Chapter 9 Realization
ANNA'S POV
The doors of the vehicle made a small thud as we entered the back of the car. The faint sound echoed in my ears longer than it should have, blending with the ringing silence that hung between us. My chest felt tight as I sank into the seat, my fingers trembling slightly as I tried to steady them on my lap. I took in a small, shaky breath, but even the air felt heavy, pressing against my lungs as I tried to recover from the horrible news I’d just heard.
A storm of thoughts crashed through my head all at once, loud and relentless. My dad, the man who raised me, who tucked me in when I had nightmares, who made me feel like I belonged in a house where I always felt like an outsider wasn’t actually my dad. The words circled in my mind again and again, cruel and sharp, each repetition cutting deeper.
I squeezed my arms around myself as though holding tight would stop the pain from spreading. But it didn’t. The realization stung all over again, and before I could stop it, tears slipped down my cheeks. My throat ached from holding in the sobs, but my heart wouldn’t listen.
Why would they keep something this important from me? After all these years, why now? Why let me grow up believing a lie? They didn’t think I deserved to know where I came from… or who I truly was. My breath hitched. Maybe they thought it would change how I saw him, but how could it not?
If I had known sooner, maybe I wouldn’t have spent years comparing myself to Bella — my perfect sister, the one who always got the love I silently craved. I could still see the way Mom’s eyes softened whenever Bella entered a room. I used to tell myself I was imagining it, that maybe Mom loved us the same. But deep down, I always knew. And now it all made sense.
I felt a hand gently touch mine, pulling me out of the spiral of thoughts. I slowly opened my eyes for the first time since I’d gotten into the car. My mom — no, Mrs. Quinn was sitting beside me, her expression soft but filled with guilt.
“I’m sorry you had to find out this way,” she said quietly.
Her voice trembled, just enough to make me look at her longer. I swallowed the lump in my throat and gave a small nod while wiping the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand.
“From the way she spoke to you then, she didn’t deserve you as a daughter,” she added, her tone firmer now, as if she was trying to give me strength.
I nodded again, my sobs finally beginning to slow. The ache in my chest was still there, but it was duller now, numbed by exhaustion.
“Do you believe me now about what I said?” she asked after a brief pause. “If you’re still not convinced, I can show you more proof.”
“I believe you,” I said softly. My voice cracked slightly, but I meant it. “Mrs. Hayes would not lie about this.”
She wasn’t my mother anymore, not by blood, not by name, and saying that out loud felt strange, almost wrong. But I saw the way her expression softened when I said it. A small, warm smile appeared on her face, faint but genuine. Maybe it was relief, or maybe it was the comfort of being believed.
I thought that was it, that the car would stay silent again. I had questions of my own, so many of them but I didn’t have the strength to ask them yet. Not when my heart was already in pieces.
But then her voice broke the silence again. “I would have rather waited for you to get home before we spoke about this,” she said carefully, “but why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?”
Her words struck me harder than I expected. For a moment, I couldn’t even breathe. My mind went blank, and then, slowly, everything came rushing back. The fainting. The blood. The cold floor. My baby.
My heart dropped to my stomach. I turned to her, my eyes wide with sudden panic.
“I…Mrs. Quinn, I’ll appreciate it if we can go straight to a hospital,” I said, my voice shaking. “I need to find out if I lost my child.”
Tears spilled again before I could stop them. This time, they weren’t from heartbreak, they were from pure fear.
She looked at me, worry flashing in her eyes, and then quickly nodded. “Driver, take us to the nearest hospital,” she said firmly.
The driver gave a small nod, checked his side mirror, and then made a sharp U-turn, cutting into the next street. My heart thudded painfully with every movement of the car.
How could I have made such a mistake? When I woke up this morning, that should have been my first thought, to go to the hospital, to make sure everything was okay. But I’d been too scared, too distracted by everything happening around me. Now, every passing second felt like a countdown I couldn’t stop.
No. I stopped that thought right there. I wasn’t going to let fear control me. My baby would be fine.
I clenched my hands together tightly, my feet drumming against the car floor as if the sound could somehow speed us up. The ride felt endless, every red light and turn dragging time out longer than it should. I started rocking myself slightly, a nervous habit I couldn’t control.
Mrs. Quinn noticed. Without saying a word, she reached out and pulled me closer, wrapping her arm gently around my shoulders. For a moment, I let myself lean into her warmth. It didn’t erase the fear, but it helped me breathe a little easier.
Finally, the car slowed and then stopped. Before the driver could step out to open the door, I pushed it open myself and jumped out, my shoes barely touching the ground before I was already hurrying toward the hospital entrance.
The automatic doors slid open with a soft hiss, and the smell of antiseptic hit me instantly. I didn’t wait for Mrs. Quinn to catch up. My pulse was racing, my vision slightly blurred from tears, but I didn’t care. I just needed to find someone — anyone who could tell me my baby was okay.
I spotted a doctor walking past in a white lab coat and immediately reached out, grabbing onto his sleeve. “I need to do a scan,” I blurted out, my voice breaking.
He looked at me, startled, his eyes flicking down to where my hand clutched his coat. Then his gaze met mine again, and I saw the confusion turn to concern.
“Please,” I said again, more desperate this time. “It’s an emergency.”
Mrs. Quinn finally reached us, slightly out of breath. “Yes, doctor,” she added quickly. “Please, it’s urgent.”
The doctor gave a slow nod, his expression softening. “Follow me,” he said calmly, gesturing down the hallway. “You can tell me everything in my office.”