“Gigi. Fuck!”
My eyelids fluttered open after hearing Uncle Malik’s and Valarie’s panicked voices. My body was sore and felt cemented to the ground. I slightly turned my head and saw Valarie’s teary, red-rimmed eyes, full of pain as she met my gaze.
She quickly scooted toward me and brushed my greasy hair away from my face.
“Are you okay?” Valarie asked as the tears fell down her cheeks. She was so pale, but I was sure I didn’t look any better.
“How long have I been out?” I asked her in a raspy voice. I attempted to lick my dry lips, but my tongue felt like sandpaper, and the effort drained what little energy I had left.
“Not long,” she whispered, wiping away her tears.
“How bad is it?” I cringed when I saw her sunken face morph into a sorrowful expression.
Valarie scanned between my legs, and her eyes widened in horror. “Oh, Gigi,” she gasped and turned to grab a blanket from behind her.
“What?” I asked, panicked.
With the blanket in her hands, she kneeled between my legs.
“What is it?” I asked again.
“You’re bleeding, Gigi.”
“Bleeding?” I summoned my remaining strength and looked down between my legs.
I noticed the red stain over my underwear. “What the hell?” I cried out, and sudden pain hit me in my stomach.
My God. How long had I been bleeding? Was that why I felt so weak? I thought it was just from the beating.
The pain continued to strangle me. I could barely breathe. What the hell was happening to me?
“Oh, no,” Valarie’s eyes drifted over Uncle Malik. “She’s having a miscarriage.”
Her words made me freeze.
“Uncle Malik?” I asked in a pleading tone, wishing he was here in the same cell with me.
“I’m so sorry, kiddo. I’m so fucking sorry.”
I wasn’t pregnant.
I would’ve known. But then realization dawned on me. My boobs had been sore. I was cramping and nauseated, but I just assumed it was because of what my body had been through while trapped here.
“H-how...how could you possibly know?” I stammered.
Valarie swallowed hard. “Because it happened to me years ago.”
No. No. No.This isn’t happening.
The doors opened again, and I flinched and braced myself for my next beating.
Valarie pushed herself up, her movements shaky. She stumbled over her chains toward the bars, reaching through the cold metal like a lifeline. “Please! She needs a doctor!”
The guard sauntered over, a smirk curling the corners of his mouth. His eyes flickered between my legs, his expression cold. He casually held three bottles of water and tossed two into our cell, the plastic clattering against the floor. He flung the third at Uncle Malik.
“Not my problem,” he spat, turning on his heel.
“Wait! She needs help! She could die!” Uncle Malik’s voice was a ragged growl.
