Chapter 2

I spent the whole night turning through old texts, and found nothing that could cure it.

On my way to the hospital, everything went black, and I dropped to the ground.

When I woke again, I was already in a hospital bed, the thick smell of disinfectant filling my nose.

"You're awake?"

The nurse beside me was adding medicine into my IV line as she went through the instructions.

"You really don't take care of yourself. Pregnant, and still putting your body through all this."

I looked up, stunned, and grabbed her hand. "Really?"

The nurse nodded.

Why did it have to be now, when there was already something lethal inside me.

One dying, one living, both crammed together in this ruined body of mine.

I thought it over and over, and in the end I decided to tell Harvey.

But the moment I opened my phone, Silvia's post popped up.

In the photo, Silvia was training on a rock wall, no safety gear on her at all.

Beside her stood Harvey, ready every second to catch her.

I hesitated for two seconds, then made the call.

He picked up in the last instant before it would have cut off.

Harvey was breathing hard. I spoke first.

"Come see me. There's something I want to tell you."

He let out a heavy sigh. "Can't you give me a little privacy? I'm training, I don't have time for your fussing."

Even through the screen, I could picture the impatience on his face.

"What if I'm pregnant, what then?"

He clearly froze, and there was a trace of panic in his voice. "Sabrina, don't joke about that. We're traveling all over the country right now. It's no time to have a child."

"Besides, we used protection every time."

But he'd forgotten the time he was drunk.

Harvey liked chasing a thrill, and out on an expedition there were moments he couldn't hold back.

That night he'd been badly drunk, and I hadn't thought anything of it.

I stroked my belly gently and asked again. "And if it's true?"

The line was silent for a long while before he answered.

"Sabrina, you know I don't want it."

The words had barely left him when I faintly caught Silvia's smug voice.

"I've got Harvey protecting me. I'll never be afraid."

Those words used to be my pride, the thing I leaned on. Now they'd turned up in someone else's mouth.

I gave a bitter little laugh. "Fine. I understand."

I hung up and turned to the nurse.

"Could you schedule an abortion for me, please."

This body of mine wasn't going to hold out much longer anyway.

Better to let the child move on to its next life a little sooner.

I only pitied the child. In the end, it was I who had wronged him.

The surgery was over quickly. The anesthetic hadn't even fully worn off before my belly began to ache, a dull, spreading pain, my whole body stung as if pricked by needles of ice.

I dragged my exhausted body along, wanting to find a spot with sunlight.

Instead, the moment I stepped out, I ran straight into Harvey.

He was supporting Silvia as she limped out of the elevator.

When he saw me, his steps stopped, his face full of anger.

"You just had to follow us here and make a scene, so everyone's embarrassed, is that it?"

"On the phone you lied and said you were pregnant, and now you show up here. What are you trying to say?"

I stood frozen where I was, a breath lodged in my throat, unable to rise or fall.

Beside him, Silvia tugged at the hem of his shirt.

"Harvey, don't hold it against her. Sabrina's always been petty. It's normal she's still angry about yesterday."

She turned her head toward me, the corner of her mouth even curving into a smile.

"It's just, Sabrina, some things can be said any way you like behind closed doors, but out here, don't make a scene. Look how upset you've got Harvey."

Back and forth they went, each adding a line, both of them certain I was throwing another fit.

Not one of them spared a glance for the hospital gown on my body or the ghastly pale of my face.