A LOVE NEVER FADING
Chapter Forty-Five
June 3, 1918
Laughter filled the dining room. Maggie and
Brian had invited Erik over for dinner. Rose, of course, was there, too. They
were having a wonderful time telling stories. At one point, Rose looked over at
Andrew, and noticed he had fallen asleep.
"I'll put him to bed," Rose said.
She picked him up, and he stirred, but didn't wake up. Rose walked to his room.
She laid him in his bed. It was then he woke up. She put the cover over him and
picked up one of his books. Eventually, he fell back to sleep. She smiled and
kissed him on the head, then went back to the party.
The four adults had dessert and then went
into the living room. Brian watched Rose carefully. She hadn't been feeling
good all day. He noticed she was falling asleep.
"Rose, love, why don't you go up to bed?
You look tired."
Rose yawned. "No...that would be
terribly rude of me to leave you..."
"Go on, we don't mind." Maggie
smiled.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive." Maggie pushed her on.
"All right. I had a wonderful time
tonight. Good night." She got up and started up the stairs.
"Good night," the three of them
said in unison.
Erik, Maggie, and Brian went back to their
conversation. Upstairs, Rose was getting changed. She put the nightgown on. She
had a splitting headache. Rose started to climb in bed, but then a terrible
pain shot through her stomach. She clutched it and fell to the ground.
Downstairs Maggie, Brian, and Erik heard the
thud. Brian quickly climbed the stairs. He knocked on the door. "Rose!
Rose, honey, what happened? Are you all right?" Erik was now standing next
to him.
Rose started to crawl towards the door. After
much struggling, she was able to stand up. She walked slowly to the door. By
the time she got the it open, she was so weak she fell right into Erik's arms.
"Rose!" Erik tightened his grip
around her. "What happened?"
"The baby...I think it's coming...but it
doesn't feel right. Things don't feel right, Erik...it's too soon." Rose
closed her eyes.
"Rose...Rose!" Erik shook her, but
she didn't reopen her eyes. He looked over at a horrified Brian. "We have
to get her to the hospital. Something's wrong."
Brian ran down the stairs. "Maggie, we
have to get to the hospital. Go catch a cab. I'll get Andrew."
Erik carried Rose down the stairs. Maggie had
a cab waiting outside the door, and Brian was holding Andrew. They got in the
cab and sped towards the hospital. When they arrived, a doctor grabbed Rose,
and she disappeared into the emergency room.
Erik sat down in one of the waiting room
chairs. He put his head in his hands. Brian cradled Andrew. Maggie laid her
head on his shoulder.
Horrible memories of nights like this filled
Erik's head. He had lost so many children with his wife. He never wanted to go
through anything like that again. But who was to say that that was happening to
Rose. He sighed. He was sure she would be fine. There was just something wrong,
but the doctors could fix it. They were far more advanced in the medical field
now than when they had been when Erik was trying to start a family.
An hour or so later
The doctor emerged from behind two large
steel doors. His face had no emotion whatsoever. It was impossible to tell what
the news was. He stopped in front of the eager group.
"Mr. Dawson?" he asked Brian.
"No, I'm..."
The doctor cut him off and looked at Erik.
"Are you her father, sir?"
"No."
"Are any of you family?"
Maggie looked up at him. "She and her
husband live with us."
"And where is her husband?"
"He's missing in action over in
France," Brian said.
The doctor took a breath. "I'm sorry to
hear that." He voice was genuinely sorry. He looked down at them.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news. Rose lost the baby..."
Everything in Erik's world stopped at that
very second. He couldn't hear anything but the sound of his heart pumping in
his chest. Maggie's eyes welled with tears and she shook. Brian held his
breath. The doctor continued.
"There was nothing we could do. We
tried."
The three sat in silence for a long time.
"How's Rose?" Erik asked, frightened.
The doctor nodded. "She's
fine...physically. I had no idea about her husband. I would advise you to look
out for her well-being. Something like this is very emotionally taxing."
"Thank you, for what you tried to
do." He stared at the wall. "Can we see her?"
"If you like." The doctor turned to
walk down the hall. He looked back at them. "I'm sorry."
Maggie burst into tears. She put her head in
her hands and sobbed. Brian wrapped his arm around her.
"What is she going to do? She doesn't
deserve this...she doesn't deserve this. And Jack...there's no Jack. Oh,
God..." She cried harder.
Brian looked down at Andrew, who was still
asleep unaware of the tragedy surrounding him. He thanked God a thousand times
in his head for giving him such a healthy child. It wasn't until now that he
realized how easily that could be taken away from someone.
Erik stood up. "I'm going to see
her." He walked down the hallway to her bedroom.
Rose lay in her bed, curled up in a ball. She
was facing the window, but wasn't looking out of it. Her eyes focused on
nothing. Rose was floating in a black nothingness. There was no sound, smell,
or feeling. Her body did shiver, though. She pulled the blankets tighter, but
it did nothing. It was like she would never be warm again. She was vaguely
aware of the door opening and someone coming in. She didn't care, either.
Erik looked at Rose's pale face. She was in a
trance. Her lips were dry and her hair matted to her face. Rose's breathing was
slow. Erik sat down on the bed.
"Rose?" he said gently.
"Rose."
She could hear her name being called and
recognized the voice. It was a sound she didn't want to hear. "Erik?"
"Yes," he said, eager to comfort
her.
"Please, go away. I want to be
alone." Her voice was in a raspy whisper, as if at any second she would
burst into tears.
Erik nodded. "Okay." He stood up
and walked out, shutting the door behind him.
Rose blinked and then it hit her. A flood of
tears poured from her eyes. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...I didn't mean for
this to happen...it's all my fault...Jack...Jack...I'm sorry," Rose cried
in agony. She repeated Jack's name over and over, in some way trying to bring
him to her.
Erik could hear her pleas from outside the
door. Her hysterical crying tore through his heart. He slumped down to the
ground and cried to himself. "How could this happen again? Why her? Why
now?"
Rose shivered. She could barely breathe, she
was in some much pain. Her eyes closed tightly, and she moaned to herself.
After a few agonizing hours, she fell into the most restless, uncomfortable
sleep of her life.
In the middle of the night a nurse came in to
check on her. Rose was sleeping, but it broke the nurse's heart that tears were
still falling from her eyes and she was softly crying, "I have to let go.
I can't go on."