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“Lena,” I said again, looking around the room. “It’s Maria. Are you okay?”
There was more silence.
Until I heard a whimper.
And then a sob.
It was pained, and my lungs clenched. I suddenly felt cold.
I followed the sound and realized it was coming from the bathroom. I moved through the room and opened the door.
The sight almost brought me to my knees. A small gasp escaped past my lips when I saw Lena curled on the floor, next to the toilet, whimpering and crying in pain.
Her eyes met mine, and they were filled with anguish. My heart dropped to my stomach, and I felt a cramp there. I could feel Lena’s pain, and I quickly waddled over to her.
With some maneuvering, I finally knelt down by her side. I reached out to touch her, but she flinched and then let out another choked sob. My eyes scanned down the length over her body before pausing on her flat stomach.
My throat went dry, and my tongue felt heavy when I tried to speak.
“It hurts,” she whispered through a scratchy throat. Her voice was almost unrecognizable. Gone was the happy, chirpy girl. In its place was a fragile, broken woman, crying out her loss.
My gaze fell on the blood that had pooled by her side. “Oh, Lena.” I closed my eyes. My chest seized, and it hurt when I realized the meaning of this situation.
Shaking my head, I swallowed against my dry throat and opened my eyes. I needed to be strong for Lena.
“You need to get up. We’ll go to the doctor. Nothing will happen. It will be okay, Lena.” I grabbed her arm, trying to pull her up. She didn’t budge. Instead, she curled more into her body, as if wanting to hide from everything. “Please, Lena,” I begged.
She let out another whimper, and her sniffles filled the bathroom. Her hand went to her stomach, her fingers curling tightly around the fabric of her dress.
“It’s…too…late.”
“No. Don’t say that!” I pulled at her again, feeling panicked.
“…too late,” she whispered, closing her eyes.
Her dress had ridden up, and I could see blood coating her inner thighs. It appeared as if there were blood clots, a lumpy-looking thing between her legs, on the floor.
Bringing a hand up to my mouth, I tried to stop my choked cry. There was too much bleeding. And I knew she was right. It was too late.
We were both so happy last night, when we found out she was pregnant. We were going to be mothers together. Lena couldn’t stop chatting about it…our babies.
She had meant to tell Boris the good news today.
“It hurts. So much.”
Her broken words felt like lashes against my soul. “I didn’t…have…a chance to tell…Boris. He was…going to be a…father.”
My mind raced. My heart ached. I didn’t know how to console Lena. I wished I had the proper words, but nothing could be said to lessen a mother’s pain at losing her baby.
So I sat against the wall. I gripped one of her hands in mine, while the other stayed on her stomach. Giving Lena a gentle squeeze, I tried to comfort and soothe her with my touch. I thought of going to call Boris. She needed him at a time like this, but I also didn’t want to leave her alone. When I tried to move, her hand wouldn’t let me go. She made the decision for me.
Lena continued to cry until her tears turned silent. I thought maybe hours passed. Or was it just minutes? I couldn’t tell. I lost track of time. It was tormenting to feel my baby’s kick.
Eventually, I moved away from the wall and knelt next to Lena’s head again. Touching her sweaty forehead, I tucked her hair away from her face and caressed her cheeks.
“Lena. You need to get up. We need to clean you up. Please,” I said quietly.
She opened her eyes and stared into mine. Hers were dark—a mask of misery. Her lips parted as if she wanted to speak, but then she closed her mouth again. Silence.
I didn’t say anything either, because words weren’t needed. In fact, speaking hurt more than the silence around us.
Lena winced when she moved. I helped her into a sitting position, and her gaze went to the blood on her dress. Her expression turned bleak, and then she shuddered. With my help, she stood up on wobbly legs.
When I was sure she could stand while leaning against the wall, I took a step away and went to turn the shower on. I let it run, warming up the water to a temperature I knew Lena might like. I went back to her, where she was still standing, unmoving. Her arms laid limply at her sides as she just stared at the floor. I avoided the small pool of blood and stopped in front of her quaking body.
