my dream for the future!"

"No," Ved corrected. "That's our dream now!"

Cloe and Ved snuggled into one another on her bed and looked towards a brighter future. They knew that together, they could face anything, which was just as well, considering the challenges still ahead!