The Truth Behind a Smile

Chapter Six

Blood Loss

“Psst, Ana … psssst,” Stephen whispered urgently. He couldn’t wait any longer for her to wake up. He shook her lightly by pressing two fingers against her shoulder between her glitter- and confetti-littered hair. They had spent the previous night celebrating the New Year, and given Stephen’s reluctance to drink alcohol, that had meant that Ana was allowed to drink. Kneeling at her bedside and biting his lip, he slowly built up the force he was applying to her shoulder.

After a few more shakes, and Ana began to open her eyes.

He watched as she tried to focus, and her gaze settled on the small black box he held a few inches from her face. In the box was a silver ring with one of smallest but clearest diamonds anyone could expect to see, surrounded by a halo of even smaller diamonds. Her eyes went wide.

“Ana, I love you and I want to—” Stephen began.

“YES! YES! Of course, I’ll marry you!” She grabbed him by the neck and smashed his face against hers, kissing him as tears gathered in her eyes and began to trickle down her face.

“Okay, okay! Let me at least put the ring on you.” Stephen said as he pulled away.

A smile like he’d never felt before spread across his face as he slid the ring onto a finger of her trembling hand. His lips parted on their own and for a rare moment he felt a natural smile. He felt the liquid warmth of tears of his own, and his vision became blurred.

Ana held out her hand, fingers splayed. The ring fit perfectly.

The two soon-to-be newlyweds spent the day at home in each other arms, enjoying their time together and saving the work of sharing the news for the days to come. They planned a small wedding, no more than 15 or so people, including themselves. Much like Stephen, Ana was an introvert who didn’t have many close friends. She too had lost her parents but at a much younger age. Orphaned by a boating accident in the gulf, she was raised by an aunt who didn’t care much for her. She moved out at the first opportunity, working at menial jobs, paying her way through school, and finally becoming an emergency room nurse.

The small wedding allowed them to save money, which they soon would need in other areas of their lives: Ana would conceive on their wedding night. After the wedding the two would not get much time to themselves since they would be busy preparing for their newborn. It was an exciting time for the couple, and especially for Stephen, who had always dreamt of having a family and children of his own.

He spent most of his time babyproofing their new home. He did everything he could to make sure their family would be safe, taking every precaution he could think of into account, even preventing Ana from driving on her own after the second trimester. All these defenses and security measures helped put Stephen at ease, until one night a few weeks away from the due date.

“Stephen, wake up! Stephen, oh God, wake up! Please!”

Stephen heard his wife through the static of a dream and snapped awake. Suddenly he was aware of a viscous fluid that seemed to have coated his hand and midsection.

“You need to take me to the hospital.” Ana breaths were staggered.

Stephen brought his hand up from under the covers as he rubbed the liquid between his fingers and knew instantly that it was not any normal fluid. A slightly sweet, metallic scent floated up to his nostrils as he pulled his hand out from under the covers and saw the dark substance that covered his hand. He twisted his wrist, and moonlight shining through the bedroom window illuminated small puddles between the wrinkles of his palm so that they glowed a haunting red. Blood.

Stephen ripped the sheets off himself and Ana in one quick motion, revealing a horrifying amount of blood that had soaked more than half the bed and covered them both. Stephen quickly realized where it was all coming from. Terrified, he lifted his eyes until they met Ana’s. A mixture of tears and blood smeared her cheeks. She must have tried to wipe away her tears and now looked as though she’d applied war paint to her face.

With each panicked breath he took, Stephen felt as though a knife had pierced his lungs. He saw the worry in his wife’s eyes and hastily grabbed the set of emergency clothes he’d left beside the bed in case Ana’s water broke in the middle of the night; he never imagined he’d be dressing for this.

Ana watched mutely, waiting for her husband to help her.

“Okay, come on,” Stephen said as calmly as he could. “We gotta go right now.” He went to Ana’s side and tenderly helped her to her feet. When Ana stood up, a splash hit the floor as if someone had spilt a cup full of blood. She groaned and fell to her knees, weeping violently.

“No, no, no, no. Come on, you have to get up, sweetheart. Everything is going to be okay. The doctors will take care of you and the baby, don’t worry.” Stephen fed Ana these words although he knew he couldn’t promise anything. Although lying to his wife made him feel sick, he knew it was the right thing to do.

Ana had lost the strength and, it seemed, the will to move, forcing Stephen to carry her. The stairs were the hardest; he heard blood drip with each descending step. His stomach turned, and he had to fight to keep its contents down.

Eventually, they made it to the car, leaving a trail of blood droplets behind them.

Stephen maneuvered Ana into the front seat. Without bothering to put a towel down, as they’d initially planned, he sprinted around the car to the driver’s seat. He checked to make sure that Ana was seated comfortably and still conscious but saw that her fluttering eyelids were almost closed.

“No, you gotta stay awake, Baby. Don’t fall asleep on me now.” Stephen started the car and reached across to lightly shake her to keep her awake.

He sped off and followed the preplanned route to the hospital, which had the fewest intersections and stop lights although Stephen barely paid attention to either. He was focused instead on making the correct turns and keeping Ana awake. It felt as though a thick cloud was in hot pursuit—so much so that Stephen began to picture the streetlamps that darted by as flashes of lightning just barely missing the car.

Between the roar of the engine and his pleas to his wife to stay awake, Stephen began to hear a faint sound: It was repetitive and almost rhythmic, with the softest of bass tones. The sound grew louder and louder in his head, soon surpassing even the distressed engine and of his own voice, becoming the only thing that he could hear. He knew what was creating the sound and looked sharply toward the passenger seat, where he saw a faint stream of blood fall onto the carpeting below. Given the muffling effect of the carpet, most people wouldn’t even be able to hear such a sound, let alone allow it to take over their sense of hearing. Yet Stephen couldn’t control it. Instead, he used each drip as motivation to drive faster and faster until they finally arrived at the hospital. Stephen pulled up to the very front of the emergency room doors and jumped out of his car screaming for help as he ran to the passenger side.

“What happened?” asked a nurse who’d rushed outside with a small group of other hospital staff.

“I don’t know!” Stephen cried. “She just woke up and she was bleeding everywhere! There was so much blood, just blood everywhere. She’s due in a month!”