Antonio & Harlow

30- Heartache

Antonio heard Harlow yelling and ran up the stairs, into the bedroom, finding her in the bathroom in tears and rushed over to her. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know. I'm bleeding," she cried.

He wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. "I'm sorry Hun, I'll call Ethan and will see if he can watch the girls so I can bring you in."

"I knew something wasn't right, I could feel it," she said, clinging onto him tighter.

With her bleeding, he had a bad feeling it wasn't going to be good news, and called Ethan. While he was on the phone, Harlow sat in the bathroom in tears, praying everything will be okay. She may not have been ready for another child, but after hearing the doctor tell her she was pregnant again, melted her heart and felt overjoyed with the news. To see she was bleeding, broke her heart.

Ethan arrived and instead of being his quirky ole self, his soft side kicked in, showing his concern for Harlow. There was one thing he didn't like and that was seeing his sister hurting and gave her a hug, wishing her well.

Antonio finally got Harlow over to the hospital and once she was settled into a room, he held her in his arms, trying to console her. "I'm hoping nothing is wrong, but I've heard this happens quite often. If something isn't right, we must realize this is God's way of saying there is something wrong and he's bringing the baby home to him," he said quietly, trailing his fingers through her hair.

"Antonio, how do you go from being overjoyed with wonderful news, to sudden sadness in less than a day?"

He lowered his head. resting his chin on the top of her head and closed his eyes. "I know it's hard to understand and it's something we'll never understand, but we have to remain positive."

"Just know, no matter what happens, I still love you."

The doctor opened the curtain, closing it as he entered the room and looked down at his clipboard. "I understand you found out from the doctor this morning, you were pregnant and now you're bleeding. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"Were you having any cramping or discomfort today?" he asked.

"I was, but I didn't think anything of it. The cramping I assumed was gas, and the backache I thought was from lifting one of the girls wrong."

The doctor scratched the top of his head, then looked at her with concern. "Have you noticed any blood clotting?" he asked lowering his clipboard to his side.

"No, just spotting."

"Sometimes, you'll notice spotting while pregnant and it can be normal, but we'll see what's going on here," he said, leaving to find a nurse.

They were feeling optimistic with the doctor's words and while waiting for the doctor to return, they continued praying everything would be okay. A nurse finally came in and had them follow her over to the ultrasound room.

As Harlow laid on the examining table, the nurse roamed the wand around her stomach, spotting the baby. She noticed it wasn't moving, didn't see a heartbeat and looked at Harlow. "I'll be right back; I'm going to get the doctor."

Harlow laid still with her hands covering her face, fighting the tears that found its way out of her eyes. Antonio knew she was hurting. He too was feeling hurt and remained quiet, not wanting to say the wrong thing and upset her. Feeling frustrated, he started rubbing his face hard, wishing he could take all her pain away.

The doctor came in, sat down next to the machine and began looking to see what the nurse found. After confirming the nurse's suspicions, he looked over to Harlow and Antonio, giving them the news. "I'm sorry you two," he said, explaining the baby wasn't going to make it, how it will pass on its own and will leave a large clot.