Predator

Chapter Twenty-One

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When I head back out into the waiting room, I get the sensation that I'm walking on glass; as if I could step too heavy and fall through the floor.

Will is not sitting, instead he stands leant against the wall with his head bowed and his hands shoved in his pockets. When I come through the doorway, he looks up suddenly; anxious. He doesn't say anything, probably doesn't even know what to say in the first place, so he just keeps looking at me until I speak.

I sigh a relieved smile. "It's okay. The baby's okay."

Will exhales, his face softening from the hard expression he's had since we got here. "What happened?" he finally asks.

I crinkle my nose. "The doctor said that a piece of my hymen hadn't broken off completely and the force of the fall dislodged it. Everything is fine now, they just had to flush out the, uh...remnants."

"Oh," he blinks hard. "Hey, have you called your dads about all this?"

"Yes. I just got off the phone with one of them," I say. Then I notice the beige-colored clock on the wall. "Shit, I'm going to be late for work."

I start into the hallway to the lobby, Will following behind. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him and I sense something off. "What?" I ask him.

He shrugs, shaking his head. "I just didn't know that you have a job. Or that you swear."

"Well, I didn't do either until all of this happened," I reply pointedly.

The rest of the walk is silent until we get into his car in the hospital parking lot. It occurs to me for the first time today that the last time I was in his car, he made me ride in the backseat. And that was just two days before it happened.

Will pulls out of the space with a jerk, hard enough that my hand flies out against the door for support. He must be tense. We get back on the street, and he remains this way.

"It's a girl," I say after awhile. "I don't think I've told you that yet, I've been meaning to."

He presses his lips together, not looking away from the road. "Ah...no, you haven't. That's...great."

I wonder if he's drawing a parallel to the last time someone told him he was having a daughter. I know for a fact that his reaction then was much more than a hesitant 'that's great', but I'm not naive and I realize the difference between the imaginary baby with his wife and mine. There will always be a difference.

"Look, Rach," he starts slowly. "I just- I want to say how sorry I am for what I said last month. That was extremely juvenile of me, I shouldn't have acted like I did."

My mouth is dry. I know that it shouldn't require courage to say what I'm about to, but I consciously search for it.

"Um, about that," comes out hoarsely. "Will, what you said, uh... You've given me a lot to think about, with everything going on. I keep thinking about what Quinn's doing, how she doesn't have anybody, and I don't want that. And after today...I...god, I don't know what to say. I-"

"You want to be with me," he finishes softly. We come to a stop in the deserted high school parking lot, he shuts off the car. He looks over at me with wide eyes. "Rach, are you sure?"

"Honestly," I answer, "no. I'm not sure at all. Pretty terrified, actually. I'm just thinking this would be best for the baby."

"It's not because-"

"That too," I cut off. "That too. But I'm going to be a mother, Will. My best interest is in the well-being of my daughter. And a girl needs her dad." The last part tapers off into a whisper.