Into the Dark (Completed)

Chapter 25

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Ms. Ludwig." I looked around the white room. I could tell where I was just by the smell.

I tried to turn my head, but I couldn't.

"Calm down, you're both okay. You broke your neck. You brace is what is stopping you from moving your head. You have bruises covering more than 75% of your body, but we patched you all up. They'll go away in time." A man in a white coat stood over me. He smiled brightly.

"B-both?" Was Tate here? What happened in that warehouse?

"Yes, you and the baby." He nodded. "It truly is a miracle. You really have a little fighter in there."

Wait, what?

I quickly did the math in my head. It has been just over three months since my drunken night with Tate.

One night. That's all it took.

I knew I gained a little weight, but I just thought it was too many late-night pizza rolls.

"You didn't know?" The doctor looked shocked.

"N-no." I rasped out.

He rested his hand on my shoulder. "Well, I think that baby is your little guardian angel. How's that for a little incentive to get better?"

My baby. My reason for living.

"There's a young man in the waiting room. We couldn't let him in because he's not family. He said his name is Wally."

Wall-e. Tate.

I don't know exactly what happened in that warehouse. Maybe the memories will come back to me, maybe they won't, but I do know that Tate betrayed me.

I cleared my throat. "Not now. Send him home."

"I'll have one of the nurses let him know that you do not want any visitors right now." He made some notes on a clipboard, adjusted my pain medication, and left.

I'm pregnant.

What the fuck? I can't be a mother. I don't know how! How will I support a child in college? I have no help! My mother disappeared. My father – the sound of a bang and a body hitting the floor flashed through my mind. My father is dead.

And my best friend betrayed me.

My baby daddy is in a gang. All my friends are in a gang.

I thought about adoption for a second, but mentally shook my head. It may be selfish, but this baby is mine.

I reached down and felt the slight swell of my stomach. Just like that, I calmed down. I don't know what the future has in store for me, but somehow, I know it is going to be okay.

*

I was let out of the hospital the next morning. Four weeks after that, my bruises were healed. My neck will still be in a brace for at least four more weeks, but today is a big day.

After I got home from the hospital, I was on bedrest for a couple days. I used those days to catch up on my schoolwork and work on extra credit assignments. Once my guidance counselor saw my bruises, she let me finish out the school year at home.

I took my work seriously because I need to have at least a 2.0 GPA to get into community college.

After weeks of hard work and healing, it is finally graduation day.

I haven't seen Tate since that night in the warehouse. He's tried to stop by, but I was not ready to talk to him yet. Today, he's going to find out that he's going to be a father.