Man Like Me

She woke up with a loud gasp. Bright lights surrounded her while a crew of people with medical robes and masks attended to her. The lights were blinding her and she couldn’t hear anything because of the pain on her stomach and because of her pounding heart which had been conquered by her fear and panic.

“Please, Miss Bailey calm down. We need you to calm down!” She heard a male voice yell as she tried to stop struggling against them.

“What’s going on?” She asked as she began to cry “Where’s Robert?” She asked but no one replied “What’s going on?! ROBERT!”

Robert heard Penelope yelling, screaming in pain, calling out for him desperately and at the top of her lungs but the doctor’s wouldn’t let him in. He had no idea of what was going on, his frustration was growing along with his despair and he kept pleading at the passing nurses to tell anything or to let him in. They always refused his request or ignored him and his breathing was getting out of control, he was afraid that he’d faint and he ended up falling to his knees at the entrance of the ER.

A hand landed on his shoulder and he looked up with teary, desperate eyes to find Jude’s friendly face. He had completely forgotten that he had called him before coming to the hospital but having him there was good, he’d stop him from doing something stupid like kicking someone for information.

“They don’t let me in.” Robert said as Jude helped him up and hugged him, not giving a single crap about the people around them who were whispering and watching.

The waiting room had been quiet until Robert arrived with a knocked up and bleeding Penelope. From then on, panic arose and he had lost track of time.

“Don’t worry. Just sit here and I’ll try to get some information.” Jude said calmly as he helped his friend sit down and then rushed to find anyone who could help.

Jude was more nervous than he showed. He had seen Robert sink down to the depths of his personal hell of drinking, depression and loneliness while he stood and watched with frustration. When he met Penelope, he was able to slowly crawl back up and go back to being the Robert, Jude knew, well in all honesty a much better version of Robert but still with the same essence, just different, better, more mature. Nonetheless, Jude was terrified with the possibility that if something happened to Penelope or to their child, Robert would go back into the pit and never crawl back up again.

Robert sat taking deep breathes while his forearms rested on his knees and his forehead on his knuckles. He couldn’t help but to blame himself. From the start that he had known that something could go wrong at any given moment but even still he got attached to his unborn child, he let Penelope relax and get attached too and now that child could slip from his grasp and there was nothing he could do. Then an even more frightening scenario crossed his mind: What if he lost Penelope?

“Robert?” A voice called and he immediately looked up, losing his track of thought.

“Y-yes?” He said as he stood up slowly. His breathing was uneven, he had tears travelling down his face non-stop and he was even shaking.

He recognized their doctor as she approached him and asked for him to sit down. He refused as his posture got more protective and he started to rub his hands nervously.

“Are you alone?” She asked seriously as he sniffled and locked his eyes with hers.

“A friend of mine is here.” Robert replied shortly, almost able to beg for her to tell him what was going on inside those damn doors.

“Then, maybe we should wait-“

“No!” Robert shouted launching his hand to grasp the doctor’s arms “I’m sorry… I just… How are they? Please, tell me.” He said quietly as tears restarted pouring down his face while he released the stiff female “I just showed her the nursery and asked her to marry me tonight… please… please tell me she’s okay. Please tell me that she’s waiting for me inside that door.” He collapsed on his knees again, shaking and drawing everyone’s attention.

The doctor sighed with clear pity and kneeled slowly in front of him. She placed her hand on his shoulder and spoke softly “I am here just to update you on Penelope’s state and because you might have to make a decision, Robert. We are going to give her an anesthesia now. We are not sure of the cause but something happened and the baby detached itself from her. We are going to deliver the baby, we have no choice. Penelope lost a lot of blood but we are going to do our best to save them both.”

With that, she nodded her head at him confidently and ran back into the OR.



Robert was unable to sleep or get any food into his stomach and even still he felt nothing but numbness mixed with a small tingling panic, he knew that Penelope was going through hell and he was just sitting there like a worthless piece of junk. Shortly after the doctor gave him the news, he stopped hearing Penelope scream and he wasn’t sure of what to think of it. Jude tried to get as much information as possible but nobody knew of anything.

Two hours passed by and Robert felt like this was the biggest night of his life and neither him or Jude spoke or slept, their phones were turned off and they just waited. Suddenly a nurse came out and she looked completely wrecked so reading her expression was almost impossible.

“Mr. Downey Jr.?” She called timidly as Robert immediately stood up with Jude following.

“Please, please tell me that you have news.” Robert begged, his exhaustion showing as the young female stared at him with pleading and sorry eyes.

“Your girlfriend is safe and she’s recovering.” She started as he tensed up immediately, sensing that she chose to tell him the best first but he let her speak “And I’m so sorry but... We couldn’t save your child. She was very small and weak, still very under developed in her internal organs, specially the lungs, and we couldn’t… I’m sorry.”

“She?” Robert asked as his bottom lip trembled while sadness completely took over him “We were going to have a baby girl?” He asked as the nurse nodded her head slowly “Does… Does Penelope know?”

“No, sir. We had to put her under an anesthesia because the pain was too much for her but we stopped her internal bleeding, on her womb, and she will wake up soon. After she wakes up, we’ll need to keep her for here for at least a week to guarantee that her wounds are healing but, unfortunately, she won’t be able to conceive again.” The nurse explained as she saw his eyes shift and she took a step back.

“DOCTOR CONNOR!” Robert yelled furiously as his eyes seemed to be able to burn the young female in front of him “HOW DARE YOU TOY WITH US AND THEN SEND SOMEONE ELSE TO TELL THE DAMAGE?! HOW DARE YOU?!”

Jude widened his eyes as the nurse stiffened looking at Robert in shock. Jude had never seen his best friend so pissed and he didn’t know what to do.

“Robert.” He called seriously as Robert growled at him.

“Leave me be Jude! That doctor gave us hope, knowing that it was our dream and possibly Penelope’s only chance… She knew that we could fail and even still she didn’t care enough… what am I supposed to tell Penelope now, when she wakes up?” Robert replied coldly as he looked down, his hands closed into tight fists.

“’I’m sorry Penelope, I knew that you couldn’t be nervous but even still I let you talk to your mother and your ex-best friend, two people who have never supported us.’: Is that what I am supposed to say?” He asked sarcastically “How in the world will I tell her that we lost our child? How will I look at her and shed our first major project and dream together, knowing that she might never be able to become pregnant again? How will I justify to myself the fact that I failed to protect them like I promised? I am nothing more than a major failure, who doesn’t deserve to be her husband, who doesn't deserve her.”



Penelope groaned as she shifted on her spot but soon enough she felt a small pain and she stopped.

“Penelope, please try not to move sweetheart.”

“Robert?” She called, opening up her eyes but seeing everything a bit blurry “Could you please move me so that I can lie on my side?” She asked as he nodded his head.

He put his arms carefully under her frame and he pushed her softly to lie to her side. She took in his appearance, as the image became clearer, and she forced her arm to move and grasp his hand before he pulled away.

“I've had the weirdest dream. This is not a dream, is it?” She whispered as he shook his head and she observed him close. He had dark circles under his eyes which indicated a heavy lack of sleep and she softened “You look so tired.” She whispered, still too focused on him to acknowledge what had happened.

“Penelope,” Robert started, speaking through whispers as Jude got the queue to leave the room and give them privacy “Do you remember what happened?”

Penelope narrowed her eyes for a few moments and tried to recall her last memory. She remembered fighting with her mother and with Kyle, she remembered that they left and then she remembered her increasing pain. Her hand moved unconsciously to her belly to caress it and instead of a swollen belly, she found a flat stomach. Her eyes widened in horror and filled with tears as she grasped Robert’s hand tighter while tears also ran down his face.

“Tell me it’s not true.” She whispered as he kept quiet “Tell me!” She demanded.

“Penelope… I- I…” Robert sobbed uncontrollably as he broke into a river of tears.

She pulled him closer as they cried together for the loss of their child. They remained like that for a period of time that only both of them knew. When Jude returned, Robert was lying on the bed with Penelope, both cuddled up and holding onto each other tightly, almost desperately. The child meant union to them and it seemed like if they were afraid that the other would disappear just out of thin air. Jude sighed and asked the nurse’s not to bother them. They needed to mourn and then come together in order to move on.