He Built His Intern a Princess Room, So I Left

Chapter 4

I woke to a white ceiling, and the sharp smell of disinfectant made my throat tighten.

My lower abdomen felt hollow.

It wasn't hunger. It felt as if someone had carved a piece out of me.

A nurse came in to change my IV bag. She glanced at me and hesitated as if she wanted to say something.

"I'm sorry, Miss Mercer. You lost the baby. You were 6 weeks along."

'6 weeks.'

I hadn't even known I was pregnant.

I stared at the ceiling. I didn't cry or scream. I didn't even move a finger. The nurse probably thought I was too stunned to react. She looked at me twice more before hurrying out.

When the door opened again, I thought it was the nurse.

It was Caleb.

There was dried blood on his shirt. I couldn't tell whether it was mine or someone else's.

He walked to the bed and dropped to his knees on the tile.

"Natalie."

He said my name in a voice so hoarse it barely sounded like him.

"I'm sorry."

He reached for my hand. I didn't pull away. His hand trembled violently.

"I didn't know you were pregnant. If I'd known, I never would have..."

He couldn't finish. He lowered his forehead to the edge of the bed, his shoulders heaving.

The sight of him suddenly struck me as absurd.

'So he only starts caring about me after the baby is gone.'

"Natalie, we'll get married. Right away. We won't wait until next month. We'll do it this week." He lifted his head, his eyes red. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have taken you to that party. I shouldn't have..."

His phone rang.

The screen lit up with the contact name Soph.

He looked at it and declined the call.

Then he continued, "Natalie, listen to me. From now on, I won't..."

The phone rang again.

This time, he hesitated instead of declining it.

He answered and turned away, lowering his voice.

"What happened...? What...? Don't cry. I'm coming right now."

He ended the call and turned back to me.

"Natalie, Soph might have fractured her ankle. She's alone at the hospital and she's scared. I'll go check on her and come right back."

He stood up and pushed the chair back into place.

"Get some rest. I'll ask Ms. Dawson to stay with you."

He took two steps toward the door, then looked back.

"Natalie, when I come back, we'll sit down and talk."

The door closed.

His footsteps receded down the hall, quickening until he broke into a run.

I stared at the closed door, and whatever love I had left for him died for good.

'Our baby is gone at just 6 weeks. He just knelt beside me and apologized, and one phone call was all it took for him to run off again.'

I pulled the IV line from the back of my hand. A bead of blood welled up, and I ignored it.

I picked up my phone.

I opened my contacts, found Caleb, and blocked his number.

I deleted him from w******p, then blocked him on every other social app one by one.

Then I opened my computer and sent my supervisor a second email.

Natalie: Director Ellison, I'm leaving tomorrow. There's no need to wait until next week for the handover.

After sending it, I selected every photo of Caleb, every chat log, and every call recording involving him and deleted them all.