"Haruka and I will be at the hospital shortly." She told her Rei. "Makoto?"

"I will go with Rei." Makoto nodded.

Michiru left the kitchen. She was hoping that Setsuna would make an appearance but she knew that her place was at the Time Gate. Michiru wanted to make one last sweep of the palace before leaving. If this was indeed the work of outside forces, Michiru wanted to make sure that they would never harm the Queen again. 

Michiru moved quickly around the palace. After speaking to Haruka they had decided to start at opposite sides of the palace. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary but she could not shake the feeling that something was not right. Once she and Haruka were satisfied that whatever threat there may have been to the Queen was no longer in the palace, they rushed to meet the others at the hospital.

and others

When Neo-Queen Serenity asked if Endymion could come with her, Ryoji said one simple word "Yes," then turned to where Endymion had been when NQS was asking that question.  But by the time Ryoji had turned that way, Endymion was no longer there.  He was carefully climbing up into the back of the ambulance (carefully so he wouldn't step on or otherwise hurt his wife).  By the time Ryoji's gaze found the King again, Endymion was alrready inside the back of the ambulance and looking for a place next to NQS where he could sit and offer her his comfort.  Ryoji was clearly annoyed with the King at that point (one could see it on his face).  But he said nothing, out of fear of the King retaliating against him in some way or other.  Ryoji just closed the back door (without slamming it, for he knew that if he did, then Shinji would give him no end of grief about that maneuver), then walked around the ambulance to its front passenger-side door.

As King Endymion was looking for a place next to NQS where he could safely sit, Shinji was getting up from his seat just in front of NQS's head to show the King where he could safely sit.  Shinji apologized and bowed (as best he could inside the ambulance) to the King, saying "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but your seat is up here next to my seat."  Shinji pointed out the seat for the patient's companion.  It was just in front of (meaning toward the front of the ambulance) NQS's head (and thus just behind her head from her perspective, since she was facing the back door of the ambulance because of the way that she was loaded in to the vehicle), next to Shinji's seat in between the front row of the ambulance and the patient (NQS).  Endymion found his way safely to the seat pointed out by Shinji.  But as soon as the King was sitting in his seat, he found a way to comfort the Queen again - by extending one of his hands to a spot on the gurney next to NQS's chest, where she could see it and grab on to (or hold) it, and taking a clean handkerchief from his pocket with his other hand.  Then the King extended that second hand (with the handkerchief) to the spots around her face where he could see her sweat building up, and wiping those spots dry (with the handkerchief) one by one (including some spots where he had to wipe her hair dry to get rid of the sweat there).

While all that was happening, Rei and Makoto had caught up to Minako enough so that, standing beside her, they could hear everything that Minako could between the King and Ryoji.  Minako found Ryoji to be pretty rude, so she liked how Endymion was able to one-up Ryoji in the end.  Minako silently laughed at that, then turned to Rei and said gratefully "Okay, thank you.  Now what are we waiting for?"  The blonde with the red bow in her hair waited for the miko to lead the way to her vehicle, then followed close behind Rei.

OOC :

Serenity felt a sense of relief when Endymion climbed into the ambulance, but was disappointed when he had to sit where she could not see him. She hated being this close to him and feeling as though they were far apart from each other. When she saw his hand near her, she grabbed it lacing her fingers with him, which gave her a moment of relief. She was also relieved when she felt him wiping her head, she felt gross already how she was feeling and knew it was likely to get worse. 

She stared out of the back of the ambulance at the others and wondered if they were ever going to leave or if whatever she was experiencing was going to play out in the back of this cramped vehicle.

In the next moment she felt an unbearable pain, worse than the others, she let out a scream in agony and tried to sit up, she wrapped her arm around her abdomen and her other hand squeezed Endymion's as she squeezed her eyes shut, hoping the pain would go away.

and others

When his wife felt another episode of pain, King Endymion let her squeeze his one hand as hard as she wanted.  It apparently ended up being worse than most of the pains she had felt previously,  judging by the volume of her scream, but the King didn't mind.  He could put up with it, because he knew the pain he was feeling in his hand (from her squeeze) was just a fraction of the pain she was feeling.  There was no way he was going to complain - now or later.  In fact, he tried to comfort her a little after her latest scream ended; in a soothing voice, the King told the Queen "If it helps, my love, try to think of the relief you'll feel when this whole ordeal is done.  Yes, believe it or not, that time will come before too long.  I'm sure of it."  While he was doing all that, Endymion continued to wipe her face area with the handkerchief in his other hand.

Meanwhile, Ryoji had gotten in the front passenger-side seat of the ambulance just as the Queen was doing her latest scream.  After Ryoji was safely situated there, the ambulance driver started moving the vehicle, and turned the siren on, heading for the Royal Couple's hospital.

Also meanwhile, Minako had followed Rei to the miko's private vehicle.  Of the two passengers in there, Minako let Makoto have the front seat, because the brown-haired senshi woman was still 10-15 cm taller than any of the other inner senshi women.  Just after Minako had gotten herself situated in one of the back seats of Rei's private vehicle was when the ambulance took off toward their hospital.

TIME JUMP to the ambulance's arrival at the hospital

Ten to fifteen minutes later, the ambulance turned off its siren and pulled in next to the hospital's Emergency Room entrance.  Ryoji came around the vehicle, opened its back door, and silently helped Shinji unload the gurney.  Then, because Ryoji had notified the hospital of their arrival in advance, a nurse from the Emergency Room came over and greeted the Royal Couple (Endymion having climbed out the back door of the ambulance just after the two paramedics had finished unloading the Queen on her gurney), timing it to not be during any of the Queen's screams "Hello, your highnesses.  I'm Miyuki, and I'll be your nurse while you're in the Emergency Room."  Then Miyuki modified the tone of her voice to be caring & comforting, and continued "We consider it our duty to make your stay here as pleasant as possible, so please let me know whenever you need anything."

Miyuki then wheeled the Queen's gurney inside the hospital's Emergency Room, followed by wheeling it into one of the individual patient rooms in the ER here.

Meanwhile, even though the King had had to let go of the Queen's hand while she was being unloaded from the ambulance, he had come up alongside her gurney and offered his hand again while Miyuki was introducing herself.  The whole time Miyuki was rolling the Queen in, he had walked alongside the gurney, keeping his hand linked with his wife's.  Once they were situated in their individual room in the ER, Endymion comfortingly told his wife "There, no more location changes - I guarantee it.  Which should mean the only new person you'll have to meet will be your doctor at the hospital here."  Miyuki nodded in agreement to that, then the King continued "Now could you use anything that Miyuki-san could provide, my honey?"  Miyuki looked at the Queen in a way that showed she was curious to hear the answer.

Rei got in her car and followed the ambulance and after parking went to the correct waiting room.



Serenity felt a slight sense of relief when she was finally done with all the changes, she couldn't bear any more changes. She was already exhausted but knew she had a long time before her.

When Endymion asked if that the nurse could provide she thought for a moment before asking in a low voice, afraid to make eye contact with the nurse, even though she sounded nice, Serenity was still a bit concerned this person would leave her or be rude to her.

"Could I get a cold washcloth and some ice chips please?" she asked as she rested her head up, she turned to her husband, and looked at him, trying her best to force a smile so he wouldn't worry, "Is Ami-chan coming Endymion?" She asked as she gazed at the wall in front of her wondering who the doctor was going to be and if they were ever going to show up. She asked for one more thing, "could I possibly get a headband or something to keep my hair off of me?" Just as soon as the words left her lips, another contraction rolled through her body causing her to jerk violently.


She had never felt more scared in her life then she did in this moment.

and others

When Neo-Queen Serenity asked for a cold washcloth and some ice chips, nurse Miyuki cheerfully said "one cold washcloth and a cup of ice chips, coming up!"  Upon the Queen adding in a question about getting a headband, Miyuki was about to respond to that when NQS had her latest contraction, a particularly bad one that even caused her body to jerk violently.  Upon seeing that, Miyuki looked concerned "I'll go get the doctor now."  And she walked out of the room to fetch the doctor for NQS.

In between those two questions from NQS that were more like requests for Miyuki, King Endymion pondered the one she asked about Dr. Ami Mizuno.  He finally decided to answer in a serious yet comforting tone "I think Ami-chan must be sleeping now.  I'm sure that when she wakes up later this morning, she'll get a message about what happened to you, and she'll drop everything to come here and help you."  Endymion briefly looked at his watch, which said 3:21.  Then he concluded in the same tone to NQS "So she should come here to help you in about 4 hours.  I know that sounds like a long time when you're going through what you are, but at least then she'll be well-rested and ready to help you for the whole rest of the day."

After Rei had parked in the hospital's lot near the Emergency Room entrance, Minako exited Rei's car and followed Rei to the proper waiting room.

Makoto stewed the entire way to the hospital. It was hard enough not being able to ride with the Queen. She knew it was not possible but it was frustrating all the same. They had no idea what was going on with her or what was needed. For all the knew the enemy were the ones in the ambulance. It has happened before, their enemies were in the guise of others, blending in and not revealing themselves until they were ready.  Makoto knew that she could be overreacting and attempted to push any overly imaginative thoughts out of her mind. She followed the girls to the waiting room.

The doctor finally arrived and started shouting just to get the nurses moving, the doctor was shocked no one had hooked up a fetal monitor to the patient and was shocked that no one had made an attempt to find the source of the bleeding. The doctor walked over to Serenity and greeted her warmly telling her they were going to take good care of her.

The nurse got the stirrups ready and helped Serenity lift her legs into the stirrups so she could check how far she was dilated. "How far are the contractions?" The doctor asked not impressed that it wasn't documented and knew she would have to talk to the paramedics, even if they didn't have the right equipment they could still time contractions and find the source of the bleed.

The doctor had to keep a calm face when she took a look at Serenity, there was much blood and the doctor knew she would have to get in and find the source, the fetal monitor was picking up a very dangerous heart rate on the baby. The doctor informed her nurses to get an OR ready stat.

She walked over to Serenity and Endymion, she placed a hand on Serenity's, knowing this would not be easy to tell to the queen, "I am sorry your majesty, but we have to do an emergency c-section, your child is showing some distress and we want to get them out so we can help them as soon as possible." She said without going into the heartbreaking details that were likely to come.


Serenity had finally calmed from her latest contraction when the doctor came in, everything was happening so fast, there were people everywhere. Shoving needles in her, hooking this monitor and that to her, it all became a blur and only added to her fears, why couldn't someone explain the purpose for all these contraptions. She simply stared at the wall to block out those around her, with the exception of her husband who had been quieter than normal. The doctor put Serenity in stirrups. Serenity felt completely vulnerable being exposed like that, but knew there was no other way. She felt her heart skip a beat when she was informed that she would have to have an emergency c-section because her child was in distress. 


Serenity's eyes widened in fear as the nurses prepped the gurney and began to move her, she didn't really know much about c-sections, she had read a bit about them, but had not read in detail, she became worried that something was seriously wrong, but when the doctor said it was so they could help her daughter once she was out she felt a bit better, but she still felt panic as she shouted, "but its not time yet, I am only 6 months pregnant, I haven't even entered my third trimester yet, how can this be happening?" She said as she began to cry, bringing a hand to her face to hide herself as best as she could. thinking that all hope was lost.

and a little Miyuki

After the doctor came in, King Endymion was glad to see better monitoring equipment being set up to monitor Neo-Queen SErenity and her fetus, but he was disappointed that the doctor used a lot of shouting to get this done.  The King wished it had been done in a less annoying way.  However, he kept these negative feelings to himself, because the doctor had not shouted to him or his wife at all, and in fact she had seemed to shout only for the purpose of getting the monitoring equipment, etc., hooked up.

When NQS yelled that she was only six months pregnant, implying that this shouldn't be necessary, Endymion's heart sank even more.  And not just because of the explanation he was about to give her; it was also because now everyone seemed to believe they had to shout to get anything done or changed.  The King took a couple deep breaths to calm himself down and get him in the correct mood to inform the Queen of why she was delivering Chibi-Usa so early.  "Unfortunately, my love, a lot of pregnant mothers deliver well before their due dates," he started to explain to her in a serious yet also somber mood.  "When they do, it is called a premature birth.  Fortunately, though, medical science has advanced a lot since the days when you & I were born.  Doctors now have these ultra-modern machines that can be hooked up to the premature baby and keep her alive."

Meanwhile, Miyuki was too busy helping the other nurses hook up monitoring equipment to the Queen and prepare her for the move to the Operating Room to do any interaction with the Royal Couple for now.

Serenity listened to her husband's words, but they did little to make her fear go away. She was given a medicine through her IV, it was supposed to help numb her for this emergency surgery. A doctor came and helped her put on a cap to get her hair out of the way and hook up a few more monitors to her. 

Serenity was beginning to feel like a science experiment and she hoped that word had not broken out that she was here. It was rare for her to leave the castle and the last thing she needed was reporters and civilians in the hospital trying to get more information. Serenity couldn't even think straight anymore because everything was happening so fast.  She was being wheeled towards the OR and doctors were talking all around her, no one had bothered to explain what was going to happen, even Endymion's explanation did little to help cause her nervous heart.

She glanced up at Endymion, almost too scared to speak, but she looked at him with pleading eyes, eyes that said, "please don't leave me."

She was wheeled into the OR and in a moment shifted from her gurney to the cold metal operating table. They hung a blanket up just above Serenity's abdomen. They explained this was done for sanitary reasons as well as so she didn't see them cutting her open.

The doctors did a test on her numbness and when everything was cleared the doctor began her incision. 

"I need the incubator close, the peds (pediactrics) team better be ready to rock and roll she said in a tone that reminded the doctors to be on task and focusing on the task at hand. 

Serenity lay on her back wishing she knew what was going on, she knew she was being cut open and exposed for everyone to see and she hated it, but if it was for the best for her daughter, then she could get over it, but everyone was moving so fast, Serenity couldn't help but fear something was gravely wrong.

A few moments later Serenity heard the doctor say, "baby's out" and she passed the baby on to the pediatric doctors to work with Serenity's baby.

Serenity heard scrambling and had yet to hear a word on her daughter and began to panic when she heard the doctor ask to speak to the King.

"What's going on, did something happen, why won't anyone tell me what is going on?" Serenity asked in a hostile tone as she felt her hear began to tear inside.

The other doctors waited for the last stages of labor before they closed Serenity up and got her back into a room.

***********


Rei paced the waiting room waiting for someone to give her an answer, good news or bad, she just wanted news.

and Minako

King Endymion walked alongside the Queen's gurney for the whole trip to the Operating Room.  When he saw his wife with a facial expression that seemed to strongly urge him not to leave her, he smiled lovingly back and nodded to show agreement with her urge there.

When they reached the door of the Operating Room, Endymion made sure to ask the group of doctors & nurses "May I please go in there also?"

One of the nurses in the group came over to Endymion and answered his question "Yes, you may, but only if you put these covers on for cleanliness first."  She then went over to a closet near the entrance to the Operating Room and got out a pile of new scrub-like garments, including a head cap and covers for his shoes.  She followed that up by giving the pile to the King.

King Endymion then asked that the gurney be stopped for just a sec so he could tell the Queen something quick.  He tenderly told his wife "I'm going to have to split from you for now, so I can put on these scrubs.  It's for your, and our daughter's, safety.  And even when I get in that room, I'm going to have to follow their instructions for where I can stand or sit.  So I may not be able to be as close to you as either of us would like, but it's important that I follow their instruction's for everyone's safety.  But I will be watching to make sure you, and our daughter, are okay."

Then the King did as he said he would.  When he got in the Operating Room, he was shown to his seat at the head of the Queen's operating table.  So (a lot like in the ambulance), he was sitting where his wife could not see him.  And this time (unlike in the ambulance), he was not able to extend his arm to where she could see it and reach for it.  But he did watch everything that was happening there, as best he could from that position.

Endymion became worried when he heard the main doctor say "Baby's out", yet he didn't hear any crying from the baby.  After a litttle scrambling among the doctors, Endymion heard the main doctor ask to speak to him - without having tried to explain anything to the Queen, who was the actual patient.  So he had had enough.  Endymion decided to put his foot down.  "I'm over here, guys.  Anything you need to tell me can also be told to my wife here," because he was still at the head of the Queen's operating table.  He continued on, still testily "Because she has gone through several months of illnesses and pain just to deliver our daughter.  So what is it?  Speaking of which, why did I not hear any crying from our daughter when she was gotten out of the Queen here?"

--------------------

Meanwhile, Minako wasn't pacing around, like Rei was.  But that didn't make her any less worried than the shrine miko.  Minako just sat worriedly in one of the chairs in the waiting room that gave her a good look out the window, staring out that window, wondering when somebody was going to come and give them news.

Rei stopped dead in her tracks, she suddenly sensed a very bad energy coming from the hospital. One full of grief and despair, only it wasn't coming from Serenity. Rei could sense it was related. She turned to the girls and gave them a look that told them something was very wrong.
************************************************************************************
The main doctor heard the King's words and understood his concern, but didn't want to give the news like this, not while chaos was still unfolding in the OR and the Queen was in her last stages of labor. Once that had finished, she was stitched up and covered back up with a blanket. 

The doctor spoke calmly, "I would like to get the Queen back to her room first, that way I can give you both an update and can tell you face to face what is going on. The doctor was trying to buy time, time that was pointless, no that wasn't quite right, she was not prepared to deliver this news. She had known there was little chance of survival, with the faint heartbeat that was detected, by the time the surgical team had gotten the baby out there was little they could do, the baby had sadly died before she was placed on the table. The doctors were simply there to try one last effort  to get her back but were unfortunately successful.  

The doctors wheeled the queen into her room she would be in for the next few days while she recovered from surgery, but the doctor wasn't sure if she would recover from the news she was about to receive.

The doctor walked in with her chart. "I want to say that the surgery went well, and in a few days time you should be able to go home." She said before she sat down on the bed and placed her hands on the Queen's.
************************************************************


Serenity was in an utter panic now, why wasn't anyone telling her anything, what was going on with her daughter, was she going to survive. All Serenity knew was she was open and exposed still. She was relieved when she was closed up and covered with a blanket. She felt even more nervous when the doctor said she wanted to wait to tell her the news. She automatically assumed the worst, something bad had happened. She looked to Endymion with a face of concern, a face that said, its going to be bad. 

Serenity went through many scenarios in her head as she was rolled back to her room.

She felt like the room was spinning as the doctor told her the news that her surgery went well, but then set down on the bed next to her and placed her hands on her. She felt her heart stop as the doctor continued to tell the news-

"I am sorry to say this, but we did everything in our power to save your daughter, but with the distress she was under before arriving and the fact that she was born so early severely hindered her chances of survival. Again I am very sorry for your loss." The doctor said in a tone expressing sincerity. She hated this part of her job, especially since it was the queen.

Serenity didn't even make it to the end of the doctor's news before she began to violently sob, her entire body shaking rigorously. Her daughter was dead, she didn't make it, in distress for too long..... Serenity's ears rang as she grabbed onto the bed rail for fear of falling over. Everything around her seemed to vanish. It was as if her heart had been ripped out of her chest and ripped into thousands of little pieces. She felt completely numb and in pain everywhere at the same time. She would never hold her little girl, never host birthday parties, never rock her child to sleep, or kiss away boo boos. This was her only chance at having a child and now it was gone. 


Serenity somehow found the strength to look up at the doctor who was still sitting there. 


"Co-cou-cou-could I p-p-p-pplease sssssseeeeee, hhhhhhhold her?" She asked, through her sobs, her words nearly drowning in her tears.

The nurse had no problem with the Queen's request, even if other doctors would, she wanted to meet the requests of the queen, but she looked to the King to make sure he was okay with this.

and Minako

Endymion was a little disappointed at the doctor's first words, but he could maybe understand somewhat of the position the doctor was coming from, so the King did not protest, at least not yet.  At the appropriate time, the King followed the Queen as she was wheeled back to her room for the next few days.

When the doctor walked into that room and said "I want to say that the surgery went well, and in a few days time you should be able to go home," Endymion nodded slightly to show he understood, but his face portrayed a diffferent message - that being one of 'Yeah, and what?', because the main thing he was interested in, like his wife, was news on their daughter.  Then he saw his wife's expression of concern, and became worried.  He started becoming somewhat impatient to hear the news on their daughter, even if his wife was correct and it was bad.

Then the doctor broke the news they both wanted to hear, and Endymion could tell what the news was by the end of the doctor's second phrase ("we did everything in our power to save your daughter").  The King didn't need to hear any more to know it was the worst possible news, but he continued to listen anyway.  As his wife started to violently sob, he started crying, because even he was so overcome with grief that he couldn't help crying.  However, his crying always remained quiet, unlike the Queen's.

Then he heard his wife's demand to see & hold her dead daughter.  He briefly considered her request.  Upon considering it, he saw nothing wrong with her seeing the late Chibi-Usa.  But as for holding the dead baby, he did see one potential problem.  His wife might insist on holding the dead girl for an unreasonably long time.  And in his brief consideration of it, he knew it would be no use making her promise beforehand to only hold the late Chibi-Usa for a certain amount of time, because she had a long history of forgetting about her promises or just saying whatever was necessary to get exactly what she wanted.

So when the nurse looked at him to make sure he was okay with his wife's request, he told her as quietly as he could "If it's okay with you, why don't you just give me the body, and I'll show it to her?"

--------------------

Meanwhile, over in the waiting room, Minako saw Rei's look, and it caused her to become even more worried.  Minako started wanting to find out the news on the Royal Couple and their baby-to-be (as far as she knew) ASAP, to quelch the unknowns which she was starting to wonder even more about.  On the other hand, there was a small part of her that didn't really want to find out if Rei was correct and it was really bad, because one never likes hearing bad news.

Michiru sat arms folded in the waiting room. There was no much for them to do but wait. As more time passed the more concerned Michiru became. Given the circumstances she could not shake that sinking feeling. She knew that the others were just as apprehensive as she was. It was one of those cases where they were not able to be at the Queen's side. It was her duty to protect the queen and in this instance, Michiru felt as though she was not living up to that.

Absentmindedly, she pulled our her mirror. She gazed into hoping for anything, a small glimpse. There was a still a shadow but it was beginning to fade. It was progress but it was not enough to come to a conclusion about what is going on. As the shadow faded she looked up at noticed Rei's expression.

"Rei?" Michiru said sharply.

Rei didn't want to jump to conclusions, but she felt something deep in her core that something bad had happened to Chibiusa. She looked to the group of ladies as she spoke in a calm tone, "I do not know what happened, but I sense that Serenity will need our support, I fear something terrible has happened, I cannot sense what has happened, but can only sense that something bad has hit Serenity and Endymion and we need to be there for them and support them in whatever way they need us."



When Serenity saw the nurse bring in the cart with Chibiusa's body on it, it was almost as if she were having an out of body experience and she was screaming at herself, "this can't be real, this can't be happening, Chibiusa is not dead." and yet her body continued to violently shake as she tried to calm herself in her first and last moments with her daughter.

When the nurse handed Chibiusa to Endymion, Serenity felt puzzled, why couldn't she hold her daughter, the daughter she had carried inside her for the past six months. Did her own husband not trust her to hold their daughter. As she gazed upon her daughter, who looked so small, but like she could wake up at any moment, Serenity couldn't help but smile, she felt so much love, so much love for the daughter she was to have, she didn't want her daughter to see her sad. She brushed her daughter's cheek with the back of her hand, her hand trembling as she tried to keep her composure. 

"Mama loves you so much, my little Chibiusa," she said her lip quivering the entire time as she slowly sat up, pushing through the excruciating pain she felt in her body, so she could kiss her daughter. After kissing her, she whispered in her ear, "I know one day we will meet again." 

After Serenity laid back down, she couldn't hold it in anymore and broke into another violent episode of sobbing, her body shaking from her heartbrokenness.

Makoto had become tired of waiting. It could not a coincidence that they all had that sinking feeling. Someone should have come out and given them some sort of update. Makoto knew that these things take time but at least a nurse should have come out to let them know what was going on.

Rei couldn't take it anymore. She walked over to nurse's station and did her best to keep her voice calm. "Is anyone going to bother to give us an update on the queen, we have been here for hours and we deserve an answer." She placed her hands on the counter with the hope that someone would be able to tell her and the others something.

The nurse looked up, noticing the raven haired maiden and the others, her guardians waiting for an answer, they were not family per se, but they did deserve to know. She spoke her voice meek, "hold on, let me page Dr. Yang. A moment later the doctor came into the waiting room and sat down around the others. She noticed all of their eyes glued to her and she hated to be the one to break the news to them.

Rei listened, her heart shaking inside as the doctor spoke

"Neo Queen Serenity's condition was much worse than we presumed, the paramedics did little to help the situation unfortunately and when we were finally able to hook up the fetal monitor, we noticed the baby was in distress, we had to do an emergency c-section on the queen to get her baby out and try to save her, but when we retrieved the baby it was too late, if she had been brought in sooner, we might have been able to save her, but even so, with that early a delivery the chances of survival would have been slim, I am very sorry to inform you of this loss your Queen and king are suffering and I hope you can be of support to the majesties in this time."

The doctor hadn't even turned to leave before Rei glanced at Michiru and nodded, running off to fetch Haruka and Makoto.

and Minako

After the nurse handed the late Chibi-Usa to him, Endymion held it in such a way that he could easily show it to his wife but she would have a difficult time taking it from his hands to hold it herself.  He let her touch the baby however she wanted, lightly smiling as she did so; he hoped it would help her achieve closure over the little one's unfortunate death.  When she laid back down and resumed her sobbing while shaking, Endymion assumed she was done with that, so, for his own sake, he held the lifeless body up to his face so he could look over the whole body one final time.  Then he delicately and lovingly kissed it on its forehead, followed by handing it back to the nurse.

Then Endymion suddenly remembered his wife's close friends, most of the other senshi women, had folllowed the ambulance to the hospital.  He realized that they should be informed of what had happened.  So Endymion turned to his wife again, took a second to gather himself so he could express as much love and happiness as he could at this sad moment, and asked her in a loving tone "Honey is it okay if I go tell your close friends what has happened?"  I'll only be gone a minute."

--------------------

Minako could tell that Makoto and Rei were becoming impatient for some specific news.  So when Haruka offered to take Makoto out for a walk, Minako was relieved - she would have to thank the wind senshi woman later.  Then, when Rei left the waiting room on her own and went toward the nurse's station, Mianko frowned, because she didn't think that was a good idea, but she also didn't try to chase after Rei to bring her back, because she knew how delicate all of their feelings were in this situation and she understood how agonizing this wait must be.

When Rei returned a minute later with a doctor, Minako was pleasantly surprised that Rei was able to get such positive results.  Then Minako focused her eyes on the doctor, anxiously waiting to hear what she would tell them.  Once the doctor finished telling them the bad news, Minako started crying heavily, almost sobbing.  She would miss Chibi-Usa.

Serenity couldn't bring herself to respond to Endymion, everything was happening so fast. Why wouldn't anyone allow her time to process what has just happened. Everyone was rushing her through this process of grieving. Did Endymion really expect her to wake up, if she even slept at all tonight and just go on tomorrow like nothing had happened.

Serenity had waited a century for this moment and now the only memories she would have of Chibiusa were those of the distant past, when she was Sailor Moon, and Chibiusa was Chibi Moon, future mother and daughter fighting side by side, but that's all it would ever be, all her daughter would ever be, was a memory in the distant past.

Serenity would not get over this in a day, in a week, she didn't know if she would ever survive the hurt she was feeling, she felt more hurt that Endymion was going to leave her, couldn't he see that she needed him now more than ever, she cared about her friends, but all she knew in her now small world was that her child, her only child she was ever going to have was gone, and she didn't even get to hold her, Serenity could tell that Endymion had no intentions of letting her hold their daughter, and that hurt her, made her feel like she was some kind of monster that couldn't be trusted to hold the child she had carried for 6 months, the child she was supposed to hold and love for all time.

Serenity knew one thing and one thing alone, she felt one hundred percent empty, okay maybe two things were certain for certain, she was empty and broken.

Something in that moment snapped in Serenity, it could have been for any reason, the whole pregnancy process and the lack of support she had, her endeavors this night, or the fact that her body was still trying to process that she had just had a baby and her body was trying to balance itself again, no one will really know, but Serenity shouted,

"do what you want, I don't care, its not like what I want has been important at all in this whole thing, you haven't cared about me one bit in this whole thing,  you thought the kingdom was more important than my health in this pregnancy...." She had to pause to take breaths in between her sobs, but she continued her words coming out so fast she couldn't stop herself.

"and you never came to any appointments with me, never supported me, I felt alone most of this pregnancy, having to figure out everything on my own I felt guilty because I was resting, yes I fell behind on my duties, but the kingdom won't fall in such a short time, now I feel like you doubted my ability to rule the kingdom, if you felt that the kingdom was in that grave of danger then go to the senshi, they have a purpose too. I was trying to focus on me and the health of our baby, which doesn't even matter now because she's dead."

Serenity's body continued to shake as she spoke, "Do you know how scared I was when I got attacked, I laid there on the floor unable to breathe for some time, then a guard comes in and watches me, no one helps me, I didn't know where you were, I assumed something happened to you, why did you take so long to get to me Endy, why, why didn't I just trust my instincts that something was going to go wrong, I felt it from the beginning, but held onto hope, because that's what I do, I hope that things get better and they do, but this time they didn't, and no one said anything, they said your daughters dead and that's that, how do you expect me to move on, how can I possibly move on, none of it matters, nothing matters anymore...."

When his wife went on her rant decimating him and everything he had done for the last six-plus months, Endymion felt so awful that he looked down toward the ground (which he almost felt like burrowing a hole in, crawling into that hole, and covering back up to hide away).  After she was done, he looked up - but only a little bit, not enough to even see her face - and somberly said "Shitsuree, honey.  I have seriously ruined our lives.  I know this doesn't make up for it all, but I wanted you to know that I am sorry.  I'll stay here, and try to learn from my mistakes."

Serenity felt like she had been stabbed with Endymion's words. Her intent wasn't to cut him down. She had been holding onto her feelings for so long and she could no longer control her emotions. It was like the floodgates continued to break, her tears re-appearing as she shouted, "I wasn't trying to blame you, but can't you see how much I'm hurting..." Her lip quivered as she continued to speak.She wrapped her arms around herself, to give herself some kind of comfort, comfort she had been crying out for ever sense she found out the terrible news.

"She was my only daughter, I didn't even get to hold her, I will never get to hold her, never get to touch her again, it's tearing me up inside, more than those doctors did." She said her voice filling with anger as she pointed in a direction outside her hospital room.

She turned to face him, to try and meet his gaze, but he wouldn't even look at her.

"This is an emotional scar that will never heal Endymion.." she said in a rather loud tone, when a nurse came rushing in.

"What is going on?!" She asked showing concern for Serenity.

Serenity looked up at the nurse with a look of desperation in her eyes, "somebody sedate me" she said hoping the nurse would give her a temporary way to forget about the pain she was feeling, even if for a short moment.

The nurse looked at the queen and felt her heartbreak. She rushed out to get permission from the doctor, the doctor was concerned a bit, but allowed it, on one condition, that a nurse stay with Serenity and monitor her levels. Normally she said no, but she knew the queen would not stop until she had her request met.

The nurse came back in and grabbed Serenity's hand. She smiled as she spoke, a gentle reassuring smile. "I am just going to give you enough to help you get a bit of rest, and I will be here with you until you wake up, just to make sure nothing goes wrong."

The nurse administered the sedative and slowly Serenity's cries faded as she drifted off to sleep.

The nurse turned to Endymion and spoke in a gentle tone, "I am guessing she has never acted like this, I couldn't help but overhear, and I apologize for eavesdropping, but I want to let you know, it will get better, I know its hard to believe now, but I just want to explain that she really isn't trying to attack you. Her body just underwent a major change. Many new moms experience major emotional shifts, she has a lot of hormones going through her body, a bit too fast for her to process so she comes across as lashing out, just give her time, let her grieve, be there for her. She still loves you, she's just going to need all the time in the world to recover from what she has just encountered, and she will need you to be her rock as she slowly returns to her normal self." 

The nurse turned to Serenity who was now calmly sleeping. She turned back to Endymion and spoke, "why don't you take a walk, get some fresh air, I will come and get you once she wakes up, she will want to see you for sure." The nurse said with a smile before she got up to check Serenity's levels ensuring she was okay with the sedative she was given.

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When Neo-Queen Serenity continued to shout at him about how much she was hurting, King Endymion could tell that, but wondered what she expected him to do about it when he was hurting inside also.  He wasn't surprised, though he was a little embarrassed, when a nurse came in, due to how much his wife had been shouting.  He watched the (thankfully calmer) exchange between the Queen and this nurse, especially how this nurse reacted to his wife to calm her down.  Then he listened to the nurse give him a liittle advice.

After the nurse was done, Endymion told her in a quiet, almost meek tone "Thank you."  He thought about adding a little more, but then decided against it, realizing a better audience for what he had thought about adding.  He stood up from his chair, stretched a little, and then walked over to the nurses' station.  He asked if one of the nurses there could give him directions to the waiting room where his wife's close friends were.  Once Endymion got those directions, he followed them, soon arriving at the first of two stops he intended to make during his alone time.

The other senshi women who had come along would see King Endymion walk into their waiting room, looking torn up and sad inside instead of his normal self.  The first thing he said, before any of them could speak, was a quiet, almost somber "Have you heard the bad news about Chibi-Usa-chan?", because he had no way of knowing what they had heard.

Minako just nodded somberly in response.

Makoto was in shock. She could not believe that this was happening. She could not imagine the pain the Queen and King were feeling. She did not know or any comfort that they could provide to them right now. She looked around at the other heartbroken senshi. They have faced so many trials and hardships but nothing like this.

"I am sorry." Makoto's voice was barely a whisper when the King when he asked if they knew what had happened.

Several hours letter, Serenity woke up in a nervous sweat. She sat up quickly clutching her abdomen, gasping for air. She looked around and saw no one in the room. She began to panic, she didn't know where she was or why she was alone.  Soon after Serenity first woke up, a nurse came to check on her. The nurse checked all the normal vitals but stayed a bit longer when she saw the concern in the queen's eyes.

"Where am I," Serenity asked, genuinely not remembering the events that happened hours ago?

The nurse responded telling her she was at the hospital, and she recently had an emergency surgery.

Serenity looked at the doctor in confusion, and asked "what surgery, why am I here, what happened, where is everyone, why am I all alone?"

The nurse listened as Serenity became more panicked, she had seen this many times before and to reassure Serenity, the nurse put a hand on her shoulder, and spoke in a calm manner, "Everyone is here, they just wanted to let you rest, would you like me to let everyone know you are awake?"

Serenity thought for a moment, why was everyone there, and who was everyone exactly, was Endymion there, were the senshi there? Why wasn't the nurse telling her what happened, why couldn't she remember. 

She nodded, but added, "can you just ask my husband, his name is Endymion to come?" She then added as the nurse was almost out the door, "can you also ask Haruka and Michiru to come?" She wasn't sure why she was asking them to come, but something inside her told her to ask for them.

"Oh and could I please get this blanket off?" Serenity asked as sweat continued to roll down her face.

The nurse nodded at Serenity's requests and came back to remove her blanket. She even went and got her some water and ice chips before she went to the waiting room where her friends and family were.

She looked in the room and spoke, her voice soft and calm, "King Endymion, Haruka, and Michiru, the queen is awake and she has requested you three go to her room." She began to lead them towards Serenity's room, stopping them before they entered her room.

"I just want to let you know that Serenity is currently suffering from memory loss, it may be her psychie trying to block what just happened, or she could remember it when she comes off her sedative more fully, so just be aware and try to keep her calm, I didn't want to remind her what happened, but if you feel comfortable letting her know, that is okay, just know it maybe like her finding out for the first time all over again."

The nurse turned back and guided the three into Serenity's hospital room and left to give them privacy.

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King Endymion nodded to show he understood the nurse's words just outside Neo-Queen Serenity's hospital room.  Then he followed the nurse into the Queen's hospital room. Endymion had calmed down and knew what his wife expected of him, thanks to the discussion he had had with the senshi women in the waiting room.


When he was sure his wife noticed him - once she looked his direction - Endymion calmly and quietly asked his wife "Hi, honey.  How are you doing?"  As she answered that question, he calmly and semi-slowly took a seat next to the head of her bed and offered her one of his hands to hold on to.