Page 57 of Forbidden Pregnancy
“Michael?” I whisper. It’s fuzzy gray with pockets of blinding white light. Beeping in the background makes my headache.
...“Who the hell is Michael?”
...“Ma’am, we’re almost there…”
… “Jane Doe found outside of the bar. We need a rape kit...”
I wake up alone and rouse myself for several minutes before I realize that I’m at Buffalo General. The last time I was here was when I had pneumonia when I was seven years old. It’s curious that I feel no pain. I turn my head sideways. IV drip.
Turning my head hurts so badly that I pass out again. My last thought this time numbs me completely: Michael isn’t here. He never came. He didn’t save me. He left me all alone.
The next time I wake up, there’s a nurse in the room with me checking in. Her footsteps probably woke me up, but I can barely hold any thoughts in my head.
“Hello, dear,” she says, smiling at me behind soft, dark brown eyes. It comforts me to be in a hospital room with another woman of color.
“Hi…” I croak out, mostly because I don’t want to be rude. I can hardly manage more words than that. The nurse approaches my bed, checks the screens behind me and smiles at me.
“I know you must have been through a lot, but don’t let anyone force you to talk about it before you’re ready, okay?”
I want to nod, but I can’t. I just blink purposefully, hoping she understands that we’re on the same page. The nurse smiles at me warmly.
“My name is Krizzia,” she says. “If you need anything or if you need me to chase off the cops, just push that little buzzer here.”
Thankfully, even in my immobilized state, I can reach for the buzzer. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but it feels like my head gained an extra fifty pounds of weight.
“Okay.”
“Do you know what happened to you?” she asks me gently. “You don’t have to tell me, but you don’t look like the sort of girl to be in this kind of trouble…”
My heart palpitates a little and I shake my head.
I don’t know what happened — and I don’t know why Michael never came. All I know is that I’m never going to see that man again, or Cosima Corsini, and I will never change my mind.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Michael
Present Day
Luigi convinced me to take Cosima again and considering Myra’s mood lately, I thought her presence might boost Myra’s spirits. I don’t expect my sister to emerge from Myra’s bedroom in tears after she puts the mother of my child to sleep for the night. I feel a strangely protective surge over CC when I see her crying, even if I know she’s a devilish woman without any hesitation at all to use manipulation to get her way.
But I know how she grew up and how much she loves Myra, despite the strange way she seems to have shown it.
“Why are you crying?”
CC gazes up at me with wide, unforgiving eyes. “Did Myra tell you what happened?”
“Be more specific.”
CC shakes her head. “I think I screwed up, Michael.”
I stand there stunned to hear her taking any accountability, quite frankly. Maybe Luigi had some impact on her, or maybe she saw how Angela Taviani’s life turned out and learned thatthere’s really no escaping this family. We all have to find a way to live with each other.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
If she’s going to take accountability for something, I want CC to be more specific. Apologizing for sucking Myra into our family drama would be an excellent start.
“I’m going to get Myra killed.”
