"Come in," Amara said, her voice barely a whisper as the doctor entered the room.
"Mrs. Creed, you called for me?" the doctor asked, looking over her charts.
"My stomach... it feels weird," Amara said, clutching the thin hospital blanket. "Am I sick? Is it the medication from the head injury?"
The doctor smiled gently, setting the clipboard down. "The results are in, Amara. You aren't sick. You're pregnant. The baby is six weeks old and, despite the trauma today, is doing great."
Amara froze. The world seemed to stop spinning. "Pregnant?"
Memories flooded back, the heat of the fire, the smell of burning rubber, the weight of Sebastian's unconscious body as she dragged him away from the wreckage seven years ago.
Years ago, when Sebastian was in that accident... I pulled him out," Amara whispered to the empty air. "I shielded him when the blast happened. I was so severely hurt back then. The doctors told me the internal damage meant I might never have kids.
Tears of pure, raw joy spilled over her cheeks. "My dear," she whispered to her womb, "you're my greatest blessing."
For a moment, she felt a flicker of hope. She would leave this place, return to her mother's house, and start a life for this child, a life far away from the lies. She reached for her phone to call her mother, her fingers trembling with the good news.
BANG.
The door slammed against the wall with such force the glass in the windows rattled. Sebastian barged in, his face contorted with a rage she had never seen. He didn't look like a husband, he looked like a predator. He stormed to the bed and grabbed Amara's arm, his fingers bruising her skin.
"Where is she?" he roared. "Where did you send Elara?"
"What do you mean?" Amara cried out, wincing as he squeezed tighter. "You're hurting me, Sebastian! Let go!"
"Tell me where Elara is and I'll let you go!" Sebastian yelled, his eyes wild. He couldn't find his mistress, and in his mind, Amara was the only one who could have made her vanish. "Amara, the photo frame was an accident! Elara didn't know the frame would fall! Just let it go and don't hold it against her. Where is she?"
He was shaking her now, completely oblivious to her head injury, completely unaware that he was hurting the woman carrying the child he had claimed was impossible.
"I don't know where she is!" Amara screamed back, her heart shattering for the final time.
He didn't ask if she was okay. He didn't ask about the blood on her bandage. He was attacking her in a hospital bed because his "savior" was missing.
"You're lying!" Sebastian hissed, leaning in close to her face.
Amara looked into the eyes of the man she had saved from a burning car, the man she was currently carrying a baby for, and realized he would never be her hero. He was the villain of her story.
"You showed up in the middle of the night just to question me, Seb?" Amara's voice was cold, a stark contrast to the fire burning in her chest. "I didn't send anyone after Elara. But even if I did, she had it coming."
Sebastian recoiled as if the words themselves were physical blows. "She had it coming? Amara, are you still mad about that? About the accident?" He ran a hand through his hair, pacing the small room like a caged animal. "Fine. Tell me where she is, and I'll bring her here right now. I'll make her apologize to you. Will that satisfy you?"
"Have you lost your mind?" Amara yelled, the monitor beside her bed beginning to beep faster as her heart rate climbed. "I haven't even decided how I'm going to go after her yet! I don't know where she is!"
Sebastian stopped pacing and looked at her with a chilling, disappointed sneer. "Amara Piers, how did you end up like this? So bitter. So vengeful. You have really let me down."
"You've disappointed me, too, Sebastian. More than you'll ever know," she replied, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper.
Without another word, Sebastian turned and stormed out, the door swinging shut with a heavy thud.
Amara sank back into the pillows, trembling. She placed a hand over her stomach, a small, tearful smile breaking through her exhaustion. Let him go to her, she thought. Let him search. I have the only thing that matters now. She was finally going to be a mother. She would call her own mother at dawn, and vanish before Sebastian could ever claim this child.
The room was silent, save for the hum of the air conditioning. Amara closed her eyes, trying to catch a moment of peace.
Click.
The sound of the door lock turning was subtle, but in the silence, it sounded like a snap of a bone.
Amara's eyes flew open. Two men in dark clothing, their faces obscured by medical masks and hoods, stepped into the room. They didn't move like doctors; they moved like hunters.
"Who are you?" Amara gasped, struggling to sit up, her hand instinctively shielding her stomach. "What are you doing? Help! Somebo..."
Before she could scream, a heavy, chemical-scented cloth was pressed over her mouth and nose. She thrashed, her weak hands clawing at the man's forearms, but the sedative was instant and overwhelming.
As her world faded to black for the second time that night, she felt herself being lifted from the bed. The last thing she heard was a muffled voice on a radio:
"We have the asset. Moving out now."