I'm back. This time I will finish this story. No more delays.
Disclaimer: Trigger Warnings Ahead.
The Game called Life
Previously
"And you know the crazy part of this fiasco," Renji cut in. "Your crazy ex Senna leaked it! Isn't that some shit?"
Ichigo groaned in frustration. "Goddammit!" He hit his fist against the steering wheel once again. "Why the fuck is she a part of this bullshit!"
There was some ruffling on the other line. Renji was whispering to someone before the sound of a door closed. "I think she's in cahoots with Sosuke Aizen. The man is diabolical."
Orihime was fidgeting in the passenger seat. Ichigo, noticing how uncomfortable the conversation was making her, cut to the chase.
"Listen Renji. I will be at your place in 20 minutes."
"Hey, wait… why my place? Don't you have your own place to hide out in?"
"I'll tell you later. Just wait for us." Ichigo hung up before Renji could protest. His eyes went back and forth from the road to the figure beside him. "Care to explain?"
She shifted her head towards the window watching the dark scenery pass by. "It's exactly as Renji said. I had sex with Ulquiorra and he took a video of it." She shrugged passive-aggressively. "What's more to explain?"
Ichigo pulled the car over to the shoulder of the road and stepped on the brake. They both lurched forward from the sudden stop. Putting the car in park, he twisted his body around and glared at Orihime.
"Don't fucking play coy with me. Why didn't you tell me?"
She sighed immensely, getting annoyed at his questions. "Tell you what exactly? Sosuke and Ulquiorra are blackmailing me to no longer see you and to marry into their family. Wasn't it obvious with my sudden departure?"
"Seriously?" He turned his head away to the dark road. "When they mentioned you were pregnant and whose baby it could be… I never imagined…"
"What!" Orihime turned to face him. "What? Am I a slut? A whore? A trash person spreading her legs for any man she sees?" Her face was red with anger. "Tell me what you could have possibly imagined Ichigo?"
"You don't get to feel angry… not with your body plastered all over the media."
"Shut up!" She yanked open the car door and stepped out. Removing her stilettos from her feet once again, Orihime threw them on the floor inside the car. "You think I asked for that to happen?" She shouted in humiliation before slamming the passenger side door shut. She trotted off into the night not looking back.
"Orihime get back in the car!" Ichigo yelled, throwing his door open, and glancing over to the desolate highway for any cars. They were making fools of themselves in the middle of the night.
"No!"
"Stop acting like a child and get back in the car!"
"No- arghh!" Orihime bent over holding her stomach. She sucked in a deep breath as pain racked her whole body.
"Orihime!" Ichigo quickly ran over to her. "What's wrong? What happened?"
A warm trail of blood slowly dripped down her thigh passed her knee, pooling onto the floor.
No!
Tears fell from her eyes when she looked up at him. "My stomach… the baby. Oh God, it hurts!"
In a full-on panic, he tucked his arm behind her knee and scooped her up in his arms. She threw one arm over his shoulders as the other stayed on her stomach. He carried her trembling body back to his car.
Once they were settled, Ichigo floored it back onto the highway searching for the nearest hospital.
Pulling into the ambulance bay, he noticed a herd of reporters standing and waiting by the entrance. Not paying any heed to the crowd, he parked his car incautiously by the emergency entrance. He threw open his car door and rushed over to the other side. Picking Orihime up bridal style, he felt a warm and wet sensation drip down his arms. Panicking, Ichigo ran into the emergency room. She moaned in agony at the bumpy run.
"Help me please!" The shrill of his broken voice spread throughout the busy triage area. A nurse behind the desk quickly stood up while two others grabbed a nearby gurney for the sobbing woman in his arms.
"What's wrong sir?"
"I think… she's having a miscarriage." Ichigo struggled to say while feeling the wetness soak through his shirt.
"Not again." Orihime cried upon hearing those words. The pain in her whimper broke him. The nurses parked the gurney so he could place her down.
"Put her down sir," one of them said.
"Well take care of her. Just go to the front desk and fill out some paperwork." Another pointed out.
Ichigo nodded watching them roll her away to a curtained-off area in the back. His eyes glanced down at his shirt. Her blood had soaked his once crisp shirt he had ironed earlier that morning.
"This way sir." The nurse said showing him the way. His eyes trailed down to his pants. "I can get you a change of clothes if you would like." He just nodded in response.
The doctor with a slender build, black hair, and soft blue eyes came into the curtained-off area. She quickly started ordering pain meds before introducing herself.
"Hello, Ms. Inoue. I'm Dr. Unohana. How far along are you?"
Orihime still held her stomach as a new wave of pain shot through her. "Maybe seven weeks," she hissed out. "I never got checked for the precise timeline."
"I see." She signaled for a nurse to get a gown. The same nurse was pushing an injection into her IV as the doctor walked over to the other side of Orihime. "Nurse Kiyone will help you change into a gown. I'm going to do an ultrasound to check on the baby and see how to control your bleeding."
The petite dark blonde-haired nurse helped Orihime with taking off her clothes. Suspiciously, she looked over Orihime's bruised body. She was withering in pain and not paying any attention to the weary looks the nurse was giving her. Once her hands were free, she went back to holding her stomach as the doctor received the portable ultrasound machine brought in by another nurse.
The tall nurse with short silver hair gave her a small smile. "This will be a little cold." She pushed up the gown to squeeze the lubricating gel on her lower abdomen. The doctor took the wand and placed it over the lubricated area.
"Let's see how your baby is doing."
Her eyes wandered over the screen, pressing down to see the fetus. She narrowed her eyes moving the wand back and forth. Orihime couldn't see what was on the monitor, but the doctor only typed away with one hand while the other pressed into her. With a solemn look, she removed the wand and handed it over to the nurse.
"Have you been pregnant before?"
"Yes… a few years ago, but I lost the baby due to an assault." Her eyes narrowed as she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Is there something wrong with the baby?" Orihime asked when Dr. Unohana got up.
She took off her lab coat and walked over to the sink to wash her hands. The nurse -Kiyone- that helped Orihime change walked over to Dr. Unohana and started whispering.
Orihime slowly feeling the pain ease away, watched the two women murmur an earshot away from her. The tall nurse close to her wiped the gel before fixing her gown. She looked up at her.
"Is there something wrong with my baby?" Orihime whispered sadly. "Is it okay? Did I lose it?"
The nurse just smiled warmly. "The doctor will tell you everything you need to know."
Orihime, not trusting the nurse's deflection to her question, turned her head back toward Dr. Unohana. The nurse and the doctor were staring at her sadly.
The sudden fear of the worst-case scenario filled her mind.
No, please.
Not again!
She put on a protective gown while making her way back to Orihime. "Ms. Inoue," the doctor's soft voice spoke. "I'm sorry to say this to you, but you have just suffered a miscarriage."
"No… not again," a sob crawled out from her throat. "Why? Why does this keep happening to me?" Orihime fell back on the stretcher and threw her arm over her eyes hiding her tears. "It's like I keep getting punished. They keep hurting me when I'm pregnant."
Dr. Unohana put on a pair of protective goggles. "This is hard to handle, but I have to control the bleeding. I will have to perform an emergency abortion." The tall nurse gave her a pair of gloves. "Are you ready?"
Orihime could only nod through her cries.
"Okay." The tall nurse pulled out the stirrups, helping Orihime with putting her legs up and spreading them. Setting up disinfected tools beside the doctor, the petite nurse nodded to Dr. Unohana before leaving. "Ms. Inoue, you're going to feel some discomfort, but I will be as quick and easy as I can be through this process. Nurse Isane, can you hold her hand please."
"Yes, doctor."
"All right Ms. Inoue, I will be inserting the speculum now. You will feel some coldness and pressure..."
Orihime drowned out the doctor's voice.
Am I not meant to have children?
Why is it that Ulquiorra and Sosuke keep taking so much from me?
What have I done to receive this punishment?
Why does God hate me so much?
What felt like a lifetime of torture but was less than thirty minutes, the doctor removed her unborn child through a device and handed it over to the nurse.
"Okay. I'm all done. You will feel some pain, but the meds will help with that." Dr. Unohana stood up, removing her gown and gloves. While removing her goggles, she ordered Nurse Isane to put in an order for more pain medication. She washed her hands before making her way back over to Orihime. "I know this is a lot to be going through, but this is not your fault." Placing her warm hand on Orihime's shoulder, Dr. Unohana squeezed it. "Get some rest. That man will no longer hurt you. I've already called the police."
"He's here?" Orihime removed her arm from over her eyes, staring at the doctor confused. "I thought he was hospitalized."
"Excuse me?"
"I… why did you call the police?" She was even more confused.
"The bruises to your back and legs. Those are signs of an assault. The man who brought you in, is he not the one hurting you?"
"What! No!" Orihime snatched her legs out of the stirrups and threw them over the stretcher. She winced at the pain as she stood on her feet. However, she quickly lost her balance. Dr. Unohana and Nurse Isane moved to help her up.
"Easy. You just had a procedure and are on pain medication."
"No. You're about to arrest the wrong man. I wasn't hurt by him." Orihime snatched her arms from each of the women. Stumbling to hold on to something stable, she grabbed hold of the IV pole. Finding a steady balance, she moved towards the door. "I have to stop them."
"It's okay. I can have someone else do it."
"No! You've done enough." Orihime growled. She forced her weak body to the curtain and ripped it back. To her horror, Ichigo -still in clothes soaked with her blood- was getting handcuffed by two police officers. Off to the other side, stood the petite nurse who was whispering to Dr. Unohana earlier. She was now talking to another police officer while he took notes.
Everyone in the emergency room was watching Ichigo as he struggled to be released and was asking them for an explanation. They slammed him against the wall, letting his head bounce against it as they secured the cuffs.
Her body trembled with fear seeing him in such a vulnerable state. "Wait!" Her voice carried through the corridor of the emergency room.
All heads turned her way. Ichigo's eyes landed on her. The confusion he harbored was washed away and was then replaced with relief followed by concern.
Both Dr. Unohana and Nurse Isane were on her sides giving her enough space to walk. However, they were close by just in case she would fall. The police officer who was talking to Nurse Kiyone blocked Orihime from moving closer to Ichigo.
"Ma'am. We got a report that you were assaulted." He pointed the pen he had in his hand toward Ichigo. "Was he the one who assaulted you?"
"No of course not. He saved me."
"Right." He furrowed his eyebrows at her cautiously taking notes of the leg injuries. He then lowered his voice so they were the only ones who could hear. "Ma'am you are safe here. There is no need to protect your abuser."
Orihime was growing more frustrated and nauseous from the pain. The medication was wearing off. "Stop it." She held her stomach trying to alleviate the growing pains. "Please don't take him away. He helped me."
The officer turned his head to his partners. Nodding his head, they began pushing Ichigo to the exit.
"Ichigo!" she wailed out causing those around them to whisper at the scene. Some even took out their phones to record the situation.
"Orihime!" he called back as they pushed him past the doors.
"Wait." She tried to move past the officer, but he stopped her once again. She snapped her eyes up towards him. "What are you doing?"
"I know this looks bad, but he had a gun in his waistband. We have to clear this up at the station." He blocked her view again. "After getting some rest, I'll send a detective over to get your full statement."
"No, please don't. You're making a huge mistake. He was using it to protect me. He got hurt because of me."
"Can you elaborate?" But Orihime ignored him and pushed her IV pole past him only to see Ichigo fall to the ground and start seizing.
"Ichigo!" No longer caring, she ripped the IV port from her veins and ran over to him. The officer tried to stop her, but finding strength through her pain, Orihime maneuvered away from his hand. Dr. Unohana called out to her, but she ignored her too.
Two other nurses, one of them pushing a crash cart and a doctor ran to the exit. He was on the floor convulsing and his eyes were rolled back. She stopped breathing watching him shake like that. The doctor knelt down near Ichigo and shined a light into each of his eyes.
"Nurse hold his head! His right pupil is blown. Call the neurosurgeon and book an OR!" The doctor looked up at the officers. "Get these cuffs off him."
Orihime stood by as they began working on him. "What's wrong with him?" she whispered in a shaky voice. Confusion around her as the hospital staff moved around aiding a convulsing Ichigo. Another nurse shifted Orihime's back alongside the wall as a gurney entered the exit way. They began setting him up on the portable heart monitor along with some oxygen.
"Give me diazepam." The doctor ordered. Searching through the crash cart, a nurse handed him the syringe with the medication. He took it and immediately pushed it into a vein of Ichigo's arm.
"What's wrong with him!" Orihime screamed, needing answers.
The doctor stood up and looked at her once the heart monitor showed a stable rhythm. "Did he hit his head today?" He asked when they began moving him.
She nodded watching them move Ichigo. Without taking her eyes off him, she followed behind the trauma team. "When we fell out of the building onto a parked car." She recounted as they moved past the crowd who still had their phones out. "He took the brunt of our fall."
"Fell out of a window onto a car?" The doctor asked confusingly. Orihime nodded in confirmation. "I understand. Well, he had a concussion, and the slam to the wall during the arrest, caused his brain to swell. It's called Second Impact Syndrome." The doctor explained. "We have to take him into surgery to reduce the swelling."
She covered her mouth with her hand. "Surgery?" Realization overtook her panic stopping her in her tracks. "He was talking and driving just fine. How could this happen now?"
The doctor stopped alongside her. "With a concussion, you can go about your daily routines as normal. Only in a few days, do the symptoms begin to show. In his case, all the adrenaline from earlier could have relegated his pain." He watched the team get on the elevator. A chime from his hospital phone alerted him. "I have to go now. I'll have someone update you on his surgery."
The doctor took off to a set of stairs leaving Orihime standing in the busy emergency room. She fell to her knees and began crying. The anguish of the never-ending turmoil of her life.
Why does God hate me so much?
Until next time!