H a r r y
"Okay," I sniffle, my eyes flowing with salty tears as I remember the ghostly and corpse-like sight of my wife, "I'll listen."
She looked in pain, like she had been to hell and back a thousand times over. I have never in my three and a half years of knowing her seen her in such a state. Hayles was right, Emma has given up, and just by looking at her it's made me realise there was more to this story than I first believed.
All of my jealousy and paranoia was simply that and nothing else, Emma had lost every ounce of life and hope she had; her skin pale, lips chapped and broken, black circles around her eyes making them look like deep pits, and her body so frail and fragile.
She's so thin, almost as if the weight of a feather could break her in two. The sight of her makes my heart drop to my stomach, the beautiful woman I once fell in love with is now concealed by a broken shell, that I've helped to create.
"I thought she was fine." I whimper to Hayley. All this time I thought she was fine, happily walking around as if I meant nothing to her, but it turns out she is more damaged than I am.
"I thought that you knew her better than anyone," Hayley retorts, her eyes never leaving my figure as my elbows rest on my knees. "I guess we were both wrong." Her voice finishes.
Niall breaks our silence as he walks into the room on his own, obviously having carried Emma back up to where she has been residing for the last two weeks, "is she okay?" I ask him in concern.
"No mate, she isn't." Niall answers me back honestly, the truth becoming my worst fear. All the hatred and disappointment I felt has now evaporated and left my mind; all I feel now is concern, I feel that heartache and guilt after seeing the woman I love in so much pain and suffering.
"If it makes you feel any better, that's the first time she's moved in two weeks. And considering she's been sat in the same position - meaning her joints will have locked up - it must've been painful." I rub my large palms across my face, I can't handle it anymore. I need her. I need to make her better, I need to bring her home.
"Please," I whimper to them both, "tell me what happened. Please." Pleading to the pair, my conscience can't bare it anymore. Emma's distraught image replaying in my head, her bones so prominent through her weak skin.
"Do you remember the first time she went to the doctors?" Hayley asks me carefully. How could I forget, that's where everything went completely wrong? When she started acting differently, more distant and almost scared.
"Yeah? For those cramps." I answer her.
"Well," she unfolds what looks like a photograph, handing the small piece of card to me and allowing my eyes to glance over the picture before my eyes. An ultrasound. A perfectly beautiful shaped baby in black and white, it so small and incredible. I smile absentmindedly at the picture, not really realising it's actual importance.
"Oh my god." My eyes widen and I whisper in complete shock. This is my baby I realise, my child, my future; this is everything I ever wanted, a family. And this is why she was acting so weird, because she found out, she was scared. But why would she be scared? She knew this is what I wanted, what we both wanted.
However my mind drifts back to her lifeless frame from only moments ago, the bones so prominent and her figure so small and delicate. There was no bump, which can only mean one thing.
My eyes begin to water at the realisation. "She was two months at that point." Hayley continues knowing that I'd figured it out. I bite my bottom lip and listen, staring intently at the picture concealed in my hands. "She didn't know how to tell you, she wanted it to be special so she decided to tell you on your birthday." I shake my head at the thought.
