Short Story -- Complications
Corinne glared at Jared, refusing to take and hold his hand as the contractions began to start. She was furious with him. She couldn’t believe what he had done. The physical pain was slight, but her heart was breaking and her mind was racing as she watched the doctor sitting down by the foot of the bed. The poor girl felt uncomfortable as she laid there, her feet up in the stirrups.
‘Unbelievable, this is absolutely unbelievable,’ she thought. She laid her head back on the small, thin, hard pillow of the hospital bed and took a deep breath. ‘How could he have done this?’ she asked herself, trying to wrap her brain around what was going on. She was so confused. The doctor wasn’t telling her anything and she hadn’t had a choice in anything that had just happened.
Corinne slapped Jared’s hand away as another contraction hit. She didn’t need him. The seventeen-year-old girl set her lips into a firm, grim line, refusing to open her eyes and see the horror that her body was witnessing. She could feel Jared’s presence beside her, but she did her best to ignore it, gripping tightly to the rails on either side of her. She felt his fingertips wiping at the sweat on her forehead and flinched. “Don’t…touch…me,” she said lowly, through her teeth as she moved her head away from him.
Jared sighed, pulling his hand away from her and clasping them both behind his back, his eyebrows furrowed with worry. “Corinne, I’m sorry, but it’s for your own good,” he told her gently, his voice low. “This is hurting me just as much as it is hurting you,” he swore to her, desperately wanting to reach out and take her hand, but knowing enough to just let her alone.
Corinne shook her head, her eyes still closed. “I’ll never forgive you for this,” she said ruthlessly as she felt her baby beginning to move down into the birthing canal inside her. “I hate you,” she told him, squeezing her eyes shut, wishing the doctor would just knock her out with something so that she didn’t have to experience the horror that she was going through. She heard the wheels on the doctor’s chair screech closer to her and knew that it was time, gripping onto the guardrails tighter, trying to steel her mind for what was about to occur.
-----
Corinne sighed in relief as she sat on the sterile, too white hospital bed when Jared walked into the room. She looked to the doctor, knowing he would be better at explaining what was going on. She knew her husband would take her side though. They had just gotten married two months ago when her parents had consented for them to be married because of her pregnancy.
She tuned the doctor and Jared out as they talked, holding Jared’s hand as she remembered her wedding day, the happiest day of her life. She knew it would be replaced though when she finally gave birth to the precious little baby girl growing inside her. She didn’t care about the risks from the complications she was having. It would be well worth it to watch her little bundle of joy grow up.
She looked up then from her reverie and frowned, noticing that Jared looked a little overwhelmed, his face flushed and his hands shaking. “Jared? What’s wrong?” she asked, moving to stand from the bed before a nurse pushed her back down onto it. Her eyes widened as she saw the nurse had a needle, biting her lip as she listened to her say ‘This won’t hurt a bit.’ She looked up to Jared and shook her head. “No, no, please tell me you didn’t!” she said, her heart racing as the needle was pushed into her hip, gripping the sheets from the sting.
Jared looked to Corinne and walked over quickly after handing the doctor back the papers he had just signed. “Baby, it’s too risky to go through with the pregnancy. I had to,” he said, trying to take her hand. He hadn’t told her what he was doing because he knew that she would become upset. “Corinne, listen, I can’t lose you. You’re everything to me,” he told her, frowning as she batted away his hand. He watched her then, knowing by the way she was acting towards him that he had definitely done something repulsive. Her words stung him when he heard ‘I hate you’ come out of her mouth. He took a step back, before covering his mouth as he watched the baby slide easily from her body and the doctor cut the cord. He watched then as the nurse took the little girl away, never again to have a chance at life.
-----
Corinne gasped as she felt the baby move from her body, opening her eyes as she watched the nurse carry away her pride and joy. She looked to Jared finally, tears in her eyes. “You killed our baby,” she said quietly, looking down at her hands clasped over her deflated belly. “You didn’t even give me a choice,” she murmured, the tears beginning to fall as she let the situation seep into her brain. She felt empty, lost, helpless, and more fragile than she had ever felt in her life. She felt broken, destroyed, merely a shell of a person. “I really never will forgive you,” she told him, refusing to look up at him when he cupped her chin in his hand.
Jared’s eyes widened as he finally realized what he had done. He walked over to her and cupped her chin in his palm, willing her to turn her head up to him and look at him. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry, but there will be others. I promise,” he tried to soothe her, sitting down beside her. “I promise I’ll make it up to you,” he whispered, kissing her temple, letting his lips rest there for a moment. He felt his heart breaking into a thousand tiny pieces. Corinne looked devastated, but couldn’t she tell that he was devastated too? He was disgusted with himself, but there had been no other choice!
“You’ll never make it up to me, Jared,” Corinne said after what felt like an eternity of silence, her mind flashing the image of her dead baby across her vision every few seconds. “You just went against everything I ever stood for,” she said, her voice becoming chocked as her chest constricted. “You married me because you didn’t want me to be forced into an abortion by my parents and yet, you just single-handedly killed her.”
Jared hung his head, running his hand roughly over his face, feeling guiltier than ever. He had done this; he had broken her. There was no way to take back what he had done and he could see no way that he could set it all right again. “I know Corinne, but I couldn’t bear to lose you. You’re the love of my life, the one who’s always there for me. It was either your life or the baby’s and you heard the doctor before, there was a high chance that the baby wasn’t going to survive. I had to do what I did to save you, to protect you, to keep you.” He sighed heavily, tilting his head back to look up at the ceiling as he tried to think.
Corinne shrugged, her emotions quickly turning to anger. “And look how you repay me,” she said spitefully, her voice hard. “I’ve given you all that I have and all you’ve done is take. Why couldn’t you have just been on my side and been there for me, just this once?” she asked, her voice rising in volume. “I can’t believe you,” she said, her words sinking into him like a knife. “Just because you’re my legal guardian now because we’re married and I’m still a minor, doesn’t mean that you can just do with my body what you please,” she seethed, her lips setting into a firm line once again. Every single part of her loathed him now. “Just leave. I don’t want to see your face. I’ll have my lawyer send over the papers for you to sign tomorrow,” she spat. “Don’t worry about signing those too quickly. I can’t wait to forget about you.”
Let me know what you think!!!! I wrote this for my first writing project in my fiction writing class. I know it's not the greatest, but I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do. I know Jared is a little unbelievable, but I kind of intended that. I wanted my audience to identify with and feel sympathy for Corinne.
‘Unbelievable, this is absolutely unbelievable,’ she thought. She laid her head back on the small, thin, hard pillow of the hospital bed and took a deep breath. ‘How could he have done this?’ she asked herself, trying to wrap her brain around what was going on. She was so confused. The doctor wasn’t telling her anything and she hadn’t had a choice in anything that had just happened.
Corinne slapped Jared’s hand away as another contraction hit. She didn’t need him. The seventeen-year-old girl set her lips into a firm, grim line, refusing to open her eyes and see the horror that her body was witnessing. She could feel Jared’s presence beside her, but she did her best to ignore it, gripping tightly to the rails on either side of her. She felt his fingertips wiping at the sweat on her forehead and flinched. “Don’t…touch…me,” she said lowly, through her teeth as she moved her head away from him.
Jared sighed, pulling his hand away from her and clasping them both behind his back, his eyebrows furrowed with worry. “Corinne, I’m sorry, but it’s for your own good,” he told her gently, his voice low. “This is hurting me just as much as it is hurting you,” he swore to her, desperately wanting to reach out and take her hand, but knowing enough to just let her alone.
Corinne shook her head, her eyes still closed. “I’ll never forgive you for this,” she said ruthlessly as she felt her baby beginning to move down into the birthing canal inside her. “I hate you,” she told him, squeezing her eyes shut, wishing the doctor would just knock her out with something so that she didn’t have to experience the horror that she was going through. She heard the wheels on the doctor’s chair screech closer to her and knew that it was time, gripping onto the guardrails tighter, trying to steel her mind for what was about to occur.
-----
Corinne sighed in relief as she sat on the sterile, too white hospital bed when Jared walked into the room. She looked to the doctor, knowing he would be better at explaining what was going on. She knew her husband would take her side though. They had just gotten married two months ago when her parents had consented for them to be married because of her pregnancy.
She tuned the doctor and Jared out as they talked, holding Jared’s hand as she remembered her wedding day, the happiest day of her life. She knew it would be replaced though when she finally gave birth to the precious little baby girl growing inside her. She didn’t care about the risks from the complications she was having. It would be well worth it to watch her little bundle of joy grow up.
She looked up then from her reverie and frowned, noticing that Jared looked a little overwhelmed, his face flushed and his hands shaking. “Jared? What’s wrong?” she asked, moving to stand from the bed before a nurse pushed her back down onto it. Her eyes widened as she saw the nurse had a needle, biting her lip as she listened to her say ‘This won’t hurt a bit.’ She looked up to Jared and shook her head. “No, no, please tell me you didn’t!” she said, her heart racing as the needle was pushed into her hip, gripping the sheets from the sting.
Jared looked to Corinne and walked over quickly after handing the doctor back the papers he had just signed. “Baby, it’s too risky to go through with the pregnancy. I had to,” he said, trying to take her hand. He hadn’t told her what he was doing because he knew that she would become upset. “Corinne, listen, I can’t lose you. You’re everything to me,” he told her, frowning as she batted away his hand. He watched her then, knowing by the way she was acting towards him that he had definitely done something repulsive. Her words stung him when he heard ‘I hate you’ come out of her mouth. He took a step back, before covering his mouth as he watched the baby slide easily from her body and the doctor cut the cord. He watched then as the nurse took the little girl away, never again to have a chance at life.
-----
Corinne gasped as she felt the baby move from her body, opening her eyes as she watched the nurse carry away her pride and joy. She looked to Jared finally, tears in her eyes. “You killed our baby,” she said quietly, looking down at her hands clasped over her deflated belly. “You didn’t even give me a choice,” she murmured, the tears beginning to fall as she let the situation seep into her brain. She felt empty, lost, helpless, and more fragile than she had ever felt in her life. She felt broken, destroyed, merely a shell of a person. “I really never will forgive you,” she told him, refusing to look up at him when he cupped her chin in his hand.
Jared’s eyes widened as he finally realized what he had done. He walked over to her and cupped her chin in his palm, willing her to turn her head up to him and look at him. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry, but there will be others. I promise,” he tried to soothe her, sitting down beside her. “I promise I’ll make it up to you,” he whispered, kissing her temple, letting his lips rest there for a moment. He felt his heart breaking into a thousand tiny pieces. Corinne looked devastated, but couldn’t she tell that he was devastated too? He was disgusted with himself, but there had been no other choice!
“You’ll never make it up to me, Jared,” Corinne said after what felt like an eternity of silence, her mind flashing the image of her dead baby across her vision every few seconds. “You just went against everything I ever stood for,” she said, her voice becoming chocked as her chest constricted. “You married me because you didn’t want me to be forced into an abortion by my parents and yet, you just single-handedly killed her.”
Jared hung his head, running his hand roughly over his face, feeling guiltier than ever. He had done this; he had broken her. There was no way to take back what he had done and he could see no way that he could set it all right again. “I know Corinne, but I couldn’t bear to lose you. You’re the love of my life, the one who’s always there for me. It was either your life or the baby’s and you heard the doctor before, there was a high chance that the baby wasn’t going to survive. I had to do what I did to save you, to protect you, to keep you.” He sighed heavily, tilting his head back to look up at the ceiling as he tried to think.
Corinne shrugged, her emotions quickly turning to anger. “And look how you repay me,” she said spitefully, her voice hard. “I’ve given you all that I have and all you’ve done is take. Why couldn’t you have just been on my side and been there for me, just this once?” she asked, her voice rising in volume. “I can’t believe you,” she said, her words sinking into him like a knife. “Just because you’re my legal guardian now because we’re married and I’m still a minor, doesn’t mean that you can just do with my body what you please,” she seethed, her lips setting into a firm line once again. Every single part of her loathed him now. “Just leave. I don’t want to see your face. I’ll have my lawyer send over the papers for you to sign tomorrow,” she spat. “Don’t worry about signing those too quickly. I can’t wait to forget about you.”
Let me know what you think!!!! I wrote this for my first writing project in my fiction writing class. I know it's not the greatest, but I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do. I know Jared is a little unbelievable, but I kind of intended that. I wanted my audience to identify with and feel sympathy for Corinne.