“Megs?”
“I… I don’t know what to say.”
I step down from the last stair and walk to her, the test momentarily forgotten. “What’s the matter?”
“Nina, I’m so sorry.”
Reaching out, I take the glossy pieces of card from her, flipping them so I can see.
What I’m met with destroys me. My legs give out from under me, and I feel Megan reach for me, trying to take my weight, but I collapse to the floor despite her hold on me.
Please, no.
“Nina? Oh god, Nina?!” I hear Lucy shout. “What is it? Nina? Megs, she is pregnant.”
“Scarlet, call an ambulance,” Megan calls out.
“Nina?” I can hear their cries. I can feel tears on my face. But inside, I feel nothing.
Mase
My head spins, the room flashing.
My head feels foggy, heavy.
Fuck, I don’t feel right.
“Mason.”
My head connects with something hard, liquid rolling down my temple.
What’s wrong with my hands?
A rush of cold surges through my chest and spreads through my torso.
“I don’t fucking feel right.”
Darkness takes me.
THIRTY-SIX
Nina
I’m four months pregnant.
Four months.
I stare at the image in my hand, stare at the perfect life that is preparing itself for what? A perfect mother? A family? This isn’t how I wanted it to go.
The nurse told me the bleeding I experienced after the crash was most likely from the trauma and stress of the accident, but assured me the baby is healthy and that there was no need to be concerned.
Guilt fills me. The guilt that I missed it. The guilt for what I have put my body through these past few months. And the guilt to the life that I now have to guide when I have no clear path for us to go down.
The nurse told me they want to monitor me for the next forty-eight hours after I fainted, but I don’t want to leave. If I leave, I have to go to Lucy and Megan’s, and they are already fussing. Lucy is asleep in the corner, refusing to leave my side for a second, and I know the rest of them are in the corridor. I heard Elliot’s voice booming in the early hours, demanding he be let in. They eventually settled down, but it didn’t matter anyway because I haven’t slept a wink.
Mason isn’t here.
He hasn’t been here all night.
