Ana moved, making her way to the door. “That’s all. I’ll leave you alone now.”
The door shut behind her with a click, and I was alone once again. The room was as quiet as a graveyard.
My hand moved over the table, and I picked up the test delicately. My heart lurched in my throat, my stomach twisting into a knot.
She’d found out she was pregnant with my child, and that hadn’t stopped her. She drugged me and ran away with my baby in her belly.
I rose from my seat, gritting my teeth so hard my jaw ached. I could forgive many things.
But not this.
She could run to the end of the world if she wanted. She could even crawl into a tiny hole and hide from me if that made her feel better.
But one thing was certain: I was going to find her. I didn’t care if I had to turn the entire world upside down to do that.
I needed to find her.
And my child.
Chapter 19 – Zoella
The walls were beige, the lighting sterile, and the faint scent of antiseptic filled everything. I was in the corner of the tiny exam room, perched on the edge of the paper-covered table with my rigidly positioned hands on my thighs.
My knees shook nervously despite my attempt to keep them motionless, nervousness diffusing itself into every cell of my body.
This was not how I’d pictured my first ultrasound to be.
Under a fake name, with a fake ID card.
All by myself.
I’d found the clinic on the last page of an old phonebook back at the apartment. It didn’t ask questions, didn’t take insurance. Just cash up front, and I was assigned a doctor.
The walls in this place were too thin. I could hear muffled conversation outside, the faint squeak of chairs, the clang of equipment being rolled by. And most of all, the pounding of my own heart.
I hadn’t even known what I needed to hear from the doctor. I just needed to know the baby was still there. Still okay.
The door eventually opened, and a soft-eyed woman in navy scrubs entered with a warm smile. She was carrying a folder in one hand and a small, sealed printout in her other.
“You’re about six weeks,” she said, her tone even, like she’d done it a thousand times. “All good. Good strong heartbeat, steady growth. The baby is coming along beautifully.”
I nodded once, biting the inside of my cheek as I accepted the file from her. My hands were cold.
“Do you have any questions?” she asked.
Too many. But not a single one that I could speak. Not a single one with answers in a medical file.
I shook my head and smiled at her. “No. Thank you.”
She didn’t press; she just placed the ultrasound printout in a small envelope and handed it to me gently. “Thank you,” I said once again as I took the file from her and placed it in my bag without caring to open it.
***
Outside, the air was cool and smelled faintly of earth and rain. The sun had sunk behind a layer of gray clouds, its light dimmer than usual.
I moved fast, arms wrapped tightly around myself as if it could keep the pain inside from spilling over.
This was supposed to be a beautiful moment.
