Sam paced in front of the operating theatre anxiously, hoping for good news, and the one good thing was that the operating theatre light went off after close to an hour.
"Doctor, how's my sister doing?" Sam held the doctor's hands tightly as the doctor shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Chu had suffered from a miscarriage. The fetus's implantation was not strong and had been unstable." The doctor explained as Sam blinked in disappointment.
So this was how it felt to be told an unborn life had been gone? Did you feel the same this way back then, Jade, when you had the abortion? Sam questioned himself and felt very angry with himself.
"How far long was she?" His next question was to determine who the father was.
"Two months..." The doctor said briefly as Sam nodded in acknowledgement, letting the nurses and the doctor leave.
Dexter! You bastard! Sam was caught up in a mixture of anger at himself and his ex-brother-in-law as he punched the wall multiple times, ignoring the bleeding on his hand.
A part of him was happy that the baby did not make it, but a part of him was sad that Violet was put into such turmoil amid her divorce, which was finalising, yet she was just beginning to find the path to her new life.
What was worse was when he was reminded of how he made Jade abort their baby. His heart ached horribly sitting by Violet's bed that night, waiting for her to wake as he updated Sebastian on her condition and wondered how Jade was doing as he scrolled through her social media and saw a picture of doves flying up to the skies she posted on the date of her miscarriage.
A winter to remember. 24.12.14. I will always cherish you forever.
His heart ached further for not noticing all these posts earlier. As he felt a grip tighten on his hand, he pulled himself back to composure. Violet was stirring awake and was confused why she was in the hospital, but quickly remembered Sam was angry with her. She instantly sat up but quickly felt the pangs of pain in her tummy.
"Slowly!" Sam yelled at her.
"Hey, don't be angry…" She persuaded Sam when she noticed his wrapped-up right hand and began to panic.
"How can I not?" He said through his gritted teeth as he tried not to give in to his rollercoaster of emotions.
"What happened? Did you get into a fight?" Violet was worried and on the verge of tearing up when he pulled his hand away from her.
"If you're worried, from the perspective of work, I clearly wasn't needed. Then what's the problem?" Violet tried reasoning with his question.
"I'm concerned about you! What if you're hurt along the way? Do you not care about yourself anymore? Your divorce is not finalised. You're entangled with him. Do you know how dangerous it was earlier?" Sam did not want to scold her, but he could not help it.
"How am I hurt if there's no feeling?" She forcefully lied, wanting to appease Sam, and was still worried about his hand as she stared at it with a pout.
"Don't lie. We all can see it." He blew her cover without giving her any leeway, refusing to explain about his hand.
Violet sighed. "Fine, who can resist an artist? So charming and talented. Of course, a little affection does exist, but if you meant commitment, then I have never thought of it." Violet explained.
"You don't, doesn't mean he can't." Sam pestered further, and she knew he was right.
"I know but why tie myself down to another marriage at this age? You know what, I don't believe in marriages anymore… I might not even believe in love anymore. This fling… It will pass. Don't be angry about it. Nothing to worry…" Violet tried to hold his hand but grimaced at the pain on her abdomen. Sam sighed in defeat as he closed his eyes, forcing all his harsh emotions away.
"I just don't want to see you get hurt…" Sam's reminder hurt Violet a lot and made her realise Sam was probably right.
"I won't. I promise I will keep things under control, alright. Besides, I have my brother by my side, accompanying me in any issue. Now what happened to this?" Violet tried to pester him for an answer he still refused to give.
"Vi…" He squatted by her side, noticing she was still oblivious to the reason she was in the hospital. She hummed in acknowledgement.
"Do you know why you're here?" He asked in a very serious manner.
"Gastric, I guess? I recalled piercing pain and passing out…" She mumbled with a frown as Sam gently patted her head as his eyes reddened.
"Vi, you were two months pregnant… You miscarried." Sam told her gently as her eyes began to well.
"Me? No… I didn't… Not possible." Violet let her tears flow.
"Yes, you did." Sam continued to state the truth. "No… Sam… No…" Sam hugged her while she denied all she wanted.
Two months… That wedding night… Dexter's baby… Violet sobbed all she wanted, wondering if their marriage was saved; this baby's timing would have given them a chance of reconciliation.
Perhaps this was better… She comforted herself, but her tears could not stop flowing as she held onto Sam for the last rope of refuge.
When Violet finally fell asleep, Sam texted Maliwei and Sebastian to inform them both about her progress. Maliwei instantly made his way to the hospital to accompany and help out Sam. Sebastian could not resist heading to the hospital, only to be blocked by Sam intentionally with urgent work to oversee from their business setup on his behalf.
Two days later, Violet returned home looking pale. Little did she expect herself to be stirred by a slight postpartum depression after her miscarriage. All she did thereafter was lie in bed aimlessly or stay indoors, occasionally blaming herself and occasionally thinking of all the possibilities if the baby were around.
Mostly, it was Maliwei who had been checking in on her while working on his art projects, as Violet quietly slept in or spaced out. For a week, she was in her own world without knowing that Sam and Sebastian were coping with a lot of work on their end. It was also all thanks to Janice for creating that chaos that Sebastian could steal time to keep the new business with Sam progressing quicker.
However, Sebastian just could not shrug off Janice. Since their complicated relationship was still the main attention of the news, she took the opportunity to keep visiting Sebastian's family home despite Sebastian reprimanding her. He had no choice but to seek his family's lawyers to issue a restraining order against her from harassing his family.
That did not stop Janice from creating scenes outside for Sebastian while he was at work. Eventually, his jobs at the agency were put to rest again. Once again, Sebastian found himself focusing more on the business set up, and by now, they had the location of the office set up with deposit paid and had completed the furnishings together. They had a headache deciding on the new hires. They knew who the right person to help them was, but they also knew they had to wait for Violet to recover first, and it would take time. The only way for Sebastian and Sam to test their luck is with a couple of interviews first.
It was the eve of the weekend when Violet was cooped up in her room alone as usual. She recognised this loneliness in her heart. It was how it felt like when she was still married. Her thoughts wondered to Dexter.
How have you been? If you knew I had our baby would you have treated me differently? If the baby were saved, would you still want me back? Violet sighed.
I don't think we could head back like before isn't it? Even if you didn't go ahead before with other women, I already did, Dex. And you know what? I finally realised our love died the day we decided to forcibly tie the knot. What a joke? Violet wiped away the springing tears.
Just when will I hear from you on our divorce? She mockingly laughed at herself.
It was suffocating that she felt like dying, wanting to just jump off the building but exhaustion soon caught up with her. Instead, she silently cried herself to sleep that night slowly embracing the fact that she had lost a life who was growing inside her.
Violet was not the only one agonising over a broken marriage that night. Janice was throwing a tantrum in her room when her parents tried to stop her, only for her to be bandaged over a slash from broken glass pieces on her arm. Her mother was very upset over it, but her father dragged her out of her room to let her reflect by herself.
While being autopilot put to bed by the maids and finally alone, Janice then began to realise she was all alone the whole entire time. The hollow emptiness inside her was pounding so loudly this time, loud enough for her to listen for herself. It made her feel like she was banging on a trap door so loudly for rescue, only to no avail, as though no one could hear her.
She may have been surrounded by many friends and family, but none of them understood her. She first thought Sebastian would, but after that night, she realised she had brought everything upon herself.
What are you looking for, heading out with those fake people when in the end, Seb was all that mattered? The first streak of tears flow.
It's too late now isn't it? Janice questioned herself as more tears flowed.
I want him back! I want him so bad! Janice could only yell in the hollowness of her heart while breaking down all by herself.