title: 7:31
prompt: SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012
rating: T-M
summary: o26: Their first loss was with their first child. But they're both willing to try again.
REVISED 6.30.14
.o26.
Loss
"Uchiha-san?"
The doctor came out of the emergency room where his wife was, giving birth to their first child. He stood up from the waiting room and jumped to his feet, clasping his hands together.
"May I see them, doctor?" he asked.
The doctor took off his glasses and sighed, pocketing them in his coat.
"Uchiha-san, I don't know how else to say this…" he struggled to find appropriate words. "But we couldn't save the baby."
Sasuke didn't know what to think. Sakura was healthy as a horse, and the sonograms showed that the baby was equally healthy. She took good care of him. How could this have happened?
"I don't understand," Sasuke said. "Why?"
"The umbilical cord was wrapped around its body, blocking his air passage." The doctor put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "I'm so sorry for your loss."
For the first time in twenty-seven years, Sasuke began to cry.
.
.
.
Sakura was still woozy from pain medication and morphine, but the sadness still overwhelmed her. The nurses tried to comfort her, but she told them she wanted to be left alone.
She didn't understand anything. The baby seemed to be fine. But why was he taken away from her? She and Sasuke were going to raise him and spoil him like a prince. They planned on naming him Itachi, after Sasuke's brother. And now, their fantasies of raising a little boy were all gone.
Sakura heard the door open and muttered, "Go away!" rather harshly. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around, saying, "Doctor, I don't need your sympathy."
Instead, she looked up into the sad eyes of her husband, reaching down to kiss her forehead and squeeze her hand.
"It's okay," he said, his voice cracking. "It's alright."
She lost it. Falling into his arms, she clung onto his shirt and cried, "It's not fair, Sasuke-kun. It's not fair."
"I know," he whispered, kissing her forehead. She felt a tear drip onto her nose. A tear that wasn't her own. "But it's not your fault. It's nobody's fault. It's the way God wanted it to be, and he has a plan for everybody."
"But why—"
"Shh." He kissed her lips. "Just relax. You're tired right now. You need to sleep."
He turned to leave before she grabbed onto his hand. "Please, stay with me," she begged. "I don't want you to leave my side."
Sasuke turned back to her and pulled up a chair. "I won't," he promised. He fingered the ring on her hand. "Not now. Not ever."
.
.
.
They had a funeral for Itachi. It was just them two, dressed in black and praying over their unborn son's grave. Sasuke struggled not to let his tears out while wiped his wife's.
"He's in a better place now, Sakura," he said softly, holding her tight.
"I know," she cried. "But I still just wanted some time with him."
They didn't say anything. For the next hour or so, they kept standing in front of Itachi's grave, reading the engraved words and tearing up again.
.
.
.
Sakura refused to continue what had been her normal life. Her friends all offered food, flowers, and sympathetic cards bought from the grocery store aisles. She didn't care for any of them. They only felt pity for her. They didn't know what she was feeling.
Sasuke continued to go to work, although she could see that he was unmistakably tired in a way he had never been before. His work performance decreased, and she knew that he was affected just as much as she was.
"Are you alright?" she would always ask.
"Hn," he responded. He only used hn when he didn't want to say anything or if he just didn't care anymore. Sakura was the only person he opened up to, but hearing this hn of his shocked her. He was closing her off from him.
"Sasuke-kun," she said, reaching out to touch him.
"Not now, Sakura. I'm tired." He sighed, pulling off his coat. "I'm going to bed."
She took his briefcase and watched him trail his feet to their bedroom. When she checked in on him ten minutes later, he was sound asleep, almost like the dead.
.
.
.
"I want to try again," Sasuke said, taking Sakura's hand and pushing her down onto the bed. "Please."
Sakura's eyes widened. "But…isn't it too early to—"
"We're not going to replace him," he said. "Itachi won't be replaced. Ever. But Sakura, I want a child so badly." His eyes were begging. "I want to father a child with you."
Sakura's eyes softened. "I want a child, too."
He squeezed her hand again. "Can we take another shot at it?"
"Yeah." She kissed him. "We can."
Slight changes!