Twisted Turnaround

Chapter 17

ANDREA

As soon as I say those words, Miles pulls the car over abruptly. Without even a second to wait for me to reiterate my statement, he pulls over on the side of the highway. It's a dangerous move that knocks the breath out of my lungs momentarily, but after he parks the car, I realize the only noise in the car is my hyperventilation.

I can't breathe. I really thought that it would be easy for me to just go to my doctor's appointment and get the abortion. But I'm stuck. I cannot think, and it's making me cry.

"Andrea," he says slowly, turning around in his seat to look at me. I can barely see him through my tears, but I can sense the sympathy in the air ever since last week. He has been sympathetic to my situation, especially since we got in the car. I knew he was worried about me because I hadn't said much, and I know why. My brain is filled with too many thoughts for me to even process them out loud. "What are you saying?"

"I—" I start but then find how hard it is to breathe. I wonder if this is how Miles felt the other day when he had walked out of his game. He told me that he had a hard time breathing and everything was too much, and in this moment, I feel the same. It's too much emotion, too much stress for me to deal with. Miles reaches over and takes my hand. I almost want to slap his hands away, but I don't because I sense I need it.

"Miles," I whisper, but he doesn't say anything, only his thumb stroking the back of my hand. He continues to do that, and I focus on that. On the way, the small amount of comfort felt in this moment. I breathe out through my mouth, and soon I'm able to breathe better. Sure, my breathing was shallow now, but it was fine. At least I wasn't hyperventilating.

I still feel tears dropping from my eyes though. I'm so upset with this situation that it's hard for me to stop my tears. "Miles, I'm getting rid of my baby."

"I know, Andrea," he whispers, his words so soft and sensitive to help me feel better. His words were coaxed with trying to help me understand this. But I don't want him to be understanding now.

"But I don't want to do that," I say, and a cloud of confusion comes toward his face. He inches closer to me, the thumb on the back of his hand only soothing me further. I open my mouth to say something, but then there is a loud honk from outside the car. That makes me immediately cry again because I was so close to telling him. I was so close to telling him that an abortion was not what I wanted.

"It's okay," he whispers to me, looking over my shoulder. He only tugs on my hand closer to him and places it close to his chest. I can feel the warmth of his body through our hands, and there is comfort in that. "It's okay, Andrea. It's fine."

"It's not fine," I say, voice louder from all the frustration that I feel in this moment. "It's not fine that I'm forced to give up my baby!"

Miles' hand on mine feels loose at my statement. He is taken aback by my confession. "Wait forced?" he asks. "What do you mean?"

I take my hand away from him even though I prefer the comfort of him and sit back in my seat. Blinking at the ceiling, I kick my feet and say, "My dad is forcing me to get this abortion."

"What?," Miles voice is not above a whisper, but there is rage in it. I detect it because my rage is only similar.

"My dad said that I have to get rid of this baby," I say, my hand going to my stomach. Sure, I didn't have a baby bump yet—and when Miles was staring at my stomach earlier, I really thought of what it would be like to have one—but I knew I was pregnant. Ever since the pregnancy had been confirmed, I felt it in my heart. I knew there was something so meaningful growing in my stomach because that was something a woman felt. It was a feeling like no other.