Let You Go - Riley Green

- 18 -

Lottie sighs as Riley sits next to her. She's been feeling like absolute shit since her father died. She's been practically bedridden. The pain in her back is almost unbearable.

She groans as she sits up. "Whatcha need?" He asks, his hand on her back.

"Gotta pee." She grumbles back, slowly making her way to the bathroom.

When she goes to wipe, her heart stops.

Blood.

A lot of blood.

"Shit." She panics, pulling her underwear back up. "Fuck." It's not her period; she rarely gets them anymore with the birth control that she's on; fucking waste of fucking money.

She quickly pulls on the flannel that's draped over the top of the door. "What's goin' on?" Riley asks, sitting up.

"I gotta-" She freezes. She doesn't know what to say. "I'm bleedin' pretty bad."

"Uh..." Riley stands. "I'll drive you." He says, taking her keys from her sweaty hand. "C'mon."

+++

Riley's sitting in a chair in the waiting room, anxiously fiddling his thumbs. He wanted to give her privacy for her lady procedure.

Right now, she just got hit with some very heartbreaking news.

Miscarriage.

She's devastated but also relived. She has always thought she'd be in her late twenties when she has kids.

"Is it my fault?" She whispers, wiping her eyes with a tissue the nurse had handed her. "Was- was it somethin' I did?"

"No, baby." She says, giving her hand a squeeze. "Could've been from stress, could've been a cervix problem, medication, an infection..." She rattles off, pulling her gloves off. "It was really outta your control."

She nods. "Thanks for bein' so kind."

"Of course, baby." She smiles comfortingly back. "Just take it easy for a couple days."

Lottie pulls her pajama shorts up and steps into her slippers. She makes her way back to the waiting room.

"Hey." Riley says, standing with her flannel in his hand. "How'd it go? You okay?"

"I wanna go home."

"Yeah, let's go home then." He wraps his arm around her shoulders but she pulls away, looking down.

She feels disgusted with herself.

When they get home, Riley gets Lottie back into bed. He strokes her hair back behind her ear then kisses her cheek. "Get some rest, Lot."

"Riley..." She starts when he starts closing the door. He stops, watching her sit up. "I had a miscarriage."

His face drops. "You were pregnant?"

"Not anymore." She looks down at her hands with tearful eyes. "Lost it."

"Lottie-"

"I'm sorry, Riley."

"Don't- Don't be sorry." He runs a hand through his curls and sighs heavily. He was almost a dad, a dad with the girl of his dreams carrying his child. Riley sighs again and tears slip down her cheeks. "It was my kid right?"

She scoffs. "Yeah." Riley is the only guy she's been with in almost a year.

Riley lets out a shaky breath and swallows hard, trying to stop his own tears. "Shit."