Act Like You Love Me (Jessica) novel Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Jessica’s POV

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The first thing I registered was a rhythmic, high-pitched beep… beep… beep. Every time the sound hit, a fresh wave of throbbing pain washed over my forehead.

Opening my eyes felt like trying to lift lead shutters, but eventually, the blurry white ceiling came into focus.

“You’re awake,” a soft voice announced.

I gasped, the dry air catching in my throat. I tried to bolt upright, but the world immediately performed a violent

somersault.

A groan escaped my lips as I slumped back against the thin hospital pillow.

“Hey, hey, careful now,” a gentle hand pressed against my forearm, supporting me.

My forehead creased as I blinked up at the source: a nurse in pale blue scrubs, her curly brown hair tied back in a ponytail. kind hazel eyes crinkling at the corners behind wire-rimmed glasses.

She looked mid-forties, with laugh lines that suggested she smiled often, even in a place like this.

“Your body is still incredibly weak,” she said, her voice dropping into a motherly scold.

“You’re dehydrated, and your blood sugar is through the floor. You haven’t eaten properly in a while, Jessica. That isn’t good for you… or your baby.”

My heart stopped-or at least, it felt like it did.

The beeping monitors kept going, a steady flow that mocked my frozen shock, proving I was still alive.

Baby? Did I hear that right? The word echoed in my head, bouncing off the walls of my skull like a pinball gone wild.

Ignoring the protest of my nervous system, I forced myself to sit up again, propping myself on my elbows.

“What?” I whispered, my voice barely a thread.

The nurse met my gaze with a pair of genuinely happy, sparkling eyes. A wide, knowing smile spread across her face.

“Congratulations, Jessica. You’re pregnant.”

The word just sat there, heavy and wrong. Pregnant.

I couldn’t even wrap my head around it. Somewhere inside me, there was a tiny life; a literal piece of Aaron and me

For a split second, I felt this weird, tiny spark of “finally,” because I’d wanted this for so long. But then the reality of my lite slammed back into me.

I was a runaway with no phone, no home, and a suitcase full of ghosts. I was a girl who had just fled from the only man she’d ever loved because she saw him in the arms of another.

How could I bring a baby into this mess?

I could almost hear it crying, reaching for things I don’t have. It felt cruel to stay, but the alternative-letting go before I even got to say hello-made my stomach turn.

I’m not just conflicted; I’m terrified.

Chapter 60

The nurse must have seen the storm on my face. She paused, flipping through her clipboard.

“We got your details from your passport in your belongings. No emergency contacts listed, but we’ll need to discuss that She glanced up, her expression softening.

“Great thing the lady brought you in early-the situation could have been worse.”

She smiled with her lips closed, a tight, sympathetic curve that didn’t reach her eyes fully.

Whatever else she said blurred into background noise. None of it registered. Not really.

I kept staring at the white sheets, my hand instinctively drifting toward my stomach. It felt flat, empty.

Yet, inside, a life was starting. Aaron’s life. A piece of the man who had shattered my heart was now weaving itself into my very DNA.

“I’ll go get the doctor now,” the nurse said gently. “In the meantime, do you have anything you’d love to eat?”

I met her question with a hollow, empty silence. I couldn’t even think about food. My stomach felt like it was full of lead.

“Great! I’ll just bring you something light and healthy then,” she said softly, patting my hand before disappearing through the door.

I felt bad for not answering. She was kind, and was just trying to help, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak.

AAAAA

The hours just dragged on, the steady beep-beep of the monitor acting like a clock I couldn’t turn off.

I lay there in the dark, trying to be clinical about it, trying to weigh my life like it was something that actually made sense.

The pros? It was a piece of Aaron. Maybe the only good thing I’d ever have left of him. It was a chance at the kind of love I’d always looked for but never actually found. A fresh start. A reason to finally stop running and build something.

But the cons… the cons were a mile long. I had nothing. No home to go back to, no job, and I’d already quit that diner in my head a dozen times.

I didn’t have a support system; I barely had a plan for where I was sleeping tomorrow.

A baby deserves a floor that isn’t shifting under its feet every five minutes. It deserves stability, and right now, I was the definition of a mess.

The thought of “sending it back” made my stomach flip, but then I’d think about the alternative.

Was it more selfish to keep the baby just because I was lonely? Or was it more merciful to end things now before the world could even hurt them?

The conflict felt like it was physically tearing me open.

I ended up curled on my side, the hospital gown scratchy and stiff against my skin, sobbing into the pillow so the nurses wouldn’t hear.

I’ve never felt so completely alone in my life.

And Aaron… just the thought of him made my chest feel like it was being crushed. This was supposed to be our “someday.”

I’d spent so many nights playing back the version of this that actually made sense-imagining a positive test and the look on

his face.

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Chapter 60

I had the whole life planned out in my head: I wanted to finish school. I wanted to be a real journalist, someone who chased the truth instead of running from it.

I wanted my life in order, with Aaron by my side-finally seeing me, finally loving me for real.

I’d dreamed of him asking me on a real date. I’d dreamed of him proposing, of a wedding where I wasn’t just a “fake” anything. I wanted the whole fairy tale.

I wanted the nursery, the Sunday mornings, the feeling of being a team.

Instead, I was a nameless patient in a crumbling hospital gown, fleeing a life that he shattered.

I kept spiraling, wondering what he’d even do if he knew.

If I were still with him, would he have even wanted this? Or would a baby just be another “complication” in his high- powered, messy life?

Would he have stayed just for the child, pretending to love me while the resentment built up? Or would he have just walked away from us both?

The uncertainty was the worst part; it felt like it was physically clawing at me. I was carrying a secret that would tie me to him forever, whether I liked it or not.

The door creaked, the sound cutting right through my thoughts. It wasn’t the nurse this time.

A doctor walked in. He was a man in his fifties with salt-and-pepper hair and a pair of thin glasses perched on his nose.

He had this calm, practiced way of moving, his stethoscope swinging slightly with every step.

He didn’t tower over me. He just pulled up a stool and sat, meeting me at eye level.

“How are you feeling, Jessica? Any more dizziness?” he asked. His voice was quiet, the kind of tone that invited you to actually tell the truth.

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I didn’t answer right away. I just stared at him, trying to swallow the lump in my throat and find enough of a voice to speak.

“How did I get here?” I finally asked. My throat felt like I’d been swallowing glass, and my voice was barely a rasp.

I’d been replayng the last few hours in my head, trying to fill in the blanks. After the shop lady’s snapped at me and that man’s growl, I’d pretty much decided that Pittsburgh was just a city full of mean strangers.

I’d braced myself for the worst. But somehow, someone had seen me. Someone had been a “good Samaritan” when I was at my lowest, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out who.

The doctor opened her mouth to respond, but a soft knock at the door interrupted her. The door swung open just a few

inches.

A woman stepped inside, and my jaw dropped.

My mouth dropped. Recognition crashed into me so hard I felt lightheaded all over again.

“You?” I stammered, my eyes widening.

She stood at the door with a weary, hesitant smile, clutching a paper cup of coffee.

There was a haunting quality to her expression, an exhaustion in her eyes that looked like it had been earned over decades

of silence.

She looked polished but tired, like a precious antique that had been kept in a dark room for too long.

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Chapter 60

355 Vouctiera

“Hello, Jessica,” she said, her voice soft and steady.

I stared at her, completely floored. I’d only crossed paths with this woman once, a brief and strange encounter that had felt like a weird glitch in my life at the time.

I didn’t know her name, and I certainly didn’t have a personal relationship with her. She was just a face from a moment I thought was buried.

What was she doing here, hundreds of miles away from where I’d first seen her?

And why, out of everyone in this massive, freezing city, was she the one who had stopped to save me?

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13:19 Mon, Jan 12 J