Another Black Tie Affair

By: afallenblackrose

Author's Notes: Nothing really interesting to say here, my dear readers. I don't really like this chapter, because…well, you'll see why, I don't want to ruin it. But it was rather difficult for me to write. Anyway, thanks to superSayingirl, Eager Reviewer, Jessie F. Babi, sherrian, nebelflecke, MoonPrincess568, misshaa, Fedski, littlepumpkin42, PoisonIvy89, SerenaDarienforeverJune30, DarkMoonVisions, James Birdsong, mangamania, Anonymoose13, serenityalexis, and dori-tori for reviewing the last chapter. Hope you guys enjoy this installation.

Part Ten:

The Apology

For the second time in as many weeks, Serena woke up and didn't know where she was at first. But then, upon further recollection, she remembered what had happened at Mina's wedding shower. She had gone to the bathroom, and had instantly been alarmed by the spots of blood in her underwear. The pain that she had been experiencing over the last few days intensified and she remembered falling off the toilet and hitting her head on the hard stall side. After that it was blackness. She opened her eyes and found herself staring up a four pairs of concerned eyes. She tried sitting up, but instantly felt dizzy. She slumped back into the bed and turned to the four girls.

"What happened?" She croaked. Her throat felt like someone had sanded it down with sandpaper. A hand passed her a pink cup with a white bendable straw.

"Drink some water, Serena," Raye's voice commanded. Serena gratefully took the cup in her hands and took a few deep sips, as soon as she swallowed the water it instantly soothed her dry throat. She tried sitting up again, and found it easier this time.

"What happened?" She asked again. "Where am I? Is the baby okay?"

The four girls exchanged a look of – well, she didn't know what, but she knew that the look wasn't a good one. She instantly felt concerned and a pang of intense worry filled her completely. She was about to demand that they answer her when Mina finally said something.

"You're in the hospital, Serena. I'm not sure if you remember, but you went into the bathroom, looking rather sick, but when you didn't come out in ten minutes we came to check on you…" she trailed off.

"You were laid out, unconscious on the floor. There was blood coming from your head and…um…" Amy looked off. "Anyway, we called 911 and they brought you here in an ambulance, but that was two days ago."

"Two days?" Serena asked, her eyes widened in alarm at the new information. "You mean I've been out for two days? What exactly did they do to me?"

"Well, yes, because you sustained a concussion and the doctor's had to perform surgery…" Amy continued, even though her eyes were seeking out the others. But she wasn't doing it on accident. She was purposefully, not looking at Serena, almost as if she didn't want to tell her something. That reminded her that they hadn't answered one of her questions.

"But the baby is okay, right?" She asked, but the girls didn't say anything. Instead they were exchanging the same look again. "Would someone please answer me? Is the baby okay?" The girls still didn't answer her, but the door to her room opened momentarily distracting her from her question.

"Oh, good, you're up, Mrs. Shields," the woman said and came closer to the bed. The four girls backed away to let her check the monitor that Serena was hooked up to. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, confused, and worried," she replied glancing at the woman. "What exactly happened to me, and who are you?"

"My name is Doctor Kingsley and I've been taking care of you the last few days. As you know, you were brought in two days ago and were suffering from a deep laceration to your skull, causing you to bleed and experience a concussion. Now, you were also taken in for surgery, which is why you were out for two days. I am happy to say that it was successful and there won't be any permanent damage."

"Surgery? Surgery for what exactly?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" The doctor asked, her face falling. "I would have thought with the blood in your underwear and the intense pain you experienced before blacking out-"

"How did you know about that?" Serena asked confused. She understood how they would have known about the blood in her underwear, since when she collapsed her panties were still down and her friends probably mentioned it to the EMTs. But how did they know about the pain?

"You told us, when you came to, right before the surgery."

"Um…okay, but why don't I remember telling you that?"

"Your reaction, probably, to the anesthesia. Sometimes it clouds over people's minds and makes them forget things that happened before. Don't worry, though, it is quite normal for someone to experience this. Now, where was I? Oh, right. Serena, I'm sorry to tell you this, but you experienced a miscarriage. You lost the baby."

Darien didn't know what to think. The phone call from Mina had him shocked. What exactly had happened to Serena that would cause her to end up in the hospital? When he tried to get his question answered, Mina only said that she couldn't tell him. Stating that it was conversation that he needed to have with Serena and which was better to have in person than over the phone. After hanging up with Mina, he felt a small bit of relief since he now knew where Serena had run off to, but she wasn't safe. Escalated by worry, Darien had immediately left his office without a word to Michelle as to why he was leaving. He didn't have time to talk to her for his cell phone was already plastered back to his ear as he called the pilot that he always had on standby. He needed to get to Tokyo right away and at the moment he didn't want to be hampered by the hectic atmosphere of LAX. Making quick arrangements with his pilot, he drove off to his apartment to pack a few things and then he would go to the airfield.

It didn't take him long to shove a few shirts and a pair of jeans into a small duffel bag and within minutes he was on the plane (traffic for once wasn't hectic), had already been greeted by the pilot – Jack – and now he was sitting in one of the chairs. But he wasn't sitting still. Every fiber of his being was thrumming with anxiety, and every thought was centered on Serena. Just like how he felt a week ago when Hotaru was waiting for him at the apartment, he couldn't help but think; what was the matter with Serena and was she okay?

Eleven hours and eighteen minutes later, when the plane finally landed, hadn't calmed Darien down any further. If anything, he was worse. Every inch of Darien's body was amped up and flighty, almost as if he had been doing drugs. Without a word of thanks to Jack, he exited the plane and fled out to the tarmac where a car was waiting. "Tokyo Central Hospital, Chad, and step on it." He told the driver as soon as slammed the door behind him. The driver, knowing not to mess with Mr. Shields when he was in this sort of mood, drove off as fast as he could.

Instant despair coursed through Serena when the doctor had finished her statement. She had lost the baby. She had lost the…it repeated over and over again in her mind. She closed her eyes and tuned out whatever the doctor was telling her now. It wasn't important. She was so overcome with grief she wanted to disappear. Somehow in the middle of all of this, she heard everyone leave the room. They must have realized how distraught she had become and decided to leave her alone with her thoughts. She opened her eyes and instantly began to shed the tears that she had been fighting back. She sobbed so hard she thought she would lose her voice, but she continued on wishing that one person would be there to comfort her.

Darien.

The man in question ran through the entrance of the hospital and didn't stop until he saw Mina's blonde hair. By the time he arrived though, it was already the late evening, around eleven, and visiting hours were over. Not that Darien cared much. He would defy anyone he had to, just as long as he could see his wife.

"Mina!" He exclaimed and stopped in front of a familiar group of girls. They all looked up at him, panic stricken at his arrival and then turned on Min as Darien tried to catch his breath.

"You called him, Mina!" Raye exclaimed in anger.

"Mina, are you crazy? After everything that he put her through? I mean he's the reason that she's…" Lita trailed off, too in fueled by rage to continue on with her tirade. She flexed her knuckles openly in front of Darien, which he took as a sign of a threat.

"Quiet," Mina commanded her voice firm. The girls instantly became silent and Darien couldn't help but stare at her in admiration. "I know what Darien has done. And yes, it is mostly his fault, but you girls forget. Darien is Serena's husband, he has a right to know that his wife is in the hospital and the right to visit her." She turned to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied completely mystified. What exactly was his fault? "Where is she? Is she okay?" He asked instead.

"She's in there," Mina said pointing to the door on his right. "And as to if she's all right, well, you better go and see for yourself."

Darien nodded and carefully and quietly walked into the room. Except for the dim lamp by the bedside table, the room was completely dark. Darien couldn't help but notice as he closed the door behind him. He walked forward and noticed a bunched up figure in the bed. Serena's hair was hanging like golden curtain in front of her face, blocking most of it from his view. But from what Darien did see, her eyes were brimmed red and he knew that she had been crying. She was curled into the fetal position and her hands were encircling herself, almost as if she was trying to hold herself together. With a great gentleness, he sat down on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on her shoulder, but it was still enough to wake her up. Her eyes fluttered open, and she searched the room for what had disturbed her rather light slumber. When they landed on Darien, her eyes instantly watered.

"Darien?" She asked, not really sure if he was really there or not.

"Hi, Serena," he whispered. "How are you?"

"Oh, Darien," the tears she was holding back began to fall and she flung herself into his arms. He tightened his arms around her and let her cry. He felt the tears dampen his shirt. He didn't understand why she was crying, but he didn't care. He knew that she just needed someone to hold her and comfort her.

She needed him.

When Serena woke up, after crying herself to sleep in Darien's arms, the following afternoon, she was greeted with a very colorful sight. Filling her room were vases upon vases of red, white, yellow, and pink roses. There were also about twenty get-well-soon balloons in every color. Sitting up surprised by all of this, she was instantly distracted when someone cleared their throat by the door. She instantly gasped as she saw Darien standing there, holding another bouquet of red roses and rather large and fluffy pink stuffed bunny.

"Good afternoon," he said walking forward.

"Hi," she breathed, shocked that it hadn't been a dream. "I'm so sorry about crying all over you last night. I was just so-"

"Shush, Sere," he cut her off, putting a finger to her lips. "It doesn't bother me that you cried all over me. I was just glad to see that you were okay, and that you still aren't angry with me over what happened in Los Angeles."

"Who said I wasn't?" Serena countered grimacing, as their fight from the last time that they saw each other played again in her mind. "It's just that a lot more pressing matters have happened since then. But while we're on the subject, do you believe me now? Do you still think that I cheated on you?"

"No, I don't believe that you cheated on me," he replied. "And if you had stuck around, instead of jumping on a plane, you would have known that I believed you and I was just being a downright ass about it."

"So, the balloons and the flowers?"

"From me in apology and of course get well soon wishes," he smiled handing her the bunny. "Speaking of, why are you in the hospital?"

Serena sighed and squeezed the bunny that he had just handed her. She knew that she would have to tell him eventually, but she didn't know how without breaking into a waterfall of tears again. It still hurt to know that she wouldn't be giving birth to their baby in six months.

"I'm in the hospital because I…" she sighed biting back tears. "I had a miscarriage." Silence fell between the two as Darien sat there staring at Serena. She was in the hospital because she had a miscarriage. But that meant that she was pregnant. Why hadn't she told him?

"Darien?" She broke into his train of thought. "Darien, please, say something. Talk to me." Her voice was pleading, almost broken.

"You had a miscarriage?" He whispered staring at her. "Oh, Serena…" he took her into his arms. "I'm so sorry, but how come you never told me that you were pregnant to begin with?"

"I never got the chance," she replied her mouth muffled by his shirt. "I found out the day before our night out, but you never came home that night. So, I was going to tell you on our night out, but then you told me about Hotaru being your half-sister. The timing was always wrong."

"Oh, Serena, I'm so sorry," he said again, knowing that it was his fault that he caused her so much pain. He made a vow right then that he wouldn't do this to her again. He would spend more time with her, and with the loss of the baby she would need his support now more than ever…

Author's Notes: Hm…this isn't a cliffhanger? Yes, that's right it's not, and only because if you guys hadn't noticed, this story is almost done. The final chapter is the next one, in which, we'll see everything come together, and of course have a black tie affair. Hope you guys somewhat enjoyed this chapter, even though I know it was rather sad, but please let me know what you thought!