When I woke up, the doctor had already completed a D&C procedure. My hand instinctively moved to my abdomen. There had once been a child there.
It was a future I had imagined, a happiness I had clung to. Yet it was all gone. The emptiness in my stomach mirrored the hollowness I felt inside.
Tears streamed down my face, soaking the pillow beneath me. The doctors and nurses looked at me with pity and sympathy. One of them sighed and spoke softly.
"For the next few days, avoid alcohol, and don't eat anything spicy. We also found several snake bites on your body, but luckily, none were venomous."
The doctor paused, his brow furrowed with concern. "Miss, did you offend someone? Do you need us to call the police?"
I shook my head slowly. 'What was the point?'
This all started years ago, in high school, when I fell in love with Caleb.
Back then, Nina had bullied me for two years straight. She was dating Caleb at the time, and I was terrified to tell my mother or stepfather about the bullying. I feared Caleb would hate me even more, and life at home would only get harder.
But Caleb had noticed something was wrong. After following me for a few days, he found out that Nina was the one tormenting me.
Furious, he picked up a chair and smashed it over Nina's head. The shock on her face was unforgettable.
"Lily isn't someone you can just bully! Don't be shameless!" Caleb growled as he stood beside me with his hand on my shoulder.
Nina, furious and humiliated, demanded they break up on the spot.
Ever carefree, Caleb shrugged and said, "Suit yourself."
It was the first time I had ever felt safe from anyone. No matter how much Caleb insulted or disliked me, I loved him with all my heart, like a moth drawn to a flame.
He was my light, who had once stood up for me.
But now?
He was back with Nina, and together, they had destroyed the one piece of hope I had left… Our child.
I realized then that my one-sided infatuation, this humiliating love I clung to, had to come to an end.
After the doctor left, I wiped the tears from my face, picked up my phone, and made an international call.
"Sir, I've made up my mind. I want to go abroad and study with you."
"Are you sure, Miss Dawson? It's a tough road. You might not come back for ten, maybe even twenty years."
I placed a hand on my abdomen, where life had once been, and let a few more tears fall. "I'm sure. There's no one left here that I care about."