HER SAFE PLACE

Abortion

Shivangi's POV

Sitting in the hospital room, the weight of the doctor's words hung heavy in the air. "There’s a risk to both you and the baby... consider an abortion." The words kept replaying in my head like a haunting echo I couldn’t escape.

I stared at my hands, resting protectively over my stomach. The life inside me—fragile and innocent—was now a source of danger. But more than the fear of losing the baby, there was a deeper terror gnawing at my heart: What if this baby was the only thing holding Rocky and me together?

Before the baby, Rocky never asked me to marry him. We were close, sure. He cared for me, but he never brought up the idea of marriage. But when I told him I was pregnant, everything changed. He proposed, saying he wanted to take responsibility and give this child a good future.

But what if that’s all it was?

What if, deep down, he didn’t want me, but only the chance to be a good man, a protector, for a baby that wasn’t even his? The thought chilled me to the core. I knew Rocky cared about me—maybe even loved me—but was it enough? Or was it just this baby that made him take that leap?

"Without this baby... would he even want me?"

The idea twisted in my chest, suffocating me. Rocky had never asked me to marry him before the pregnancy. It was only after the baby came into the picture that he made that decision. Was it a noble sense of duty? A responsibility he felt? Or was it something deeper?

I knew he loved me, or at least part of me did. But the doubt—the fear that this child was the glue holding us together—was stronger than anything else in that moment. What if, without the baby, we were nothing? What if this marriage, this fragile bond between us, would shatter the moment this child was gone?

Was he only here because of the baby?

My thoughts spiraled as I glanced at him again. He sat silently beside me, lost in his own world. Did he already know what he would do if the baby was gone? Was he planning his exit? Maybe he would stick to his promise, but... I couldn’t shake the feeling that this child was the only reason he stayed.

"Rocky... would you still want me if there’s no baby?"

I could feel the tears building in the back of my throat, but I couldn’t cry. Not now. I couldn’t let Rocky see how scared I was—not of losing the baby, but of losing him. Because that’s what terrified me most. Without the baby, there was no reason for him to stay. And I wasn’t ready for that truth.

I kept telling myself that he loved me. I knew that, deep down. But the timing of everything, the way he only proposed after the baby... it haunted me. Did he love me because he wanted to, or because he felt he had to?

"What if he’s only here because of his sense of duty? Because he feels like he has no choice?"

The thought broke me inside. I didn’t want to question his intentions, but I couldn’t help it. The doubt, the fear—it was overwhelming. Before the baby, we had our ups and downs, but he never once brought up marriage. And now, the possibility of losing the baby felt like a death sentence for us too.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the storm of thoughts in my head. I couldn’t ask him these questions. I couldn’t bear to hear the answers, because deep down, I was scared they would confirm my worst fears.

"If I lose this baby... will I lose him too?"

The silence in the room was deafening, filled with unspoken fears and doubts. I glanced at him again, wanting to reach out, to hold him, to make sure that we would still have something left after all of this. But I stayed still, letting the silence stretch on, because if I broke it, everything might fall apart.