Chapter 27: Chapter 27 HEARTBEAT

“Don’t say stuff like that. Your mum will be fine just wait and see. She went through the same thing when she was having you.” Eric informed.

“But my mom isn’t pregnant anymore.” It didn’t make sense to him.

“That’s what Kayla says but she still has that scent on her. I guess it takes a while to wear off.” Eric sniffed the air around Scarlet to confirm. “Yep, still there.”

“I wonder what’s going on with her.” SJ lay beside his mother when the scowl on Scarlet’s face reappeared.

“Don’t worry your dad is going to be here in a flash.”

SJ placed his cheek against Scarlet’s and yet again cringed away. He stared at her puzzled.

“What is she still cold?”

“No, actually she is blazing hot right now. We need to get all these covers off her before she gets heat stroke.” He pawed away the covers tossing them all over the floor.

“Oh no, not again.” Eric moaned.

“What?” SJ ran to the bathroom for a wet towel to put on Scarlet’s forehead.

“When she was pregnant with you, your mom would have these crazy hot-cold flashes. We were at her side night and day for almost a whole week making sure she was comfortable.” Eric got another cold cloth.

“That’s what we are going to do now.”

“SJ.” Eric hesitated, “The thing is, and throughout that whole craziness your mother was never conscious.”

SJ paused for a second and let it sink in. He took a deep breath and nodded to himself convincing his doubtful side that Scarlet would be alright, she had gone through this before and came out on top. But there was one thing that didn’t make sense, Scarlet symptoms are those of pregnancy, not normal pregnancy but just that. His mother had bled out on the floor, he saw the blood and according to his aunt Kayla, no fetus could survive that.

“Could you snap out of it and get more cold towels.” Eric barked the tone in his voice that of urgency. He was getting anxious and SJ knew it.

He ducked into the bathroom and soaked whatever he could lay his hands on in cold water. When he got back into the room Eric was nowhere to be found, seconds later he stormed into the room with a bucket of ice.

“We need to cool her down, but we also have to be alert her body temperature could change in a second.” He put the ice cubes in a towel and cover her body at the same time he had the warm covers insight.

“How long do we keep at this?” He was toweling the beads of sweat off Scarlet’s forehead.

“Just until her body freezes over.” Literally.

SJ smoothed the cold towel along her arm when his bare palm followed closely. He was keeping watch for the change of temperature that Eric had warned him about. It took a couple of minutes before SJ realized that her skin was cooling off. Quickly they replaced the cold towels with a warm cover, layering them on top of each other just as her body got colder.

SJ sighed in relief when he caught his father’s scent close by. He was there to care for his mother day and night but there were some things that he didn’t understand and couldn’t handle and this was one of them.

He moved aside knowing that once Stephan got into the house he wouldn’t stop until he was by Scarlet’s side. Stephan leaned over Scarlet’s body a puzzled look crossed his face when he saw the mountains of ice, wet towels, and covers bundled on Scarlet.

“What’s going on here?” Stephan leaned over Scarlet’s bundled body.

“She’s having the flashes.” Eric put in.

“That’s impossible. Scarlet isn’t pregnant anymore.” Kayla hovered over Scarlet. She closed her eyes and tapped into her mind. “She is feeling cold, and because I know what she is thinking confirms that she isn’t pregnant.”

“Ok, then what’s wrong with her?” Solara asked as he moved the ice cubes out of the way.

“I don’t know. Maybe we should call Nikki.” Stephan suggested.

“So that she can do what exactly? Tell us how she knows nothing. She wasn’t much help when Scarlet was pregnant with SJ what makes you think she is an expert now.” Kayla peeled off the covers when Scarlet’s thoughts were about feeling hot.

“Is she getting warmer?” SJ followed Kayla’s lead and put a towel or ice close by.

Kayla nodded as she continued peeling the covers off her.

“Have you guys considered that there is a chance that she didn’t have a miscarriage?” Solara pointed out.

“She did. You saw all the blood. I think her body is just having a delayed reaction to the miscarriage. She’ll be fine soon.”

For two and a half days Kayla kept on telling them that Scarlet would soon be fine. Saying it as many times as she could so that her family as well as herself would believe her.

SJ stayed at his mother’s side throughout not daring to close his eyes and sleep just in case something happened. His sleep deprivation made him tense and snappy. He would lash out at anyone and everyone who would try to move him from his mother’s side.

Scarlet woke up to find that she was alone in the room with her dozing son. She watched as he jumped to his feet and paced around the room in an attempt to stay awake. She kept silent but when he tried to do a handstand against the wall she spoke up.

“What are you doing?” she peeked at him from under her heavy eyelids.

“Mom!” he tumbled to the ground but jumped to his feet and rushed to her side. “Mom you are awake.”

“Thank you for noticing. Now please tell me why you look like you haven’t slept for days.” She eased herself into a sitting position with SJ’s help. She then traced the black lines under his swirling silver eyes.

“I’m going to get dad. Just stay here.”

“I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

SJ ran to the door and leaned over the railing, with one bellowed shout he called for his dad. Stephan was beside him even before he could finish sounding out the –d-.

“What? What’s wrong?” Stephan said in a panic.

“Nothing, it’s just that Mom is awake.”

Stephan finally noticed Scarlet sitting upright on the bed. She was still pale but the light in her hazel eyes was still there.

“Scarlet you are awake.” he sat on the side of the bed.

“That’s what everyone keeps on telling me.”

“You have been out for three days.” He combed her hair from her face.

“Just three days. I must be losing my touch.” She joked knowing that she had been unconscious longer than that twice before. “I see that in my absence you neglected our only child.”

Stephan turned to stare at the disheveled boy. Who looked more like an old mortal than an ageless immortal. “He’s headstrong. He refused to sleep or leave your side, so it’s entirely your fault.” He leaned in a planted a kiss on her lips.

“I can see you are better now. If anyone needs me and I do pray you don’t I will be in my room sleeping off three days.” He gave his mom a quick kiss on the forehead and breezed to his room.

“Please don’t let anyone wake him. He looks exhausted.” Scarlet felt exhausted. She knew that her son was reflecting what she felt inside.

“How are you doing?”

“With what? Losing the baby or being out for three days.”

“Both.”

“I’m fine.” Scarlet could hear Kayla coming up the stairs and she wanted to be safely away in the bathroom before she got there.

She attempted to get out of bed when she felt the bump of her belly restricting her movement. Her hand dropped to the bulge.

Stephan followed her hand and saw the look of sadness in her eyes, “Kayla says it will soon disappear.”

“Oh.” Part of her wished it would remain. But part of her also wished it would have disappeared when she was still unconscious. It was too much of a reminder of the baby she lost and wouldn’t get to see.

“Scar you are finally awake sleeping beauty.” She bounced on the bed, “I know it was prince Charmin’s kiss that woke you.”

“Nope, it was the floorboards crying after SJ had worn them out.” She gave her friend a plastered smile.

“How are you feeling?” The teasing tone in Kayla’s voice was replaced with that of concern.

“Great. But I am in dire need of a shower.” She chewed on her lower lip and waited for Kayla to get the message. She wanted to be alone.

“I wasn’t going to say anything, but you do need the shower.” She went into the bathroom and started filling the bathtub, pouring in some bath salts. She looked down at the soapy bubbles forming thinking of how three days ago Scarlet’s blood was in the tub where the bubbles now were.

“It’s ready.” She slipped into the room and help Scarlet to her feet.

“Thanks.” Scarlet went into the bathroom alone. Slowly she slipped out of her clothes and she climbed into the tub, toes first. She sank in, letting the warm water and bubbles surround her body. She felt relaxed and alive as the water kneaded into her stone flesh.

Scarlet wanted to cry. She wanted her tears to merge with her bathwater just as her blood once did. She had heard about the pain of losing a child but she didn’t think it was that bad especially since she had never met her child. She caressed her belly, space where her baby had once filled. She lay back in the bathtub and in the water until she felt it go cold.

Scarlet climbed out of the tub and crossed the bathroom to get her robe. But as she walked past the mirror in the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of what wasn’t there four days ago. She stood in front of the mirror and viewed her body from every angle.

The day she bled out her belly was not bigger than a football and now it was bigger than a football. She was sure that something was going on with her body. Quickly she pulled on the robe and rushed into the room where she knew Stephan would be waiting.

“You know my body just as well if not better than I do. Four days ago I wasn’t this big.” She opened the robe for him to see.

Usually, Stephan would only see the uninterrupted flow of her skin, but today all his eyes could see was the mountain forming at the center of her body.

“What’s going on?” he put his hands over the bulge. Carefully he pressed it but it didn’t form a depression.

Scarlet pulled on some clothes and left her bewildered husband still seated at the bed.

“Kayla.” She rushed looking for her best friend. “Kayla!”

“Who’s on fire?” Kayla ran into the house. “Relax you just woke up, you don’t want to go into shock by doing too much so soon.”

“You say that I had a miscarriage right?”

“Right. Scar where are we going with this? I know it hurts to lose a kid but torturing yourself because of it will only drive you crazy.” She took her friend’s hand in hers.

“Ok then, explain this.” She pulled her hand away then used both her hands to point at the center of her body.

“Wasn’t it always that big?” Kayla mumbled.

Scarlet shook her head. “Either we are both going crazy or I am still pregnant.”

“Because I am sure that the voices in my head are not from your head, I can confidently say that I am not crazy. So that means you are pregnant.” Kayla squealed.

The two girls started squealing and jumping up and down. Everyone except SJ ran to the foyer where they watched the two women do a victory dance.