Several hours later, taping had finished for the day and JC tiredly made his way to his car and driver.  All he wanted to do was go home.  He slipped on his jacket that Katie handed him – she was babbling on about her broken computer.  They both got into the back seat and JC dug in his pocket for his cell phone, still ignoring his cousin. 

Wow, 50 missed calls and 10 messages.  Not unusual but they were all from Laura, Brandon, and the house.  They must really miss me. 

He punched the buttons that connected him to his voicemail and typed in his password, relaxing against the back of the seat. 

Laura’s voice came through, it seemed to be a little weak.  “JC, I really need you.  I’m so sorry about…please come home, I can’t do this alone.”

Next message.  “Are you mad?  I’m sorry.  I can’t stop it, please come home.  It hurts so bad.”

What was going on?

The next few messages came from Brandon.  “JC, Laura was supposed to pick me up from practice and she’s still not here.  Can you come get me?”

“Just wanted you to know I got a ride home, don’t worry about me.”  The sarcasm even translated over the phone. 

He skipped two messages from Joey.

“Have you seen Laura?  I’m hungry, can I order a pizza for supper?”

“JC – why aren’t you answering your phone!!  What do I do?  Laura’s collapsed.  There’s so much blood.  I’m calling 911.”  Brandon’s shaky voice shook JC to his very core. 

Frantically he went to the next message.  “EMS is here, they are taking her to Memorial Hospital.  I guess if you care, you can meet us there.”

With a hard hand, he clasped the driver’s shoulder, “Hurry, Memorial Hospital.  As fast as you can.”  JC choked on the words before listening to the next message.   He held up a hand to silence Katie, who had finally realized something was wrong. 

“Don’t you care?  They won’t let me in to see her and they need you to sign some papers so they can treat her.  I guess your tv career is more important than your wife.  I’m done.” 

Frantic now, he dialed Brandon’s phone, but it went straight to voicemail.  Hoping it was all a joke, he tried Laura’s, it rang and rang before the voicemail kicked in. 

“JC, what is going on?”  Katie asked, looking at his alarmed face. 

“Laura collapsed, Brandon said there was a lot of blood.  I don’t know what’s going on.”  He leaned forward, trying to get the car to move faster. 

Katie’s hand came up to her mouth.  “Oh my…JC I’m so sorry.  I took a call from Laura earlier, but it was a bad connection.  It seemed a little odd, but I forgot to tell you when my computer was ruined.”

“You knew about this?”  He spat out. 

Tears came to her eyes at his anger.  “I didn’t know it was this serious.  If I had, you would have known.  I’m so sorry.”

As the driver sped around the corner to the hospital entrance, JC unbuckled and unlocked the door, his hand on the handle, which he opened before the car came to a complete stop.  At a dead run, he turned sideways to slid through the automatic doors as soon as they were wide enough for his body.  He slammed his hands into the counter at the front desk, already demanding.

“Laura Chasez, where is she?  Is she alright?” 

“One moment, sir.”  The receptionist typed something into her computer. 

But as JC started to yell, wanting the location of his wife, he heard a small voice calling his name.

“JC, you came.”  Brandon had tears running down his face.  JC heart sank at the sight. 

Grabbing Brandon by the shoulders, he gasped out a question.  “How is she?”

“I don’t know, they won’t let me see her, they say I’m too young.”  Katie had made her way in by that point and wrapped an arm around Brandon as JC received his wife’s room number. 

“Stay with Katie,” he called as he took off again.

Bypassing the elevator, which he deemed too slow, he took the stairs three at a time in his haste to achieve the fourth floor.  He shoved open the stairway door, almost taking out a nurse. 

“Laura Chasez, where is she, how is she?”

The nurse raised an eyebrow.  “And you would be?”

“Her husband.”

“Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Chasez.  It’s just that we’ve had quite a few people trying to sneak in here today.  Let me take you to your wife.”  He almost outpaced the nurse in his hurry to get to his wife. 

“How is she?  What happened?”  He skidded to a stop as the nurse motioned to a closed doorway.  The sympathy in her eyes was undeniable. 

“I’ll send the doctor into you as soon as I can.”

He cautiously opened the door, scared of what he was going to find on the other side.  Stepping through, he clicked the door closed behind him.  Laura was lying on her side, facing away from the door, not moving.    

With his heart in his throat, he made his way to the opposite side of the bed.  Her eyes were open, staring vacantly at the plain white wall in front of her.  He bent over, getting in her line of vision and gripped her hand tightly.  Her gaze never shifted; she didn’t even blink.  Her skin was moist, but very cool to the touch. 

“Laura?”  He spoke very softly.

“Hmm?” was her only response. 

“What’s happened?”

Coughing, she licked her lips and started to reach for the cup of water next to the bed.  Before she could move too far, he had the cup in his hand and was placing the straw at her lips.  Taking a long sip, she reclined back on the bed and looked at him for the first time.  He was driven to his knees at the pain on her face. 

“What happened?  I lost our baby, that’s what happened.”  Her voice was totally devoid of emotion. 

He breathed out in a voice full of pain.  “Sweetheart, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s my fault.  I lost the baby.  It had to have been something I did.  I know how much you were looking forward to being a daddy.”

“Listen to me, it is not your fault.  Nobody knows why it happens, but you didn’t do anything.  We will have another baby someday.  I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you, I should have been.”  He said earnestly.  “You shouldn’t have had to go through this alone.”

A knock on the door interrupted them.  JC looked up to see the doctor entering.  Laura never moved. 

“How’s it going in here?”  The doctor was looking through the chart as he checked the dosage in her iv drip.  He never expected an answer. 

“Uh…Mr.….  uh, Chasez, could I talk to you privately for a moment?”  The doctor was losing JC’s respect by the second, especially since he never looked at his wife or even knew her name. 

Pressing a kiss on Laura’s cold cheek, he followed the doctor into the hallway, watching as he flirted with every nurse in the hall.  They stopped in front of the nurses station, where every nurse left when they saw him coming.

“Is there another doctor available?”  JC spoke with flashing eyes and an arrogant tone.

The doctor was taken aback, “Excuse me?”

“I want a doctor with a bedside manner who will actually look at my wife and have a little sympathy for what she is going through.  I-want-another-doctor.”

Spinning on his heel, the doctor walked away without another word.  Slowly, JC became aware of clapping behind him.  A lone nurse who had witnessed the exchange had a huge smile on her face.  “He has needed that for so long.”

Scrubbing a hand over his face, he asked.  “Can you find me another doctor who cares?”

Serious now, she replied.  “Certainly, sir, is there anything else I can do?”

JC paused to think.  “How do I get her through this?”

“Well, in my experience there are only two things that can get a woman through a miscarriage.”  JC waited expectantly.  “Love and time.  She has to understand that you love her, even when her body betrayed her like this.  And she needs time to come to grips with what happened to her and your baby and to grieve.”

“That’s the secret?”  He questioned.

“Yes, sir.  I’ll get you another doctor.”

“Thank you,” JC called out as the nurse headed in the opposite direction. 

Speaking as she turned, she said, “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” he remarked quietly as he again entered Laura’s room.