Paths Cross

{12}

That evening, after I had been fed a slab of meat, peas, and bread, I was led to the interrogation room. As soon as I walked in, I saw Jesse standing on one side of the rotunda.

I broke away from the guards, sprinting over to Jesse and pressing my lips against his. "Jesse," I breathed, breaking away for a split second. We kissed each other again, before the guards pulled me away from him and to the center of the room.

He stared at me, and I stared back at him, observing his desperate eyes. Donned in an orange jumpsuit, he stood there in handcuffs, staring with sad eyes.

I so badly wanted to rush forward and kiss him again, bury myself in his chest, tell him that everything would be okay. Despite me being put in prison for eight more months until I gave birth, then killed after that, leaving Jesse to get a job for money and raise it on his own.

Instead I stood in the middle of the room, facing my aunt where she sat in a chair up ahead of me, glaring down at me. I knew she felt victory now that she had captured me, stolen away my love life and was ready to kill me in a matter of months.

I could sense her smirking on the inside.

I stood for an hour and a half, there in the middle of the room, questioned by my aunt and several witnesses to my crimes; guards and former inmates. I was ready to go when the bailiff ordered that the session was over and I was allowed a minute with Jesse. It was like a court case. I felt trapped.

I ran over to Jesse once everyone parted ways, and the guards watched me from several yards away.

I took his face in my hands, kissing him. I took my lips away from his, but he pulled me back on him and met his mouth with mine again.

Once he pulled away, he took my hips and searched me with his eyes, looking concerned. "Nina..."

"Jesse," I breathed, running my hands through his hair and resting them on his neck, "I'm pregnant."

He sighed, meeting my eyes. "I know."

"Wh --"

"They told me. They told me this morning, before all this happened." He pulled me close, so my head was on his chest. I could feel him breathe in and out, his chest expanding and then falling, slowly. "I love you," he whispered in my ear. "And no matter what happens, I'll always --"

"Nina Rokhlin, time's up," one of the guards said.

I pulled away from him, stepping away. "You'll always be... what?"

"Here. For you," he said, his voice cracking when he answered.

"Jesse --" I started, but the guards yanked me away from him, my hands behind my back.

"I love you, Nina. Take care of yourself, and the baby. Okay?"

"Jesse," I breathed, more urgent this time. "Wait," I said, turning to the guards who were pulling me away. "Stop! Stop, I need to discuss..."

"You're time is up, Miss Rokhlin. It had been," one of the guards said.

"He's the father of our baby, please! Let me see him for just one more --"

"Time is up," he said firmly. I nodded my head slowly, turning away. I could feel a tear trickle slowly down my cheek.

And as they pulled me away, back to my cell, somehow I knew I would never be running my fingers through Jesse's hair again. Or kissing him again. Or holding him again.

Or just being with him again.