The Years Between Signing and Seeing novel Chapter 40

After leaving the Baylor Manor, Suzie directed the taxi driver to the hospital. When she got out, she stood at the entrance, staring up at the hospital sign above the entrance, her heart in agony.

She placed a hand on her still-flat stomach, her mind a battlefield where two voices were at war. One scolded her, telling her to give up the child. The other gently persuaded her to have the baby, promising a little angel who would be her closest kin in the world.

Suzie had never felt so torn. This life-altering choice had been cruelly forced upon her.

“What? You’ve had so many shots and you’re still not pregnant? Didn’t the doctor say there was hope?” A middle-aged woman with a sorrowful expression grumbled at the young woman beside her as they passed.

From the other direction, a pale, exhausted-looking girl walked by, her lips dry and cracked, while a young man constantly asked if she was in pain.

Watching these scenes unfold only deepened Suzie’s misery. Some people longed for a child they could never have, while others, for various reasons, couldn't keep theirs. And her…

With heavy steps, Suzie climbed the stairs and, moving as if in slow motion, checked in at the front desk and took a seat. When she was finally in the doctor's office, a middle-aged doctor scanned her results with a brisk, professional expression, then looked her over.

“Is this your first set of tests?” the doctor asked indifferently. “The fetus is very healthy. Why do you want to terminate?”

Suzie met the doctor's gaze, which was cold, almost contemptuous. It felt like she was on trial.

After a moment of silence, she gathered herself and replied flatly, “The father’s dead. I can’t raise a baby on my own.”

“Don’t you have a job? What about your family?” the doctor pressed. “An abortion is hard on your body. Have you thought this through?”

Suzie gave a hesitant nod. The doctor shot her a brief, impatient look, typed something on her keyboard, and handed back her medical file. “Let’s repeat the tests,” the doctor said. “Once I’ve reviewed the new results, we’ll talk through your options.”

Suzie left the office, her steps heavy as she walked aimlessly down the corridor, her medical file crumpled in her hand. After calming herself for a while, she went to get the tests done.

As she sat, she replayed the events of the past few weeks in her mind like a movie. The initial joy and bliss she felt when the doctor told her she was pregnant, a feeling that lasted less than half an hour before Jamie’s phone call came, telling her he wanted a divorce. She had signed the agreement without a fight, intending even then to keep the child.

But Jamie's strange and cruel words had revealed the truth: he didn't just not love her; he despised her and humiliated her at every turn.

That night they’d spent together—she refused to believe he didn’t remember any of it! She understood that people could have blackouts from drinking too much, but to be so drunk you can’t remember anything, yet still had the stamina for sex? And today, he had the audacity to mockingly ask whose baby it was. He looked down on her not just for her financial and social status, but for her very character…

When Suzie finally rose from the bench, her hands and feet were ice-cold. She bit her lip and walked back toward the doctor’s office with newfound resolve. “Doctor… I’ve made up my mind…”

“Suzie?”

A man’s voice interrupted her. She turned to see a handsome man standing in the doorway.