He’ Back
1173 Words
“Neo listen.”
Sarah’s breath hitched before she spoke. Her voice wobbled like she was holding back tears and I imagined her hands twisted together.
“I wanted to tell you, I really did, but I-”
“Well, it’s too late for that now, your mother and I have already decided on the name.”
I heard Neo interrupt. His voice oddly monotone.
“What? How? I don’t understand.”
Sarah stumbled over her words.
“The venue in Italy asked what we’d like our combined names to be. It’s for a complimentary customized wedding gift of some sort.”
He paused.
“I sent you the memo and asked what you thought, but you never replied. So your mother and I picked what we thought was best.”
I heard footsteps approaching, slow and controlled and a chair scraped back directly beside my bed.
“Oh.”
Sarah said, her voice merely a whisper.
The tremble in her voice made my chest tighten and if I could’ve moved, I would have wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly.
She was breaking and he didn’t even notice. He didn’t ask, he didn’t care.
She didn’t deserve this, none of it.
And yet, it was all my fault.
“Neo… I don’t think I can do this.”
Sarah’s voice cracked like an expensive China, begging to be held together.
Silence followed. Long and uncomfortable. The kind that wraps itself around your neck and squeezes tightly.
Then, Neo sighed, exhaling deeply. Even though I couldn’t see his face, that one breath said enough.
“You’ll be fine, Sarah.”
He finally said.
“The wedding is in six weeks. Everything has already been planned.”
My chest felt heavy. ‘Planned’? How could he speak to her like that?
Like she was just a grocery item on a checklist.
“I’m not talking about the wedding.”
Sarah whispered.
“I’m pregnant.”
Neo didn’t respond at first and Sarah squeezed my hand tighter with each passing second of silence.
Then, in a voice like stone, he said
“I know.”
Sarah sucked in a breath.
“You do?”
“I heard you earlier.”
Neo stated simply.
“When you told Mia.”
He elaborated.
I felt Sarah stiffen beside me, like she had just been slapped across the face.
“I-I didn’t think that-”
“You weren’t thinking at all.”
Neo cut in, each word hitting deeper than the last.
The mattress moved beside me as Sarah stood at her feet slowly.
“I told her because I needed someone.”
I heard Sarah’s footsteps as she took a small step forward.
“You’ve been so… distant lately. So cold. You used to try, Neo. You used to talk to me.”
I felt her body tremble as she spoke.
“But now it’s like I’m not even here. I don’t even remember the last time you looked me in the eyes.”
My stomach grew upset, my chest tightened.
I’d slept with her fiancé. The man she was trying so hard to love. And now she was crying because of him, because of me.
“It’s not just about you anymore, Neo.”
Sarah breathed.
“There’s a baby now. Our baby.”
Neo didn’t respond. And for a moment I wondered if he was still there. Then he spoke. Quieter this time.
“I’ll handle it.”
Sarah let out a shaky breath.
“I don’t want to raise a child with a stranger, Neo. Or someone who looks at me like I’m an inconvenience.”
She sniffled.
“I thought maybe, just maybe if we spent more time together, maybe we could be something real. Maybe this wouldn’t just be a contract.”
She paused.
“Was I wrong Neo?”
Neo said nothing, and then it happened.
Like a flicker, my finger moved.
Barely, but it did. I felt it
And by her reaction, I could tell that Sarah did too.
“Oh my God!”
I heard a chair scrape across the floor.
“Neo! Neo did you see that? Her finger moved!”
She wrapped her shaking hand around mine.
“Mia, can you hear me?”
She squeezed gently, over and over.
Neo moved closer, his footsteps fast now.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! She moved. I saw it.”
The door burst open a second later.
“What’s going on?”
A calm male voice spoke.
“Doctor, she moved.”
Sarah said quickly.
“Her finger moved.”
I heard the sound of a penlight flicker on.
“Miss Parker, can you hear me?”
The doctor asked, flashing his penlight across my eyelids repeatedly.
“If you can, try moving your fingers again.”
I fought with every muscle in my body, clawing my way to the surface.
And then, just barely, I moved it again.
“There!”
Sarah gasped.
“There, she did it again.”
“She’s coming around. That’s a good sign.”
The doctor said.
“I’ll have the nurses increase her monitoring. She may be waking up soon.”
I heard Sarah let out a breath. I wasn’t sure she even knew she was holding.
“I knew you’d come back to me.”
Sarah whispered, rubbing circles on my palm with her thumb.
I wanted to hold her hand too, to cry in her arms.
But my body was still trapped in darkness, fighting its way out a second time.
I could feel the doctor moving around the room, checking things as he asked a few more questions.
Sarah stayed close the whole time, brushing my hair back from my face and whispering promises that I didn’t deserve.
Eventually, everyone left me alone.
Or so I thought.
Hours passed, and the night grew quiet. The only thing that could be heard was the steady beep of the monitors I was plugged into.
Then, the door creaked open.
At first, I thought it was Sarah. But the footsteps were too heavy.
They stopped beside my bed. A chair scraped and someone sat.
He didn’t say anything at first he just stood beside me in an eerie silence until.
“Took you long enough to end up here.”
The voice.
I knew that voice.
Even after all these years, it still made my skin crawl.
No.
No. It couldn’t be.
Not him.
The hairs on the nape of my neck lifted as he spoke.
My fingers twitched again, harder this time.
But I couldn’t scream, I couldn’t move.
“I always knew you’d come crawling back to me eventually. You need me.”
He said softly, brushing my hair behind my ears.
“I didn’t expect it to be in a hospital bed though. Pathetic.”
A tear ran down my face in response to his touch.
And at that moment, one thought echoed through my mind, beeping louder than the machines.
It’s Max.
He’s back.
- Writer
