I walk through the room to the one person I know I can trust to tell me the truth.

Everyone steps aside as I approach where she's leaning against the wall, tears streaming down her face.

"Please…" I whisper when I reach her side. "Tell me this all some horrible nightmare."

"Oh, baby, I wish I could. I'm so very sorry," she says on a choked sob as she reaches out to touch my face.

"No!" I hiss as I pull away from her comforting arms. The sympathy in her eyes is almost too much for me to bear.

As I turn to face the rest of my friends, the only people in this world I call family, my eyes land on the door to the room where my future lies. I don't want to go in there. If I do, I won't be able to pretend. Pretend that it's not real. That my world didn't end less than an hour ago.

My feet move towards the door of their own accord. The harder I try to stop, the faster they move. Before I know it, I'm on the other side, standing in a quiet room that just an hour ago was full of all sorts of noise. From the beeps of the various machines to the laughter of our family as we eagerly awaited the arrival of another member.

The body in the bed is so very still. I've never seen her so still. She's the kind of person who never stops, not even when sleeping.

Slowly I notice that her once round belly is now flat. I shake my head as I start to grasp what that means. "No," the word is a mere breath as I sag against the wall when my legs refuse to hold me any longer. "No!" I say a bit louder on a heartbreaking sob.

This can't be happening. She was healthy. The baby was healthy. The doctor assured me that everything was fine. That I could go and attend to some paperwork that needed to be done. How wrong he was. I wasn't gone twenty minutes before I got the call. In fact, I was still in the car. I hadn't even made it to the office yet.

I returned to the hospital as quickly as I could, but I was too late. She passed before I could get up here.

Slowly, as if in a dream, I approach the bed. She looks so very peaceful. I don't remember her ever looking this way. Not even on our wedding day.

She was the most beautiful bride I had ever seen. Her raven locks falling in tight ringlets down her back. She refused to go the traditional route. Instead of a veil, she wore flowers in her hair. Her bouquet was simple wildflowers that she picked herself that morning from her garden. And her dress…it was simple elegance. Just like her. She was always so very elegant. Made me feel like a clod by comparison.

We were so happy when she discovered she was expecting just two months after we married. We both were only children of only children. I don't remember ever meeting my parents' parents. She had met one set of grandparents once. On her confirmation day. They came to see her be confirmed into the church but never spoke directly to her and then never came around again.

Gently I place my hand on her arm, my fingers instinctively trying to find her pulse. I fall to my knees, a kneeing wail escaping my lips when they can't find it.

She can't be gone. She just can't.

I'm not sure how long I stay there, on my knees next to her bed before I realize that someone was missing. No one had said anything about my child.

Instantly I was on my feet and out the door. "The baby," I grabbed the nearest person and demanded. "Where's my child?"

The look I received told me everything. The baby didn't survive either. Mother and child died together.

"I'm so sorry." The words hold no meaning for me anymore. I've heard them thousands of times over the last several days. Everyone is sorry. Sorry that my wife and son died in childbirth. Something that I didn't think could happen in this day and age. Modern medicine is supposed to prevent things like this from happening. We did everything right. She had the best care throughout her entire pregnancy and yet the doctors couldn't stop it from happening.

As the funeral procession approaches the grave, I can't help but wonder if I did the right thing. Placing them in the same casket. Is that how she would have wanted it? To spend all of eternity holding the child she never got to meet?