Restless
LILIANA’S POV
The moment I closed the bedroom door behind me, my heart started racing.
I couldn’t sit still. My legs kept carrying me back and forth across the room, my bare feet making soft taps against the wooden floor. My fingers were in my mouth before I even realized it, chewing on the nail of my index finger the way I used to when I was a nervous child.
Something was wrong.
I could feel it.
It wasn’t just nerves, not just Ronny’s heavy stare when he caught me throwing up at the sink earlier. It was my body. The way I felt. The way I hadn’t seen my period. The way everything tasted too strong, or made me nauseous.
I knew what it meant.
But I wasn’t ready to say the word out loud.
Pregnant.
I stopped pacing and pressed a hand against my stomach. My breath caught. Was there really something growing inside me? A part of me and Ronny?
No. I shook my head quickly. I couldn’t let myself think that far yet. I might be wrong. My body could just be reacting to stress. God knows I’d had enough of it in the past few months.
But deep down, I knew.
The thought made me dizzy.
Ronny.
What would he say?
I dropped onto the edge of the bed, my legs trembling. I could already picture his face, that sharp glare of his, the weight in his voice when he got serious. He wasn’t the kind of man you surprised easily. He was always in control, always one step ahead of everyone else. But this… a baby? Our baby?
Would he be happy?
I bit down hard on my lip. No. I couldn’t tell him. Not yet.
I needed to be sure.
That’s why I lied at breakfast. I couldn’t stand the panic in his voice when I was bent over the sink. I couldn’t let him know the truth, not until I had answers. So I blamed it on peanut butter, forced a smile, pretended everything was fine.
But inside, I was shaking.
I stood, forced myself to get dressed. Jeans, a simple top, sneakers. Nothing fancy. Just something I could slip out in without drawing attention.
Grabbing my bag, I paused at the mirror. My reflection stared back at me with wide, guilty eyes. I looked like a thief sneaking out in daylight. That’s exactly what I felt like.
Ronny was still in his office when I walked downstairs. I could hear the faint click of his keyboard behind the closed door. He was working—of course he was.
Good.
I slipped past, heart pounding, every step feeling like I was walking on glass. If he looked up, if he called my name, if he opened the door and saw me—what excuse would I give?
But he didn’t.
The house was quiet except for the sound of my keys jingling as I opened the front door.
The moment I stepped outside, I sucked in a deep breath, realizing I’d been holding it the whole time.
I made it to the car, slid inside, and started the engine. My fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly as the gate rolled open.
Don’t look back.
I drove out, the heavy metal gates closing behind me, cutting me off from the man I loved but couldn’t face with the truth. Not yet.
The road stretched ahead, sun bright in the sky. My nerves didn’t settle. My chest was tight the entire way, like someone had tied invisible strings around my lungs.
Halfway to the hospital, I stopped at a gas station. The tank was low anyway, and I needed a moment to breathe.
The man at the pump smiled politely as he filled my car. “Hot day,” he said.
I nodded, forcing a smile back, but inside I was miles away. My hands were shaking as I passed him the money.
Pregnant. The word whispered in my head like a secret too dangerous to speak.
I pulled out again, the city rushing by in a blur until finally, the hospital came into view.
My stomach twisted as I parked and walked inside. Every step echoed in my ears like drumbeats.
The smell of antiseptic filled my nose. The white walls, the quiet beeping from machines somewhere down the hall, the shuffle of nurses’ shoes—it all felt too sharp, too clean, like I didn’t belong here.
At the reception desk, I gave my name, my voice barely steady. The nurse smiled kindly and pointed me to a waiting room.
I sat down, bouncing my knee, my hands twisting in my lap. Every second dragged. My mind wouldn’t stop racing.
What if I really was pregnant?
What if I wasn’t?
Both answers terrified me.
When the doctor finally called my name, I jumped to my feet.
She was a woman in her forties, kind eyes behind thin glasses. “Liliana Arthur?”
“Yes,” I breathed.
“Come with me.”
The room was small but warm. She asked me questions, gentle but direct. Then came the tests. Urine. Blood. The part where time stretched longest, where every tick of the clock was a hammer against my chest.
I kept thinking about Ronny.
His smile this morning. The way he said “I love you” like it was the simplest truth in the world. Would it still be simple when he found out?
Would he want this child?
Would he want me?
I pressed my hands together so tightly my knuckles turned white.
Finally, the doctor came back. She was smiling.
That smile told me everything before she even handed me the paper.
“Congratulations, ma'am,” she said softly. “You’re pregnant.”
The words rang in my ears, loud and final.
Pregnant.
I stared at the result, the letters blurring through the tears in my eyes. My heart stuttered, skipped, then raced so fast I thought it would burst.
I was going to be a mother.
Ronny was going to be a father.
The doctor’s voice was calm, reassuring, explaining next steps, care, appointments. I nodded, but I barely heard her.
All I could think was: How will I tell him?
Would he smile? Would he pull me into his arms, kiss me, tell me we’d be okay? Or would his jaw tighten, his eyes go dark, that wall he used to keep the world at bay rising up between us?
I forced myself to thank the doctor, to fold the paper carefully, to smile like I wasn’t trembling inside.
But the moment I stepped outside, the hospital doors sliding shut behind me, the mask slipped.
I clutched the paper to my chest and exhaled shakily.
The world felt too bright, too loud. The sound of cars, the chatter of people on the sidewalk, even the birds overhead—it all clashed with the storm inside me.
I reached my car, opened the door, slid inside.
The paper was still in my hand. My proof. My secret.
I laid it on my lap, staring down at it.
A child. My child. Our child.
I didn’t even realize I was smiling until tears blurred my vision.
But then—
The hairs on my neck stood up.
A chill ran through me, sharp and sudden, like the air had shifted.
Someone was there.
I froze, my breath caught in my throat. My fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Slowly, I turned my head—
But I didn’t get the chance to see.
A hand clamped over my nose and mouth from behind the seat.
The cloth pressed against my face smelled sharp, chemical, suffocating.
I tried to scream, but the sound was smothered. I thrashed, clawed at the arm, but my strength slipped away faster than I could fight.
The world tilted. My vision blurred.
The last thing I saw was the folded paper with my results, sliding from my lap onto the car floor.
Then darkness swallowed me whole.
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