*Updated 08-05-2018*
Chapter 39 - The Beach At Night
A sharp scratch in Rosa's arm woke her up.
"What the fuck?" she whined and she opened her eyes.
Doctor Earnhardt was injecting her with some liquid, mumbling to himself like he normally did.
"Vaas?" she said.
Doctor Earnhardt shook his head.
"Outside." he replied, "T-The ... hostages."
Rosa tried to sit up and groaned, clasping her stomach.
"Don't, Rosa." Doctor Earnhardt said, "You've not been well."
Rosa tried to piece together what was going on.
"What's wrong with me?" she asked.
Rosa grabbed a canteen of water and drank it down, some dribbling down the side of her mouth. She was still in her clothes from when they went out and rescued the pirates; her shoes weren't even taken off.
"R-Rosa." Doctor Earnhardt stuttered, "I-I'm afraid that when you fell off the truck and hit your body, it caused ... a miscarriage."
Rosa slumped down into her bed and stared into space. A miscarriage. There would no longer be a baby. She didn't know how to react.
"Does Vaas know?" she asked, her expression blank.
"No." replied the Doctor, "He wanted to know what was wrong, but I would not tell him. I did not know if you knew you were pregnant."
"Yeah, I knew alright." she said, pushing herself up, Doctor Earnhardt sucking in air through his teeth. Rosa gasped in pain but persevered, eventually sitting up in her bed.
"I want to get up." she stated and threw the sheet off of her.
"Give it a few minutes, t-the medicine has to work first." Rosa sighed.
"How long have I been asleep?" she asked. She always had to ask that question whenever she woke up. Rosa didn't like the thought of time passing, and her not being conscious to see it.
"Vaas brought you back here, and everyone has been back for 4, maybe 5 hours now." Rosa nodded.
She closed her eyes and thought. How was she going to tell Vaas? She was still mad at him, even though the feeling went away for a short while after she had found him. Relief, that's what it was. Vaas seemed completely different from how he was when she told him. She didn't want to face him but knew that she would have too. What would have happened if she hadn't come back from Hoyt's island in time?
Rosa's stomach felt numb and she touched it. Nothing.
"Is it working?" Doctor Earnhardt asked, stumbling a little.
"I can't feel my stomach." she replied.
"You can get up now then."
Rosa swung her legs around and got out of the bed with ease. She took a few tentative steps and felt no pain, so went over to the mirror in the warehouse. She still looked the same, makeup intact and hair not too messy, which was a surprise. She spotted her weapon holster and dug in one of the pockets and pulled out Vaas' necklace, stuffing it in her skirt pocket.
"Thanks, Doc." she said and Doctor Earnhardt smiled softly.
Taking a deep breath, Rosa went out into the night time of the compound.
The atmosphere was different, quieter when she walked out.
Many pirates were nursing their wounds or drinking to notice her moving through the shadows. From inside a small shack that Rosa walked past, she heard voices and stopped.
"Hoyt. Hoyt. Look, I know. I'm sorry, hermano, okay? I'm going to sort everything and make everything better. No, no, you don't have to come over. Fucking hell, you don't need to threaten me. Right, fine."
Rosa placed her hands on the door of the shack, hesitated and then went for it. No turning back now.
"What?" said Vaas, his back away from Rosa, his hands resting on the table.
Rosa didn't say anything.
"Fuck, what -" Vaas turned and stopped dead.
"Rosa." he whispered and stepped forward, as if to kiss her.
Rosa stepped back.
"Beach. Now." she said, her voice stern as Vaas just blinked.
Rosa left the shack without another word as her legs felt like jelly. She was trying not to let the anger build, but she just kept replaying the events of that night. She shook her head as if to erase the memories, making her way down to the beach.
Footsteps produced a soft crunching from behind her as she twisted around. Rosa did not smile, or cry or shout; she just looked at Vaas.
"Hermana?" he said, his voice soft, "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" she hissed.
He was going to get a taste of his own medicine.
"Care to explain what happened the other night? You just exploded at me, when I needed you the most. Did you have any idea of how that made me feel? You scared the shit out of me Vaas, and I've never been scared of you before. What happened to you?"
Vaas took in her words and realised what she was talking about. He was on drugs and she mustn't have known.
"Princesa." Vaas started, "You don't understand. When you came to talk to me, I wasn't with it. Doc had dropped off some pills and I took them. I was feeling low, the thought of my birthday getting me down. I acted the way I did because I was high, not because I hated you. I never meant anything I said, I promise you that, princesa."
Rosa kept looking at him, processing his words.
"Te necesito demasiado, yo nunca te haría daño así." I need you too much, I would never hurt you like that.
Rosa stared at him for what seemed like forever.
He was on drugs? Vaas walked to her and cupped her face in his hands and turned it to him.
"If I wasn't on drugs, I would have told you that I love you and that I'm happy that we're having a baby. Sure, it's not ideal, but -"
Vaas' hands felt wet and he saw that Rosa was crying. She was crying because she knew that they weren't having a baby. His reaction, sober, was everything.
"Rosa? What's wrong?" Vaas asked and he wiped a few tears away, "I'm sorry for everything, hermana, really, I am."
"It's not that." Rosa said, trying to swallow her tears, "I lost the baby."
"W-What?" Vaas whispered, the colour draining from his face.
"I fell out of the truck when we were coming to get you, and hit a rock. I lost the baby." she sobbed.
Vaas pulled her close for a hug, his huge arms enveloping her. She cried onto his chest for a while, neither two saying anything. Rosa sniffed and pulled away, sitting on the sand. Vaas did the same and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"It's okay, princesa." Vaas soothed, "It's okay."
"It's not okay! I lost the baby, Vaas! It's my fault!" Rosa bit her lip, trying to suppress the crying.
"It's not your fault, Rosa. It just wasn't the right time."
The pair sat in silence on the beach, the ocean waves soothing and calming. Rosa had stopped crying and was now just watching the water, the moonlight flickering. Vaas was the first one to speak.
"Erlina."
"Huh?" Rosa asked, sitting up slightly.
"If we had had the baby, I would have wanted her to be called Erlina." he said.
"How do you know it would have been a girl?"
"I just know. " he replied.
Rosa smiled and snuggled into him closer as he tightened his arm around her.
"What does it mean?" she asked, her hair getting blown a little by the wind.
It was nice.
"It means many things. Noblewoman, countess, warrior."
Rosa froze a little when he said warrior, but knew that it would have fitted the baby nicely. Vaas and Rosa themselves were warriors, but a different kind.
"It also means princess." Vaas said.
Rosa looked up at him and smiled. His green eyes caught the moonlight and looked dazzling.
"Perfect." she said and they went back to silence.
Rosa just had to say one thing.
"I'm sorry we're not having a baby, Vaas." she said, with a sigh.
The drugs were starting to wear off a little and her lower abdomen was starting to throb.
"It's okay, princesa. We have our wholes lives ahead of us to have babies. Let's just enjoy it whilst we can."
"What time do you reckon it is, Vaas?" Rosa asked.
"After midnight, I'd say. Why do you ask, hermana?"
"Happy birthday." she whispered and Vaas smiled a little.
Rosa leaned up and kissed him, a soft but sincere kiss.
"I have something for you."
Rosa reached into her pocket and pulled out the necklace. Vaas positively grinned.
"You found it? I thought those cocksuckers burnt it. Princesa, thank you."
"Te amo." she whispered.
"Te amo." he replied.
Everything was going to be okay between them.
OKAY! Bit of a soppy/short chapter but it had to be done, guys! Hope you're still enjoying the story :) Happy reading!