Chapter 2 The Pain
883 Words
My painful steps toward the restroom, each one a tearing reminder of the child I'd carried and lost, were interrupted by the sight of Ryan.
My heart leaped—he hadn't visited me once during my hospital stay, only calling on our anniversary, a call I missed during surgery.
Seeing him now, I assumed he'd finally come to see me. I was about to call out and ask him to help me to the restroom, when a woman emerged from behind him, her arm intimately linked with his.
I froze. Ryan turned, saw me, and looked surprised.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, then, accusingly, "Are you following me?"
A chill ran through me. Gripping the wall, I countered, "Why are you in the maternity ward?"
Why was he here with Nora? Ryan frowned. Nora spoke, her voice soft, "Lily, don't misunderstand. I haven't been feeling well, so Ryan brought me to see the doctor."
Ryan's expression softened. "Nora doesn't have any friends here, so what's wrong with me accompanying her to the hospital?"
He added, "Nora and I are completely innocent. Don't be unreasonable."
"Ryan," I said, "I've been hospitalized for four days."
Four days, and he hadn't even asked where I'd been, why I was here. I touched my abdomen; the wound throbbed.
Ryan finally noticed my hospital gown, his face tightening slightly. "I can't help you even if you're in the hospital. Besides, aren't there enough nurses to take care of you?"
"I was pregnant," I stated.
"Whose?" Ryan blurted out, his voice filled with astonishment.
The blood drained from my face. My body trembled uncontrollably, and I almost lost my grip on the wall. He was actually questioning my fidelity, suggesting the child wasn't his!
Ten years of love felt like a cruel joke.
Ryan quickly realized his mistake. "I mean... how could you be pregnant? You've been taking birth control pills."
I'd been wondering the same thing. Then I remembered two months ago. Ryan had come home drunk, yet strangely euphoric. He'd held me close, repeatedly, refusing to let go, eventually falling into a deep sleep.
I was too exhausted to take my pill, too tired to do anything but fall asleep beside him. The child must have been conceived that night.
It should have been a gift for our tenth anniversary, a joyous arrival. Instead, its life was stolen by a bullet on the very day we celebrated a decade of marriage.
Nora playfully pinched Ryan's arm, her voice sweet, "Who says you can't get pregnant on birth control? Maybe Lily has a special constitution, able to conceive even with contraception."
Ryan scoffed. "She's been on birth control for ten years. If she could get pregnant, it would have happened by now."
I gritted my teeth against the agonizing pain, my hand resting on the bandaged wound. For a moment, I thought perhaps it was a blessing the child was gone. Its father questioned its paternity. He didn't love it.
Nora nudged Ryan. "Ryan, go get my medicine. I'll help Lily back to her room to rest. She needs to take care of herself, now that she's... pregnant."
I tried to push her hand away, but Ryan frowned at me. "Lily, even in the hospital, you're still so childish! Nora isn't feeling well herself, and she's kind enough to help you. Don't be ungrateful!" "I don't need her help!"
I looked at him. "I want 'you' to help me back."
He refused impatiently. "I need to get Nora's medicine."
Nora approached me. She was surprisingly strong, and in my weakened state, I couldn't stop her. A malicious glint flashed in her eyes.
She leaned in, her voice low. "Do you think you can keep Ryan by claiming you're pregnant? Dream on. I saw the news about the k********g. They blurred your face, but I recognized you. The news said you were shot in the abdomen, right?"
She pressed hard on my wound, grinding her hand into it. The pain was blinding. I gasped, my body convulsing.
"You..." I reached for her, trembling.
"Ah!" Nora suddenly stumbled backward, falling to the ground.
Ryan whirled around and rushed to her side, then roared at me. "Lily, how could you be so vicious! You know Nora isn't well, and you pushed her! If anything happens to her, I won't let you get away with this!"
I clutched my bleeding abdomen, the wound torn open, and sank to the floor, shivering uncontrollably. Tears welled in my eyes as I watched Ryan rush away with Nora in his arms. Nora looked back at me, a triumphant smile on her face.
A passing nurse noticed my condition and quickly bandaged my wound. Back in my bed, I checked the security cameras at home.
The man who promised to spend our tenth anniversary with me hadn't come home that night. I scrolled through my call log. Only his missed call from that evening.
I didn't know if the pain in my heart was worse than the pain in my abdomen. I curled up in bed, sobbing uncontrollably.
'It hurt so much. Ryan, it hurt so much. You used to care about me. Why don't you care anymore?' I wondered.
Finally, my eyes were swollen, I sent Ryan a message: Let's get a divorce.
- Writer
