A flower bloomed already wilting. Beginning its life with an early ending

                       ~R.J. Gonzales

**

Cameras are off

**

"Whooo!" Courtney, Gwen, Bridgette, And LeShawna cheered, jumping up and down as they had just won yet another challenge. It had been a week since they began their "girl power" team, and this was their second win in a row.

"Wow, were really kicking ass this season!" Gwen smirked as her and her team took a seat in the dining hall with their fellow campmates.

"I know," Courtney agreed. "But we still have a month to go."

"And what about Sierra, Lindsay, and Izzy? They're on different teams than us," Bridgette pointed out worriedly.

"True, but...just think about it," she giggled. "At least we have someone on our side. And hopefully when it comes down to it, they'll let us win and we'll split the money."

Before anyone could object, Duncan slid next to Courtney, draping an arm around her shoulder, and planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek. "Congrats on kicking my team's ass today."

"Why thank you," she replied teasingly, bopping his nose.

"Court," The delinquent whined. "You know I hate that."

"Well I think it's adorable."

"Hey girls!" Sierra chirped, sitting across from them. Duncan cleated his throat. "Oh! And, um...Duncan," she corrected with a laugh.

Courtney ignored her, continuing to think about what they needed to do to win he next challenge, which wasn't for another couple days, but it was better safe than sorry. She glanced at the table across the room and saw Mike, Zoey, Cameron, Heather, and Alejandro all sitting together. Ugh! If Zoey would just join, that would be great, she thought. But much as they tried to get her to, she wouldn't, even though Heather kept insisting she was fine with it and she didn't care. After all, it's not like she needed someone else's help to win. She had already proved that in World Tour. Plus, she always uses people to get where she wants to go. Could Zoey seriously be falling for that?

"Courtney!" Gwen's vice interrupted her thoughts. The brunette blinked a couple times.

"...Yeah?"

"You need to hurry up and finish your food. Remember the party boat?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh yeah!" Since their team won, they got to spend a couple hours on a luxurious party boat, eat dessert, drink wine, and listen to music. "Duncan," Courtney looked at her boyfriend. "I'll see you later tonight." She leaned down and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.

"See ya, Princess. Have fun!"

"Will do!" She winked, blowing a kiss in his direction. Bridgette, LeShawna and Gwen all made sure to let their boyfriends know as well before heading out to the dock.

Meanwhile, Heather laughed from the other table. "A party boat, really? I hope it sinks."

"Don't worry about them," Zoey smiled. "We can all have fun on our own. Besides, it's not like we could have any of the wine."

"Yeah, but what about the satisfaction of winning itself?!" She snapped. "Especially against a team that has won two times in a row!!"

"Heather, mi amor," Alejandro placed his hands on her shoulders. "It'll be ok. As long as the next challenge isn't too physical, you'll be able to play-"

"The last challenge wasn't even physical, and you freaked out!"

"It included holding your breath underwater and swimming," he pointed out.

"Oh, please!"

"Actually," Zoey cut in. "Exercise is really good for pregnancy as long as you don't strain yourself, so I think Heather would have been fine."

"See?!" His fiancé said. "I would've been fine!"

"Knowing you, you'd probably strain!"

"Hey!"

"Guys!" Cameron suddenly yelled. "Stop arguing!"

Ignoring him, Alejandro continued. "And what about Nausea? Won't she get nauseous if she moves around too much?"

"I walked around all day and I feel perfectly fine," Heather claimed.

"You always say that, but you end up complaining about nausea later!"

"Whatever!" She rolled her eyes. "Point is, you're being overprotective, Alejandro. And I hate when you do that!!"

"Alright," Zoey intervened. "Everyone just needs to calm down.  This, right here, is not good for the baby."

Heather paused, then let out a deep sigh. She looked at her fiancé, frowning. She's right. If they wouldn't stop arguing about the smallest things, it could make her faint again. Alejandro shared the same look, before grabbing her hand from under the table and giving it a gentle squeeze. He then gave her a loving smile that said 'I'm sorry.' She reciprocated the smile.

"I think we should all have a movie night," Mike suggested in an awkward attempt to break the silence. Surprisingly, they all agreed.

Somehow, Zoey had snuck her iPhone into the camp and she had a few movies downloaded onto it. "What do you guys want to see?" She asked as they were sitting in the Pink Flamingos cabin.

"I say we watch The Heathers," Alejandro smirked, earning him a small nudge in the arm from his fiancé.

"Wait," Mike said. "You have Sixteen Candles?!"

"Uh, yeah...I let you use my iPad all the time," Zoey replied.

"But I don't know you had this movie!"

"I've never seen it before," said Cameron.

"What?!" All four of them said at once.

"That movie is a classic," Alejandro said. "How could you have not?"

"We've gotta show him, guys!" The redhead suggested excitedly.

"Definitely," Mike nodded, scooting closer to his wife.

The Spaniard looked at Heather. "Are you ok with watching this?" She nodded, forcing herself to smile. Don't get her wrong, it wasn't that she didn't like the movie. Her back was just killing her again, and she didn't want to complain because she knew Alejandro would tell her 'I told you so,' and it would give him the satisfaction of winning.

About ten minutes into the movie, Heather laid on her fiancé's shoulder, hoping that it would ease the pain she felt. Alejandro seemed to notice this, but stayed quiet with a tiny smirk on his lips. When the movie was over, everyone was exhausted, eyes drooping.

"See?" Zoey smiled lazily in Cameron's direction. "Did you like it?"

"Yeah," Cameron answered. "...However, it was highly unrealistic."

"Oh, come on!" She giggled. "You've gotta love Farmer Ted!"

"Hmm..." Alejandro chuckled. "He actually reminds me of Cody a little.

"Cody wishes he was him," Mike teased, earning him a small glare from his wife. "It was just a joke, hehe..." he laughed awkwardly.

Zoey turned towards the other couple. "Anyways, I'm heading off to bed. Goodnight, guys."

"Me too," Cameron yawned. "Goodnight." He got up and made his way towards the door to get to his cabin. Mike got up as well and dig through his bag to get his pajamas and go change.

Once everybody was out, Alejandro smiled at Heather. "So...you feel perfectly fine? No nausea?"

"What made you think I was nauseous?" The Asian woman raised an eyebrow at him.

"Maybe because you decided to lay on my shoulder for the whole movie."

"Can I not lay on your shoulder?"

"No! It's just...you never do that when we're around other people." Alejandro knew this was true, because he remembered Heather telling him that they could only cuddle when they were alone together.

"Well I did tonight," she answered.

He paused. "...Heath, are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes!" The queen bee snapped. When he still didn't look convinced, she sighed in defeat. "Fine. My...back kind of hurts. That's all. And please don't say I told you so, cause I don't wanna hear it."

"Would you like a massage?" Was all he asked, much to Heather's surprise.

She blinked before muttering "sure." She laid on her stomach and got comfortable while Alejandro positioned his hands on both sides of her hips.

"Tell me," he said gently. "Where exactly does it hurt, mi amor?"

"It's just my whole lower back," she groaned as the pain kept hitting her in waves.

"Alex, already getting heavy, aren't we?" He chuckled, taking his thumbs and slowly pressing right above the dimples on her back.

Heather laughed and then sighed in content. "This feels really nice..." Upon hearing this, Alejandro smirked and massaged harder, getting her to moan a bit. "God, why are you so good at this?"

"I don't know, I've never messaged myself before," he replied teasingly. Heather rolled her eyes.

Eventually, her eyelids became droopy and the last thing she remembered was Alejandro gently scratching her back and rubbing his fingers through her hair.

**

The warm breeze touched her skin and flowed through her hair. Heather opened her eyes. 'How the hell did I get here?' She took a few steps ahead, hoping to find her way back to her cabin, but failed to find it. In fact, she didn't even know if she was near the actual island. It didn't look like an island at all.

It was a field. And a rather large one at that. She started running, in hopes of finding something that indicated camp was near. After sprinting for a few minutes, she felt like she was getting nowhere. She stopped, leaning down and resting her hands on her knees.

When she stood back up, she expected the pain in her lower back to return, but it didn't. And she didn't feel nauseous at all. 'It'll come at some point,' she thought.

"Heather!" A very familiar voice called.

"...Alejandro?" She turned around to see none other than her fiancé running up a hill. A flood of relief came washing over her. However, that relief quickly turned into confusion when she saw someone else running beside him.

It was a small child, probably around the age of four, holding his hand and giggling. She wore a short purple dress with white shoes.

"Dang it!" Alejandro said playfully. "Mommy beat us up the hill!"

Heather's eyes went wide. 'What? ...Mommy? Wait...is this...'

"Can I go look at the flowers, daddy?" The little girl asked excitedly, jumping up and down.

Alejandro smiled. "Of course you can. Just stay close, Alexandra, alright?"

'Alexandra?!' Heather's breathing became rigid. She looked at the girl who was now sitting next to a bunch of flowers that Heather swore were not there before. She felt a warm hand slide into her's.

"This picnic was a good idea," Alejandro said. 'It..wasn't mine?' She thought, and turned back to see a basket in his free hand. 'How did that get there?' He set it down on the grass and opened it up, taking a huge picnic blanket out. He lifted it and let it fall to the ground. "Ladies first," he teased with a smirk.

Heather didn't say a word as she got onto the blanket. 'This has got to be a dream.' She watched as Alejandro took out a plastic tub with chocolate strawberries. He took one out and offered it to her.

She opened her mouth to say she didn't want one, when all that came out was "You're setting a bad example for our daughter. Desserts are last."

'...What the hell just came out of my mouth? That is not what I wanted to say!'

"Eh," he shrugged. "She's not looking."

"Nice integrity." She giggled involuntary.

"Ugh!!! Why do I keep on saying things that I'm not thinking?!!' She huffed frustratedly. Alejandro seemed to notice this, and frowned.

"Are you ok, mi amor?"

'No. I'm actually really confused and I want to know why I'm here or if this is just a dream or not.' "Yeah, I'm fine," she smiled. "Everything's perfect." 'Everything's perfect?!' She cringed in disgust. 'Since when do I say things like that?!'

That's when she noticed the ring on her finger. It was different looking than her engagement one. Her face fell flat. 'Of course were married. Yep, this is definitely a dream.'

"Are you sure you're alright?" Alejandro asked again, gently lifting her chin for her to face him. "You're not smiling, dear." She opened her mouth to respond, when-

"Mommy!" The little girl called. She was staring at something. "Mommy, come look!"

"I've gotta go," she smiled. "Duty calls." She stood up and walked towards the little girl. "Watch over the food!"

'Duty calls? Ok, this is definitely a dream!'

When Heather got closer to the girl, she began to notice things she didn't when she first saw her. She noticed her hair first. It was long, all the way down her back, and it was a dark brown color. Then she noticed her skin. It was a shade somewhere between her's and Alejandro's. And lastly, the girl turned around. Heather nearly gasped when she saw her eyes. They were absolutely beautiful. Green. Just like Alejandro's. And she had this twinkling wonder in them. The look of innocence. Suddenly, Heather wanted nothing more than to protect what was standing right in front of her.

Her heart fluttered with a joy she never felt before. 'This is my baby...' she turned back to see Alejandro with a loving smile on his face as he watched them. And she smiled back, willingly, this time. 'This is our baby. We...we made this together.'

"Mommy," The little girl's voice brought her out of her thoughts. Heather turned back to her, her smile never faltering. "Wook!" She grabbed a pink flower from the ground. "It's so bootiful! Can I put this in yor haiw?"

Heather nodded, getting down on her knees. The girl reached for the space between her hair and her ear, but gasped in fear. "Mommy!!"

"What? What is it?!" Those words came out willingly as well. She brought the flower back down to show her. Heather raised an eyebrow when she saw that the flower was shrinking. Its once pink color was now black, and the pedals began falling off. 'Flowers don't die that quickly...'

"It's ok," she said calmly. "I bet you can find another one just like it!"

"No!" She shook her head violently, tears streaming down her face. "This was the only one!! The only one!!!!" Heather turned back to Alejandro, hoping he would come up here and help, but he was gone. And so was the picnic. It was if no one was ever there.

"Alejandro?" She said, voice shaking. "Alejandro!!" She called louder this time, but that only seemed to make things worse.

The wind began to pick up and the sky turned dark grey. Large clouds filled the sky and a loud clap of thunder surrounded them. The child cried louder, gripping onto the slowly decaying flower.

"Shh, it's okay..." Heather tried soothing, wrapping the little girl in her arms protectively. "I'm right here, sweetie...I'm right here." She looked around for anything. Anything that could cheer her up. 'More flowers!' She thought. But they were all gone. 

She then let go of the girl so she could see the flower. It only had one pedal left. It began wiggling as the wind furiously tried to detach it from the middle. It looked as if it were fighting for its life.

"...Mommy?" The little girl's shaking voice got her attention. Heather looked up and saw emerald Green eyes staring into her's. They shook with terror.

"It's just a storm," she gently reassured, putting on her best smile.

"Mommy," she said again, the tears coming back. "Mommy...help me!!" Panic rose in Heather's chest.

"What's wrong?!" She asked worriedly, placing both her hands on the girl's shoulders.

"Mommy, please!!" Her voice was strained.

Heather shook her head, frustrated tears filling her eyes. "I-I don't..." her voice trailed off. The girl looked down at the flower. Heather followed her gaze. The last pedal was barely hanging on.

"Save me..." she whispered.

Heather's heart dropped to her stomach. "Wh-What?" She choked out, confused.

"MOMMY!" She screamed, now sounding desperate. "HELP ME!!"

"H-help...help you with what?!" Heather asked as more tears filled her eyes. The pedal was handing by a thread.

"Don't let me go."

"Wha...?" She said breathlessly.

"Mommy!!!!" The little girl was no sobbing uncontrollably. Heather never thought she could hear a more terrible sound in her life. She didn't even know this girl, but she knew she didn't ever want to hear her scream like this again.

The flower pedal broke off.

"Mommy..." The girl's voice seemed to get quieter, even though she was standing right next to her. "Don't let me go...save me..."

"I-I won't!!" Heather yelled. But it was too late. The girl's voice joined the howls of the wind. She sat there, hands shaking. "Wh-where are you?!! ALEXANDRA!!"

Suddenly, she felt a stabbing pain in her abdomen. "Ahhh!!" She cried out, hunching over and holding onto her stomach. "H-help!!" She screamed in desperation. "Somebody, please!!!!"

The pain only because more agonizing, as if a knife was slowly diffing it's way inside of her. "God, help me!!!! A-Alejandro!!" 'Somebody...'

Everything went black.

**

Heather woke up crying, the same stabbing pain in her stomach. She hyperventilated in attempt to catch her breath, but nothing worked. She heard shuffling from beside her, and Alejandro sat up.

"Heather?" He asked, still half asleep. "Are you ok?"

She wanted to answer. She really did. But all that came out were loud sobs. Her whole body shook as the tears came out.

Alejandro blinked, waking up more. "...Heather?" He rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. "What happened, mi amor?" She only shook her head, hiding her face.

"...Huh?" Someone woke up, confused. "Who's crying?"

"Go back to sleep," another person groaned. "It's probably just-" they stopped when they heard it too. Then it was as if everybody else in the cabin woke up at the same time.

"What is going on?" Cody yawned and stretched at the same time.

"Huh?! What's happening?" Owen sat upright from his bed, shaking the whole bunk, therefore, waking Noah up.

"Ahhh!" He struggled to keep from falling off.

"Omg, Cody!! Are you alright?!!" Sierra gasped.

"That's not me crying! It's Heather!"

"...Heather?"

The whole cabin went silent as they all turned towards her. "Heather's...crying?" Owen whispered. "Ow!" He was smacked in the arm by Noah.

"That's for waking me up," he retorted, but quickly shut his mouth when she saw the scene before him. Heather was crying in Alejandro's arms, looking completely mortified.

No one dared to say anything. Not even Lindsay.

So everyone sat in their beds silently, just watching her cry her eyes out. They waited for Alejandro to yell at them to get out or something, but neither of them budged.

About another five minutes passed, and Heather eventually stopped crying enough to control her breathing. She just laid there, sniffling and wiping her eyes, although more tears came out. She then leaned in and whispered something to Alejandro, who nodded understandingly and let go of her.

Heather slowly uncovered herself and swung her legs over the bed. She stood up and another wave of pain hit her. "Ahhh!" She held onto the bedside.

"Maybe I should come with you," Alejandro suggested. She didn't answer, allowing him to get up as well.

"Where are they going?" Cody whispered to Sierra, who only shrugged, just as confused as him. 

Alejandro took her hand and helped her stand up straight again, when the pain got even worse. Heather's legs shook and she doubled over in pain. "God, it's hurts!!!! It's hurts!!!" Everyone's eyes widened in shock, then Lindsay spoke up.

"Do I need to call an ambulance?" Alejandro ignored her, knowing that they had medical tents just on the other side of camp.

"Someone needs to get a medic. She can't walk!" The Spaniard said, trying his best not to panic.

"I'll go get some help!" José jumped off his bunk and quickly ran out of the cabin, flipping the light switch on in the process.

Heather squeezed her eyes shut as her cramps kept on getting worse and worse. "Oh my god, someone help!!!!"

"Hey, hey, hey," Alejandro whispered soothingly, bending down to where she was at the moment. "It's ok, Heather, José's getting help." She nodded, her eyes still shut.

"Fantastic. How am I supposed to trust that he is-"

Then she felt it.

The wetness between her legs.

She slowly looked down to see that her pajama shorts were stained.

Red.

Dark red blood.

Alejandro noticed how she was looking down, and followed her wide-eyed gaze, only to gasp. He looked back up at Heather, and she looked up at him. They shared a glance that said they both knew exactly what had happened now.

Heather let out a disbelieving breath, looking away, praying that this was all just a nightmare and she'd wake up, and everything would be normal again.

The other campers noticed her sudden silence, and shared questioning glances. "What's going on?" Some whispered.

"I don't know, we'll find out," others whispered.

"Don't let me go..." Heather remembered the little girl's voice in her dream.

No.

NO.

This can't be happening!

NO!!!!

Every tear came pouring back out, and she fell.

She fell to her knees.

Completely broken.

Alejandro took her in his arms. He cried into her neck.

Both were choking on their own tears, right in front of everyone.

Then the medics were there, carrying a stretcher.

Heather screamed as they took her away from Alejandro and lifted her onto the wheeled bed. Her fiancé quickly got up, grabbing her hand and following them to the medical tents.

**

A/n- Chris has to treat his staff better, so they actually care about the patients this time

The doctor's face fell when she saw the young woman and man enter the tent. The first thing she noticed was her bloodstained shorts. She had been checking up on Heather for the past two months. It's a shame. The baby was doing great.

The medics gently laid down on one of the beds and the doctor quickly walked over to her and held her hand. "Heather." Her kind voice seemed to calm her a little bit. "I'm gonna need you to take deep breaths, ok?"

The Asian tried breathing in and out as slowly as she could, but every breath was interrupted by another cry.

"It's all gonna be ok. We are going to help you get through this." She then turned towards Alejandro, who was trying not to break down as much as Heather was. "Hey," she placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him from pacing around. "Everything will be alright. You two will be fine."

"But..." Alejandro choked out. "But what about the baby?!! Huh?!!" More tears streamed down his face. "I bet you can't say that!!!!"

The doctor sighed, creasing her eyebrows worriedly. "I'm afraid to say that...we...can't save the baby." She felt her own voice falter. "Sir, y-your fiancé...just had a miscarriage."

Knowing it and hearing it were two very different things.

Heather already knew what was happening, but hearing it from the doctor completely tore her to pieces.

She couldn't think straight anymore.

She couldn't breathe.

"This isn't happening!!!!" She screamed, thrashing around violently in attempts to get up and get out of the tent. However, the nurses kept her down. "THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!!!!"

"Heather!" He doctor yelled. "You need to calm down.

"N-no!!!!"

"I know this is hard for you guys, but you can not panic. It'll be ok."

"No it won't!!!!"

"Heather-"

"This was the only one!! The only one!!!! No one could replace..." her voice trailed off as her words turned into to tears.

"This was the only one!! The only one!!!!" The little girl's voice kept replaying and replaying inside her head.

"Mommy...help me...save me..."

Heather screamed, covering her ears. "Stop!!!! God, make it stop!!!!"

"Go get her a sedative," the doctor whispered to the nurses, who nodded and rushed into the neighboring tent with all the medical supplies.

"Heather!" Alejandro cried, rushing to her side and embracing her again. "I-it's o-ok...I-I'm right here." But there was only so much sadness he could hold in.

**
When you carry a life and it's there, and then gone, a part of your soul dies forever.

~Casey Wiegand

**