I lay in a sterile hospital room, the cold reality pressing down on me like a heavy weight. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, a distant hum that seemed to mock the silence filling the space within me. The doctor had delivered the news with professional calm, but nothing could soften the blow. I had lost her—my daughter, the tiny life that had been growing inside me. She had been more than a part of me; she had been my future, my hope, my reason to smile through the toughest days.
Noah stayed by my side, his hand enveloping mine, whispering words of love and comfort that I barely registered. He was hurting too; we both were. This was a loss we could never have prepared for, a wound that no amount of time could fully heal. My mother was somewhere in the hallway, trying to compose herself, trying to be strong for me when I couldn’t find the strength to be strong for myself.
Travis was in custody, facing charges that would see him answer for what he’d done. But knowing that didn’t bring me peace. It didn’t bring back the life that had been stolen from us in a flash of rage and jealousy. His resentment had cost me everything, and yet, all I could feel was an aching emptiness where anger should have been.
