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“She was an environmental studies and urban planning co-ed. She wanted to save the planet by planning the cities of the future.” Michael’s smile is a mix of fondness and pain. “I knew I was going to spend the rest of my life with her thirty minutes into our first date. Everything about her captivated me.”
“I’m sorry you lost her.” I take a deep breath, fortifying myself for the words I have to say.
“The loss was painful, sure, but how it happened, that’s what really tore me apart.” Michael keeps talking, oblivious to the fact that I’m trying to tell him why he’s even here. “She was at a faculty party, and I was supposed to pick her up when I was done with a musician I was courting. This was going to be the contract that put Carrot Top Records on the map. I had to get it, and this guy liked to party. So, I did what I thought I had to do and ended up too drunk to drive. Dumbass twenty-three-year-old that I was, closing a deal was more important than a promise I made to the girl I loved.”
“What happened?” I can feel the dread spread through me and sit on my diaphragm, making it difficult to breathe.
“She caught a ride with this TA who apparently had a crush on her.” A flare of rage blazes through his eyes at the mention of the guy. “He tried to get handsy. She rejected him. He didn’t take it well and got forceful. Naomi fought back and tried to run, but he caught her, bashed her head against the sidewalk five times, and left her there to die alone.”
“That’s terrible.” I feel nauseated as I struggle to inhale.
“In the autopsy, they found out she was pregnant.” And that has my lungs squeezing painfully, preventing any oxygen from getting in. I know I need to tell him, but how can I now?
I have to get it out before I lose my nerve. “Michael—”
“It’s not that I don’t want to fall in love again, Lauren. But I buried my heart with Naomi and that baby. I’m sorry.” He looks at me for a few seconds, waiting for me to say something, so I force out words, any words.
“I need air,” I manage to wheeze before standing. The world starts spinning, and I only manage a few steps before the sound of my own labored breath sends me deeper into distress. Another couple of strides, and the dizziness gets too bad to stay upright.
“Lauren?” I can hear Michael’s panicking voice calling me as the world starts fading away. “Lauren!”
When I come to, I’m blinded by bright lights. There’s the dull sound of a siren as the world flies by while hands touch and prod me. My head is exploding from pain, and combined with the sterile dryness in my mouth, it causes a wave of nausea to wash over me, my stomach churning.
Someone is talking over my head, a female voice I don’t recognize. “Female, twenty-nine, syncope, head trauma, no known prior health conditions.” I realize I’m in an ambulance.
“Lore.” Michael pushes his way to my side.
“The baby,” I manage to croak out, but he can’t hear my weak voice through the oxygen mask, so I muster all my strength and tear it off.
“Miss Banks…” The EMT shoves Michael aside and tries to put it back on, but I push her away.
“My baby, is my baby okay?” There’s a pause in the chaos for a millisecond, then madness, and I barely manage to pick up fragments of the words thrown into the air.
“Call the hospital… Send down someone from OBGYN… Get the ultrasound machine…” But all I care about is Michael. Despite the faintness, I look around, finding him staring at me in wide-eyed shock, pale as a ghost. I try to speak to him, but the world is starting to blur.
“Stay with me, Miss Banks. Lauren, stay with me.” I can hear the EMT call out my name, but it’s to no avail as the blackness pulls me in again.
The next time my eyes open, I’m in a dark room, machines beeping around me providing some luminescence, and I can make out the outline of a man standing with his arms folded over his chest, staring out of the window.
“Michael?” He spins around at the sound of my hoarse voice and rushes to my side, turning on the reading light, and I can see his beautiful eyes are bloodshot, rimmed red, and full of concern.
He takes my hand in his, stroking over my skin with his thumb. “Hey. How are you feeling?”
“My head hurts, and I’m really thirsty.”
“Yeah, you took quite the fall. You really scared me.” He smiles though it doesn’t reach his wary eyes and gives me some water through a straw. “It’s just a mild concussion. You should be out of here in a couple of days.”
“And the baby?” I almost dread the answer.
“The baby is fine.” His hand moves to my cheek, tenderly caressing it. “Is that why you called me? To tell me you’re pregnant?”
I try to nod, but it sends a shock of pain through my brain, and I whimper.
“Here. The strongest thing you can take is a paracetamol, but maybe it will help.”
“Thank you.” I take the pill and swallow it with a bit of water.
Michael sits on the bed next to me. “I’m sorry. I thought you wanted to tell me you were in love with me, and I laid all that Naomi shit on you.” He rubs a palm over his hair with a deep sigh. “You had a panic attack. That’s why you fainted. I’m so sorry.”
