Page 40 of Hold 'Em Tight

TW: Pregnancy Complications

Asharp pain in my abdomen has me gasping awake. “What the hell?” I groan, my heart pounding as I pull myself into a seated position. Blinking, my eyes adjust to the darkness as I try to shake the sleepy haze.

Another cramping sensation kickstarts me into being alert. “Ouch,” I gasp, rubbing my belly.

When the pain doesn’t seem to be going away, I start to worry this isn’t gas, like I’ve been having.

A cold chill runs down my spine as panic slowly trickles in. Reaching over, I turn on my bedside lamp and climb out of bed, heading to the bathroom to pee and maybe go number two. Thispregnancy has caused my bathroom habits to be off. It’s not the first time I’ve woken up in the middle of the night to go.

Getting to my feet, I groan at the uncomfortable cramping. It doesn’t feel like anything serious, but it’s not pleasant, that's for sure.

Still half asleep, I shuffle my way into the bathroom, not caring if mom sees me in my panties.

We had a girls’ night last night, a little sleepover with movies and junk food, just the two of us before we’re set to go back to school tomorrow.

I’m dreading it. I honestly have been contemplating just dropping out and moving back home to enroll in a school around here.

But I can’t ask the guys to uproot their lives to follow me, and I’d never ask them to stay. I don’t want to be without them either though.

So, I’ll suck it up until we graduate, and then maybe I can convince them to move here.

Turning the bathroom light on, I squint as my eyes adjust. Just as I’m about to sit down to pee, my reflection catches my attention. For a moment, I think my eyes are playing tricks on me.

But after giving them a good rub, and blinking a few times, my gaze focuses on myself in the mirror.

“What the fuck?” I gasp when I see that my white panties are now covered in red.

My eyes snap downward as I pull them open, and nearly faint at the amount of blood that's soaked into them.

“No,” I whisper, still a little stunned. Then another cramp hits me and reality sinks in. “No. No, no, no.” I start to cry.

Stumbling my way to the toilet, I sit heavily and pull my panties down.

Blood. So much blood.

The longer I look at the crimson liquid, the more I start to hyperventilate. “No. No, no, no.” I keep repeating it over and over again, until it’s coming out as heaving sobs.

Looking in the toilet, I see a tiny clump that looks like a blood clot. My hand slaps over my mouth as I struggle to hold the bile in.

“Rylee?” Mom's voice sounds from the other side of the door. “What's wrong?”

My tear-filled eyes snap up to the door, my body trembling as I sit here in horror. “Mommy.” My voice comes out as a broken sob. Mom is opening the door the next second.

She looks at me, her gaze traveling down to my bloody panties, and I see her face drop.

“Oh, Rylee, sweetheart.”

“I can’t stop it,” I whisper. “There’s so much blood.”

“It’s okay, baby girl. Everything is going to be okay.” She rushes over to me and helps me out of the panties, throwing them into the trash.

I’m not sure what to say, or what to do.

Baby? No. The baby isn’t okay.

The cramping, the bleeding. I know what all of this means, and the way Mom keeps trying to soothe me, to keep me from losing my mind right now, she does too.

I let my mom clean me up and put me in new panties, unable to do anything else right now. I’m just so numb, in shock.