Only 16
Part 4
By Azurite
azurite_moon@yahoo.com
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Sailormoon isn't mine. 
Stormlight, Jlala, Sailor Peace and 
Alicia Blade rule. Lady Starra, 
Lady Setsuna and all those other 
greats out there too. 
Slightly longer, but no guarantees. 
Join my ML: www.onelist.com/community/sailorfic_review
Visit my Site: www.geocities.com/sailor_andromida/
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
RECAP: 
	Serena opened her mouth to speak, but what came forth was
a racking cough. Again and again she coughed until she moved her
hand... it was stained an unhealthy shade of wet, red. 
	She continued coughing and choking until the pain was too 
much for her, and she collapsed onto the couch, weakly. 
	"Serena! Don't do this to me!" She heard dimly in the background. 
	'Darien? Do you still care for me?' 
Her eyes faded into blackness as the pain increased... her baby... 
something was wrong... it hurt everywhere... 
	'Darien... don't... don't leave me...' 
	"I love you..." Serena whispered before fainting. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Acting on instinct as soon as her eyelids fell closed, Darien
propped his beloved up on the couch, and saw with a sickening fright
her hands... covered in blood. She had coughed up blood?! There
was something VERY wrong here... 
	Serena had moaned terribly, in more pain than he had ever seen
her encounter from a Negaverse attack... and she had whispered words
he had longed to hear, told him she loved him? But... then the father
of her child? She hadn't been... GODS, no, IT COULD NOT BE POSSIBLE!
	Darien shoved aside those vicious thoughts that angelic Serena 
could have been... raped... and immediately called the paramedics.
Within ten minutes, they had come in and brought the both of them to a
hospital via an ambulance. 
	
					*	*	*

	He buried his face in hands... they were covered in sweat. 
Sticky, cold sweat. Damnit! It wasn't supposed to be like this!!
	"Darien?" Darien looked up at the sound of the familiar
voice, and through blurry eyes, found himself face to face with
Rini.
	"Rini?" The small child nodded, her cinnamon eyes threatening
to spill forth unwanted tears. How many times had that happened to 
Serena... what seemed like so long ago? She hadn't Serena since 
she had saved her from the monster... how long ago was that? 
Several months, she knew. 
	"I... Aunt Ilene brought me here when the doctors told her
about what happened to Serena. Uncle Ken and her are filling out
papers in the lobby. What-What are you doing here?" 
	"Sere-" Here, Darien choked, to avoid NOT saying her name
of endearment, 
	"-na was at my apartment... when... when..." 
	"Mr. Shields?" A doctor's voice interrupted the short conversation
Rini and Darien had. 
	"Yes?" He whispered hoarsely. 
	"Dr. Cunningham wishes to speak to you about Serena now." 
Darien cast a tired smile at Rini, who sat down in a plastic
chair and waited for Ken and Ilene to return. Darien vanished
into the office, and shut the door. 
	He inhaled deeply, knowing he would have to talk. Shuddering
while talking because he had spent his breath on sobbing in that 
brief interval of time before the paramedics arrived was not something
he planned on doing. He ran a finger through greasy, wet hair and
opened his eyes. 
	The woman before him was a medium-height dirty blonde, with 
sparkling green eyes. A cluttered desk and crooked nameplate that
read "Dr. Laura Cunningham" identified her. 
	"Darien Shields?" The woman asked, for confirmation. The word
'yes' was there, but it didn't come. Numbly, Darien nodded. 
	'Serena... I can see how much he loves you, just from this
three-second meeting. Oh child, how wrong you were!'
	"I know about you and Serena... I'm her gynecologist, and in order
to find out HOW she had gotten pregnant, we had to 
explore all possibilities..." 
	"She wasn't raped, was she?" Darien blurted suddenly, tears 
brimming in his eyes. 
	'He doesn't know... she never told him?!' Suddenly Dr. Cunningham
realized why Serena had been acting the way she had... asking for the 
results over the phone, her relief when she heard the name... and the
fear in her eyes in every appointment as they went to different 
departments, talking to doctors and teen parents alike. She was afraid 
he'd see her, and he didn't know... which led Laura to the conclusion 
that they weren't as close as she'd thought. In fact, they might have 
even been broken up, and Serena would have been terrified if he knew...
but that brought up the question: why had they broken up if he 
so apparently loved her so? It was the only reason why she didn't tell 
him...
	Laura smiled, but that did nothing to ease his fear. In fact, it 
only made the anxiety worse. 
	"No, Darien. Serena was NOT raped. The child is legitimate, 
according to Serena, but if you didn't know about the child, I'm
beginning to think she has been keeping something from the both of
us." 
	"If I... didn't know?" Darien didn't quite understand. Why would
he know? And if the child was legitimate, didn't that mean Serena knew
who the father was, and WHO she... who she... had GIVEN herself to?!
	'There is no other choice. I'm sorry Serena, but I have to tell 
him.' 
	"Darien... the child is yours." 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Serena woke up... in a hospital room. She had been here enough 
to know what they looked like from the inside out. And the training she
got as a nurse, due to the fact she couldn't work at the arcade while
pregnant, she knew all the tools... all the machines... everything. 
She was in the Intensive Care unit. She didn't remember everything that
had happened, only that her throat tasted salty, and her head throbbed. 
	She couldn't see too well, but from what she could make out, 
she was alone in the room. Where... where was Darien? 
	'Oh dear god... what if... he finds out?' 
	'Didn't you want him to?' 
	'NOT THIS WAY!' Serena blinked back tears and turned on her side, 
only to find herself extremely uncomfortable. Then it hit her like
a ten ton rock. 
	The salty taste... blood. On her hand. Why? The churning, the
unexpected kicking... the pain. The intense, burning pain!
	'What happened to my baby?!' 
Serena couldn't help herself; she began crying loudly. She couldn't
feel... feel her baby anymore? 
	"DARIEN!" Serena screamed, a sorrowful cry that was sent to the 
heavens themselves over her pain. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	The blood began rushing in his ears long before he heard the
answer to his question, and though it subsided somewhat when he
learned she hadn't been raped... 
	Then it began again... for some reason. But he made out the words
formed on her lips. 
	"Darien... the... child... is... yours..." 
	"WHAT?" It came out as a breathed whisper, and he would have 
fainted dead away right there had it not been for the ache in his
heart... the link! Serena needed him, and badly!
	Seconds later, a heart-wrenching cry emerged from Serena's
room, startling the entire ICU floor. 
	Darien heard her scream (how could he not) and immediatly 
ran out of the room to Serena. 
	"Serena?!" As soon as he burst into her room, that was what
he said, in fear, almost, that something horrible was happening to 
her. 
	What he saw broke his heart and crushed his soul... Serena was
crying painfully, and it looked like she wanted to move, wanted to bury
her face in her blankets and sink away into the mattress- but could not.  
	He rushed over to her and began wiping the tears away, heedless of
her cries and moans. 
	"The baby... why can't I feel my baby? No... please lord..." 
Dr. Cunningham stood silently in the doorway, the figures of Serena's
friends and her family outlined in shadows behind her. 
	She shut the door quietly and prepared to tell the kindest girl
in the world, the worst news imaginable. 
	"Serena... Darien." Darien and Serena hadn't heard the soft 
whisper, and Laura hadn't really expected them to. Poor Serena... 
she wouldn't take this well. What mother-to-be would? 
	"SERENA." Laura repeated it louder, closer to the couple, 
and with a demanding tone that required attention. 
	Serena's wails subsided, and Darien fingers wiped away the 
remaining tears. Darien, wordlessly, shifted Serena in his arms
so she sat up somewhat, and Laura saw how miserable the girl looked. 
	Red eyes, contrasting the usual blue they sparkled with, 
frail, pale skin and thin tangles of damp hair collected behind her
fragile head. 
	"L-Laura." Serena managed. Laura nodded, allowing the 
formalities most hospitals required to be dropped in this special
case. 
	"Serena... I have some bad news." 
	"Oh no... no, please no..." Serena started muttering. Tears began 
flowing softly yet again, and Darien put it upon himself to TRY and
console the poor girl. 
	'He just found out himself... oh my...' 
	"I'm afraid..." Laura fought the urge to console the girl who was
like her daughter herself. No, this position had to be strictly 
formal... except for the first name basis. 
	"That the baby has turned." Darien and Serena both looked up in 
surprise. Serena, for her part, was expecting something much worse, 
and Darien had only decided to start listening because his beloved's
cries had ceased. 
	"T-Turned?" Serena stuttered, unsure of what it meant.
	"The baby has turned on it's side. If you try giving birth
like that, several things could happen." 
	"The worst of which," Laura continued breathlessly, "Would be
the baby would be stillborn... or you would die." 
	"S-Serena..." Darien breathed, staring at her intensely. 
	"Or... you could have a C-section... but we risk permanently
damaging your reproductive system, and you would unable to give 
birth to another child." 
	Serena's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes widened. But...
	"There isn't any way you can... turn it back?" Serena asked, 
frightened. She didn't want to die before she got to see her baby...
her baby's smile, its laugh... its first word!
	Laura smiled and then looked up, noting the two were holding
hands tightly. 
	"I wish it were that simple, Serena, I really do. But... the best
you can do right now is hope that the baby will turn back. But you need
to take it easy for the rest of your pregnancy." 
	"T-Take it easy? But how will I get my work done? How will I 
complete night-school?" Serena had enrolled in the same night school as
Laura had, and was going to nurse's school after she graduated in two 
years. 
	"Serena, Dr. Cunningham's right. You... You have to take it
easy." Darien finally managed. His hand was warm from holding hers, 
his own eyes sore from seeing her in so much pain, and crying himself. 
	"Darien..." Serena looked at him lovingly... but then turned away
in fear and shyness. 
	"You haven't seen me in so long. You don't know what it's like, to
be responsible for another life. I had to get a job, take night school 
after simply turning in work at Crossroads wasn't enough... and now, 
what will I do?" 
	"You can stay with me. I won't let anything happen to you or the baby, Serena, you know that." The words flew out of his mouth before
anything else could be said. Then silence reigned, and all was quiet.
	Serena turned to Darien, her eyes wide and sparkling with that 
old, familiar joy they had lost so long ago. 
	"You'd really do that for me... for us?" 
	"Serena..." Darien breathed, leaning in closer to her. His arms
encircled her frail body and pulled her closer to him. 
	"I'd do anything for you... and..." Darien blinked back tears, 
that had appeared unheeded, "Our child." Serena fought back the urge to
laugh and cry at the same time, and hugged Darien back tightly. 
	"Oh Darien!" Laura left the twosome alone in the room like that, 
and when Lita looked in later, after being too curious at to know what
was going on, she found them sound asleep in each other's arms. 
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	End of Part 4
Is that short? I hope not, it took me forever to write! Is it any good, or have I lost my touch! AHHH! Email me!