Page 60 of Deceiver

He places me in the back seat, laying me down, and then he closes the door.

I close my eyes, the tears all dried up, and pray that maybe by some miracle, my baby will make it through this.

I know the chances of that are basically none, but that doesn’t mean I won’t hold out hope.

I’ll do anything, anything, just to make this better.

Western gets in the truck and begins to drive.

I know where he’s taking me. He didn’t have to say a single word for me to know exactly where we are going. I’m injured, and not only that, I just told him I am pregnant and probably losing the baby. He’s not going to mess around with that. He’s not going to wait. I wouldn’t expect him to.

He’s taking me to the hospital.

He’s taking me to face the agonizing truth.

I’m just not sure I’m ready for it.

But I know I have no other choice.

I have to face what’s coming, and when I have ... Well then I’ll face what caused it to happen in the first place.

I want Bill dead.

I don’t care at what cost.

Today is the day I am done with Bill Whart.

13

“Sometimes it happensthis early. It doesn’t mean you can’t go on having more children. Many women go through this without even knowing and thinking it’s their period. It isn’t anything you did, nor is it anything you could have prevented.”

I zone out as the doctor speaks, his voice kind but straight forward.

I’ve been here for a night and in that time, the bleeding turned into what would seem like a normal period, but I know it isn’t, and that only makes it worse. The doctors did blood work, and told me that my HCG levels dropped, which means that I am no longer pregnant. It was so early, they told me it mightn’t have even attached properly, but with everything else going on, it just crushes me. It feels as though my soul is slowly, little by little, shrinking into a shriveled up mess I can’t escape from.

The only reason I got to spend the night at the hospital is because of my other injuries. I told the doctors that I fell down some stairs and that’s why I came in here, worried about my pregnancy. They seemed to accept that story, though they spent a lot of time side eyeing Western. I know that they know who he is, but that doesn’t stop him staying by my bedside. He hasn’t left. He hasn’t once allowed me to be alone.