This one's a short chapter, but it covers a lot of the plot, so don't skim read over this one. Wow, this chapter was tough! It's hard to go deep into the mind of an infertile woman! *awkward* I actually go emotional!
It was nearly 4 weeks since Ruby found out she was pregnant. However, her belly had barely begun to grow, which concerned her and Knuckles. But one morning, when she woke up with pains in her abdomen, that's when they headed to Tails' house to ask him what may be going on. Tails brought them into his large garage, which had his X-Tornado and other mechanical stuff in it for when he's building, and lots of doctor equipment in it, for when he's playing doctor. It looked like a mixture between an auto repair shop and a doctor's office, split right down the center. Tails sat Ruby down on a table in the doctor's office half of his garage, and he brought over a portable ultraviolet scanner.
"Where'd you get that from?" Knuckles asked him.
"I built it," Tails replied. Knuckles shook his head and went over to sit next to Ruby, who was pulling up her shirt, while Tails squirted the cold petroleum jelly on Ruby's abdomen. Tails brought out the scanner and wiped it off with an antibacterial wipe, before he placed it on her abdomen and rolled it around on top of the jelly.
"Alright, let's see what we've got here," Tails murmured, and he looked up at the screen, while he adjusted the scanner, looking for the fetus.
"It may take a moment to find it; the fetus would still be very small at this point," Tails said as he looked for it. Ruby looked up at Knuckles and held his hand. Knuckles didn't feel the greatest, and he swallowed slightly and moaned. Tails stopped and looked at Knuckles.
"You ok?" he asked him.
"I'm fine," Knuckles replied.
"He's had a bit of a flu bug all week," Ruby replied. Tails nodded.
"Getting plenty of rest and eating healthy will help that flu go away faster," Tails said, and he continued.
"By the way Knuckles, I like your necklace, where'd you get it?" he asked as he looked.
"Ruby made it for me. She found the pearl on Ember Isle," Knuckles replied. Tails nodded and ran the scanner along Ruby's abdomen for a few more moments, while Ruby and Knuckles waited. But he didn't have to search much longer before his smile began to disappear. He moved it around one last time, then let out a small "oh my."
"What's wrong?" Knuckles asked him. Tails put down the scanner and turned to face them.
"Ruby… I-I don't know how to tell you this," Tails said, sadness brewing in his voice. "Your child has died, about a week or so ago… you've had a miscarriage," Tails said quietly. "I'm so very sorry."
Ruby looked up at the monitor, tears brimming in her eyes. The fetus on the monitor was very small, and the heart meter next to it showed no signs of a heartbeat in the baby. Tears began to fall down Ruby's cheeks, and she spoke.
"It's dead?" she cried. Tails nodded slowly, tears in his own eyes.
"Again, I'm really sorry," he said quieter. "There's nothing you could've done. Ruby, it turns out you are infertile. You are unable to carry children; you have uterine fibrosis. The fertilized egg was unable to properly implant itself in your uterine wall. This is incurable, and I'm afraid you can never have children," Tails said, tears still in his eyes. "I can understand how hard this must be for you. I'll leave you two alone for awhile," he said, and he gave her a cloth to wipe off the jelly and left. Ruby wiped the jelly off her abdomen and turned to Knuckles and began to cry. She gripped onto his fur and cried into his chest. Knuckles knelt down by her and tried to whisper words to her to comfort her.
"I'm sorry Ruby," he said, "I really am."
"I killed it… And now I can never have children," she said.
"No, you didn't kill it. You had no control over this," Knuckles assured, stroking her forehead. "It's alright, you're going to be ok," he whispered.
"But Knuckles… I really wanted to have a baby. It may not have seemed that way, but I wanted to have children with you… now I can't," she sobbed, and she turned around so her back was facing her, and she cried into her hands. Knuckles didn't know what to say to that, so he stood there, stroking her heaving shoulders gently and whispering small words like, "I know," and "I'm sorry."
Tails watched through the window in his garage. He had tears in his eyes still, and he felt so terrible for them. He watched Knuckles comfort her, as she sat there and cried. Tails wished there was something he could do, but he knew of nothing. His ears drooped, and he walked off into his home, leaving the two of them alone. He felt as if he'd failed them as a doctor.
Two nights later, after the miscarriage was all taken care of, Knuckles and Ruby slept the furthest apart that they ever had. Halfway through the night, Knuckles awoke to the sound of Ruby's crying. He rolled in bed to find that Ruby, with her back to him, was curled up into a small ball and crying in her sleep. Knuckles looked at her sadly, then he scooted closer to her and hugged her from behind. Ruby gasped slightly, surprised, but then she continued to cry. Knuckles felt her body shuddering against his, and he hugged her tighter.
"I know… I know, I'm sorry baby," Knuckles whispered, his arms wrapped around her and stroking her neck.
"I don't know what to do anymore," Ruby whispered. Knuckles laid his head on top of her shoulder, right next to her head, and kissed her neck sympathetically.
"We could always adopt," he said. "…Not now, but later … but it's not like we could never have children," Knuckles said quietly, stroking her chin now.
"I guess we could," Rachel stammered, still crying. "But I wish we could actually have a child, one made of our own flesh and blood," she whimpered.
"What's done is done," Knuckles replied. "We had no control over this, and it's in the past." Ruby turned to face Knuckles and smiled, wiping her eyes. She wanted to hug him tight, but Knuckles grabbed her hand and stopped her.
"Please don't, my stomach has not been treating me the greatest lately," he said.
"You still got that bug?" Ruby asked him. Knuckles didn't answer, but she suspected the answer was yes. Ruby instead put a hand to his cheek and kissed him.
"I'm sorry about all this," she said.
"And so am I," Knuckles replied. "Now can we get some sleep?" he asked.
"Yes," Ruby said, and she turned onto her stomach and began to relax, letting out a sigh. Knuckles sighed as well and lied on his back, looking up at the ceiling. Now if only his stomach would stop cramping so he could go to sleep peacefully!