AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“But you didn’t save me. You’re the reason I’m here.”
“Yes,” I said. “It’s my fault.”
Her voice turned so soft a breeze might have blown it away.
“Was any of it real?” she said. “Did you ever feel anything for me?”
“Of course, I did. None of it was fake. None.”
“It’s hard to tell.”
I pressed myself so close to the wall I almost touched it.
“No, it’s not. Look inside yourself and tell me it wasn’t real. What do your emotions tell you? Did I ever do anything but love you? Was there ever any malicious intent in what I did with you?”
Tears made a slalom run down her face and she shook her head, her knotted curls dancing about her cheeks.
“Did you get me pregnant on purpose?” she said.
“No. This was never supposed to happen. I was sent here as a spy to watch what happened inside the prison and encourage a riot. I was tasked with getting the previous supervisor fired so Krial could take over. That was what I came here to do.
“I’m not a criminal. At least, I never did the thing they sent me here for. Sometimes Krial… needs things done and we do it. So, in a way, I guess I belong in here more than a lot of the prisoners do. But you… ever since you came in here, it’s been like I finally get to see the sun rise every day.”
The tears were streaming down her face freely now.
“My love for you is the only real thing about this whole place,” I said. “You, me, and that baby in your belly. We can fix this situation. It’s not too late.”
I hesitated but opened my hand and showed her the black pill. I wasn’t sure I wanted her to take it but it was her body and her decision. I would leave it in her hands and support her with whatever she chose to do.
“This pill can… remove the problem,” I said. “It sends the baby into a deep sleep… a sleep which it will never wake up from. The baby’s body breaks down and flows through your system until he’s gone completely. There are no side effects and it’s completely painless.”
She took in every word and didn’t say anything for a long time. She never looked at the pill.
“You want me to get rid of it?”
“I want you to do what’s right for you.”
I checked over my shoulders. The scientists continued to scurry around and busy themselves with their activities.
“You have no idea what Krial is like,” I said. “You don’t know what he’ll do to the baby. I don’t want that to happen to him. I don’t want that to happen to you.”
Harper clutched a hand to her stomach and stared at the black pill in my hand. Then her eyes flicked up to mine.
“I had the option to take medicine like that a long time ago,” she said. “I didn’t take it then and I won’t take it now.”
I was secretly relieved at her decision. In all truth, I wasn’t sure I could bring myself to give it to her. The baby in her belly was the culmination of our love and I hadn’t yet lost hope that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance we could still save it, could still pick up the pieces of our broken relationship.
“What happens now?” Harper said.
“Now I figure out another way of getting you out of here before you give birth.”
“You’d better hurry. I don’t think he’s going to wait much longer. He doesn’t have much self-control, like his father.”
I grinned despite myself.
“Around you, who could blame me?”
Harper wrapped her arms around herself.
