Silver Lining

Her Baby

Her knees could not support her anymore, so she just let herself fall to the bathroom floor. She could not look anywhere else but at her ruined underwear, holding the edge of the bathtub so tightly, her knuckles turned white, while simultaneously shaking at the sight in front of her. Regina was not one to be scared of blood, but seeing so much come out of her managed to frighten her. She could feel the tell-tale signs of passing out, such as instantly being drenched in a cold sweat or trying to fight off the overwhelming dizziness. Although the pregnancy was not planned, the feelings of hopelessness and uselessness clouded Regina's mind. Seeing what was supposed to be her child possibly leaving her body made her stomach churn. The world around her seemed to stop, and nothing mattered as much as taking care of the small life inside of her.

Regina had just found out about her pregnancy, and everything was now falling to pieces around her. It all seemed surreal, but when an intense wave of pain hit her, the blood-curdling scream her lungs were preparing for came out just as a muffled whimper and a fall of the chin to her chest. She had been through a lot of pain during her lifetime, but nothing quite matched what she felt during that moment. She had read some articles about women going through miscarriages when she stumbled upon them, but never thought it would happen to her. However, it was what she suspected was going on, and she was not prepared for it at all.

To make matters even worse, her partner would be right there to torture her even further. She could not let Leo know about what she was going through, or else he would have hurt her again. Her thoughts were harshly interrupted when she heard him pounding on the door. Regina could only imagine his fists hitting her after he managed to get inside the bathroom. Regina tried to lift herself and get to the door, but as soon as she moved, she felt a stabbing pain in her abdomen and fell back to the floor. Tears started forming in her eyes, quickly running down her face and then falling to the cold tiles on the floor. Her head hit the ground and, weirdly enough, the coldness gave her some sort of comfort when it touched her fevered skin.

That was when Leo managed to break into the bathroom, his eyes full of rage and hate towards the woman in front of him.
"You made me destroy this door! What is wrong with you?" he barked while pushing Regina hard enough for her to slide backwards on the tiles.
"Don't hurt me.", Regina managed to mumble through the pain, "please, let me go to the hospital," she continued.
It was a reflex for her to shield her head whenever he raised his hand, but that time, Leo convinced himself that making her do whatever he wanted was better than hitting her.
"As if I actually cared about what you need. Now clean up this whole mess," Leo told her while pointing to the blood-smeared bathroom.

She was terrified by the look in his eyes and could tell there was no chance of her leaving the house. When she did not react, the man grabbed her by the arm and pulled her from the floor.
"I do not care what is wrong with you, but there is too much blood for my liking in this room, and I am expecting you to come to bed with me right after you're done cleaning up," Leo said to her while exiting the bathroom.

Although she was in an awful amount of pain, she realised there was no way she could get to a hospital if she did not do what he asked her to. Gathering all her remaining strength, Regina started to clean up the blood on the floor, only stopping when the dizziness was too much for her to handle. She understood the pattern soon enough: she would force herself to rub the floors faster, then her vision would be clouded by small black dots, she would have to stop and wait for it to pass and only then, continue.

By the time she was done, Leo was already waiting for her in the bedroom she dreaded so much, barely dressed and ready to force her to sleep with him again. Ever since he made her quit her job, Leo dominated her life more than she would have ever accepted before meeting him. She was not allowed to leave the house unless he sent her somewhere, most likely to buy the things he wanted. Her entire existence had to gravitate around his needs, no matter of what she went through. She was not allowed to meet her friends anymore, because spending time with him was by far more valuable in his opinion. Whenever he was not home, he would call just to make sure she was still in the house, dutifully completing the tasks he gave her.

Regina quickly understood that she would not be able to leave the house, unless she gave him what he wanted, so she found her way to the bed, trying to detach herself from what was to happen. At the beginning, she tried to fight it. She thought she could say no, maybe make him back off. She tried to defend herself, but he was more powerful than her and quickly made her submit to him. Regina was already in pain, so she wanted to avoid adding more bruises to her already impressive collection. Her once flawless body was now covered in cuts, scars and various marks he felt fit to give her.

Regina tried to convince herself that she wanted it, maybe it would make it a bit easier for her to take it like that. She tried to think that he loved her and this was his way of showing it. By the time his hand was pressed firmly on her throat, making her gasp for air, those thoughts had left her mind.