Romance in Kitalo City Book 3
He would give anything to repair the damage he inflicted on her heart the last time she gave it to him, but the years he let slip by have driven a deep wedge between them.
She's not as welcoming as she was the last time...
Trigger warning: This chapter contains sensitive mentions of loss. Please read with caution.
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The look on Hasani's face when he walked back into the waiting room communicated only one thing, something terrible had happened.
"Nella's alive." he said, not making eye contact with anyone. "She had to have a small procedure done, but the doctor said she'll be okay."
"And the baby?" Aisha asked tentatively, almost as if she knew exactly what would come out of his mouth and wasn't ready to hear it.
Hasani shook his head, tears pooling in his eyes. The words "No heartbeat," were all he managed to say before he slumped down into a chair and held his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking from silent tears.
Ketura let out a gutted cry, her throat tight as she clutched her stomach and tightly closed her eyes. Everyone was reacting in their own way, but something about the way she broke down made me rush over to her. I was on my knees in front of her, my brow furrowing as I saw a kind of pain on her face I'd never once witnessed before.
Two words had shattered her, turned her world upside down. Two words had rendered her voice almost irrecognisable to my ears as it came out in painful sobs. She clutched the t-shirt I had on with both hands as she cried into my chest, her weeping making this harsh reality sink deep into my bones.
Hasani was mumbling something under his breath now, his voice clipped and thick with emotion. "I can't take this anymore. I can't. If my wife's heart breaks one more time..."
"H." Chimwemwe said softly. "Don't lose hope. A lot of people who go through this end up having healthy children eventually."
"This is not even about that, Chi!" Hasani hissed through gritted teeth and frustrated tears pricking his eyes. "This is about the blows life keeps throwing at us like we're indestructible or immune to pain. Like we're not just human, trying to survive in a world that's messed up and unfair. If it's not dealing with stupid exes, it's difficulty conceiving, it's dead fathers showing up out of nowhere, or dangerous road accidents, or losing the one thing we prayed for for so long. When does it end? Why us? Why her? She's been through more than enough!"
Namiko's crying could be heard through Akim's speaker now. Ketura was still sobbing, her body refusing to keep her upright. Aisha hadn't moved an inch since Hasani confirmed that the baby was gone. She hadn't even blinked. Loss hung over the group like dark, swollen rain clouds. The heaviness of this moment could not be compared to anything I'd ever experienced before.
This was so messed up. Two weeks after our friends welcomed two perfectly healthy babies into the world, we were mourning the loss of a baby we'd all grown attached to in some way or another. I recalled several moments when I'd made Nella laugh, giving her baby ridiculous names that no one in their right mind would name their child. I would never have guessed then that this would be the painful outcome of things.
