For a moment, I didn’t know where I was. Then everything rushed back all at once, hitting me so hard it felt like I’d been thrown.
My throat tightened as I blinked slowly and forced my eyes open. A nurse noticed immediately and moved closer.
“Oh, you’re awake,” she said softly. “I’ll go get the doctor.”
I tried to push myself up, but pain spread through my body in waves. My hand went straight to my stomach without thinking.
The baby.
Before fear could fully take over, the door opened and the doctor came in, flipping through my file as he walked.
“You collapsed because of incorrect medication,” he explained calmly. “But the baby… is still alive.”
My breath caught.
Part of me expected relief. Maybe even happiness. But there was nothing like that—just a strange emptiness sitting heavy in my chest.
Because that baby… I didn’t even know who I was supposed to be carrying it for anymore.
Julian or Kieran. Either answer felt like poison.
The doctor studied me closely. “Would you like to listen to the heartbeat later?”
I immediately shook my head.
His brows rose slightly. “Ms. Calloway—”
My voice came out broken. “I want it terminated.”
He paused. “You’re requesting an abortion?”
“Yes,” I said quietly. “As soon as possible.”
He exCallowayd slowly, like he was weighing every word before speaking. “Aria… with your condition, you know how hard it was for you to get pregnant in the first place.”
I stayed silent.
“If you proceed,” he added carefully, “you may not be able to conceive again. Are you certain?”
My chest twisted painfully, but I still nodded.
He looked at me for a long moment, something like pity in his eyes. “Alright. I’ll schedule it in three days.”
Three days.
Three days to cut the last remaining thread tying me to Julian. Three days to erase everything. Three days to learn how to breathe again.
When he left, I sank back into the pillow, staring blankly at the ceiling as my thoughts dragged me somewhere I didn’t want to go.
—
Two years ago.
I was carrying grocery bags in one hand and school books in the other when I saw her collapse.
Julian’s grandmother—Rosemarie.
I didn’t know her then. Just an elderly woman suddenly falling on the pavement, clutching her chest, struggling to breathe.
Something in me reacted before I could even think. I dropped everything and ran.
“Ma’am, can you hear me?” I asked, lowering her carefully. Her breaths were shallow—too shallow.
A heart attack.