These are 500 word or less pieces with a given starter sentence plus a genre.

Genre: Slice of Life

Starter sentence: The nurse handed me a cup of tea and I sipped it, even though my stomach churned at the mere thought of food or drink.

Tea

The nurse handed me a cup of tea and I sipped it, despite the fact that my stomach churned at the mere thought of food or drink. How could this be happening?

I’d been up all night, and I could have gone home, now that heavy sedation was finally giving Elaine some respite, if not relief. She was safe, and according to the tests so far, we were still expecting a baby, who would arrive no sooner than due, healthy and whole. It looked like nothing untoward would happen. That was the trouble.

We’d thought nothing untoward would happen, now that Elaine was safely past the twentieth week of pregnancy. Three miscarriages in a row had had us holding our breath until then, and it was only last week that we’d dared announce we were expecting a baby. That was quick, you’ve hardly been married more than a year, many had said, or words to that effect. Well yes – and no.

Both the first and the second pregnancies were unplanned, but the loss of our second, our honeymoon conception, left a hole in our hearts, a surprisingly deep one. The first pregnancy was too soon in our relationship, and besides, we knew that miscarriages weren’t uncommon. One didn’t necessarily mean there was anything wrong with us. Two in a row was an entirely different matter.

After a few months, we had ended up trying for a third unsuccessful time. I had to admit, I was scared, though not of not having kids. Although I had always seen myself with them one day, I had realised by then that I could live without them, as long as I had Elaine. The strength of her desire to have a child had taken me, and perhaps her, by surprise. She had always been career focussed, destined for the pinnacle of her profession, but although other wouldn’t have noticed, work now took second place. It had hurt to see her suffer that third loss, bravely holding her in her pain.

We had only just started seeing someone for infertility treatment when Elaine fell pregnant again. This time, we pretended nothing was going on, not daring to hope or plan, until we reached the twenty week mark, when we broke out our first smiles in months. We would have our child. We’d even started on names.

Early this morning - last night - Elaine started bleeding, and this time, my brilliant, courageous, strong, and beautiful wife fell apart. Now she lay unconscious in her chemical straightjacket, dried tears on her face, having been in no state to understand that nothing wrong had been found. But maybe she was right to be afraid, because they hadn’t been able to explain why she’d had bleeding or promise that it wouldn’t happen again.

Why was I still in one piece? I took another sip of tea, welcoming the scalding pain. At least it was a different sort of pain.