Chapter 8 Only Chance
After slamming the door in Vannessa’s face, Rebecca headed for her bed, her knees going feeling weak from the surge of emotions swirling inside of her.
She wasn't going to think about Vanessa but about the bigger problem she had. Her pregnancy.
Rebecca sat curled on the edge of her bed, staring blankly at the floor. Her mind had been spinning for the entire time she'd been in the room even all the while through the ride, until Vanessa showed up with her venomous face.
She pressed a trembling hand to her stomach, her heart twisting painfully. What was she going to do now?
She had no one. No mother. No father. No sister, not really. And if this news got out. Her late parents' name would be dragged through the mud.
A daughter who was supposed to be mourning her loving parents, pregnant by another man while engaged to someone else? It was going to be not just another scandal but a disgrace and a shame to the Smith name, a name her father had worked so hard to build while he was still alive.
A single tear slid down Rebecca’s cheek as she thought about her uncle, the only person she had left. What would happen to him when he found out she was pregnant with someone else’s child and not Liam's?
“This baby doesn’t deserve this life,” she whispered to herself, her voice cracking. She couldn’t let that happen; she had to do something.
The decision crept over her slowly, painfully, but it settled in her mind with cold certainty. She had to abort the child.
By morning, Rebecca was determined terminating the pregnancy was the only way forward.
The moment her alarm went off, she took her phone from the bedside table to book a hospital appointment and in a few hours she was seated across a doctor, who looked at her over the rims of his glasses.
"So, Miss Smith," he began gently, "you’re requesting a termination?" The doctor, Mr. Williams, a man in his late forties, asked.
She nodded, swallowing hard. "Yes. I can’t keep it."
"All right, but before anything, we need to run prenatal tests. Blood work, hormonal levels, and an ultrasound to determine gestational age. We must confirm that it’s medically safe."
Rebecca nodded again, her throat tight.
After confirming that she gave her consent, Mr. Williams rang for a nurse, who came and took her blood sample. Rebecca sat numbly afterward, staring out the window as the minutes stretched like hours.
Finally, the door opened, and the same nurse returned, this time with a folder. She handed it to the doctor, who scanned the papers and then stopped. His brows furrowed.
Rebecca immediately felt her heart drop. "Is something wrong?"
The doctor exhaled slowly and set the paper down. "Miss Smith… I think we need to talk."
Her palms turned sweaty as she tried to listen to the doctor.
Dr. Williams tapped the folder again and looked at Rebecca, making Rebecca's pulse quicken.
“Why are you not saying anything?” she asked, scared of what she might hear.
"Miss smith, based on the tests results, it's safe to say you have PCOS."
Rebecca raised a questioning brow, her curiosity and anxiety mixing into something unreadable. "PCOS? Doctor, what's that? What does it even mean?"
"Well Miss, PCOS means polycystic ovarian syndrome. It's not uncommon, but in your case, it has already caused irregularities in your reproductive system. There's significant risk if you choose to terminate this pregnancy."
Rebecca swallowed hard. "What kind of risk?"
"Scaring, uterine damage. And the truth is, given how hard it must have been for this pregnancy to happen in the first place, you may not get another chance. So I would advise this abortion not take place. Well, except you don't want a child of your own anytime in the future."
Silence dropped in the room like a weight. Rebecca felt the room tilt as she tried to comprehend what the doctor had just said.
Her heart thudded painfully in her chest as she whispered, "If I understand you correctly, you're saying this might be my only chance?"
"Yes," he confirmed. "It’s extremely rare that you even conceived. I would advise you to keep this baby, not only for your future, but for your health, and your emotional well-being as well."
But Rebecca couldn’t breathe. Miracle or not, she didn’t even know the father. She has no way of finding the baby's father, the only thing she knew about him was a name, one that sounded like a nickname; one name, no surname, no contact, no nothing.
"How do I raise a baby when I don’t even know who the father is?" she whispered to herself, trying to keep her tears at bay.
The doctor placed a gentle hand over hers. "Think carefully, Miss Smith. Whatever decision you make will shape your life."
Rebecca walked out of the hospital in a daze, the doctor’s words replaying in her mind.
The words stabbed her with equal parts hope and fear. She didn't know what to do anymore. If only her mother were alive, maybe she wouldn't be here. Maybe she wouldn't have needed to seek solace in the arms of a stranger.
She may have not been her biological mother, but Anita had always loved her like her own. She thought as various possibilities and what ifs kept circling round her mind.
Rebecca practically stumbled out of the hospital, her vision blurry from tears and her ears ringing with the doctor's words. She had to find another way; there had to be a way out of the situation she had found herself in.
Her feet moved on autopilot, her body numb, and her mind spiraling.
She pushed the glass doors open and stepped outside, only to collide with someone.
She gasped and nearly lost her balance but two strong hands steadied her instinctively.
"Hey, easy," a deep voice said and immediately, Rebecca froze at the familiarity in the voice.
She recognized that voice; she could remember it anywhere.
She looked up slowly, dread prickling through her veins, praying and hoping it wasn't who she'd thought. That she was mistaken.
But she wasn't.
Standing before her, dressed in a fitted black coat and wearing dark sunglasses despite the cloudy sky, was Dere
k; Rek.