Saving Grace | ✓

Chapter Six

{ Chapter Six } 

The next day, I tell the Brian's that my pregnancy test came back positive. Michael leaves the room when I say it. "Go upstairs and get dressed so I can take you to the hospital and-"

"No!" I shout, cutting Eliza off. "I'm not getting an abortion. I won't-"

"Sweetie." Eliza laughs. "I'm certainly not going to make you get an abortion. We need to check up on the baby and make sure everything is okay, and that it is healthy."

I calm down, taking a deep breath, and nod. "Oh. Okay. Yeah. I'll go, um-" I jab my thumb upstairs and go to my room.

-

-

-

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly as Eliza pulls into a parking space in front of the hospital. She smiles over at me, unbuckling her seat belt. "You'll do fine, Grace. Don't be nervous. I can assure you that everything is going to be okay. You ready?"

I nod, giving her a nervous smile, and slide out of the car. Eliza slides her hand into mine as we walk inside up to the desk.

"Hi, can I help you?" The reception lady smiles sweetly, her eyes dancing between me and Eliza. 

"Hi. I'm here to check in." Eliza glances at me. 

"Alright. What is your name?" She types something on her computer for a moment before looking back up.

"Oh, it's not me. It's her." Eliza points to me. "Her name is Grace Miller." 

"Oh." The receptionist looks down and types my name in. "Doctor Marks will be with you in a moment. Please have a seat in our waiting area."

Eliza thanks her and leads me to a seat in the corner. I slump down in the chair and cross my arms over my chest.

"Hey," Eliza says, touching my hand, "she didn't know. It's okay."

I roll my eyes and mumble, "Whatever."

After a little while, a blonde woman holding a clipboard calls, "Grace Miller?"

I stand, along with Eliza, and walk through the door into the private hallway. "You two can go to room 3B for the ultrasound. Dr. Marks will be in in a little bit."

Eliza smiles, nods, and tugs me towards our room. I lay down on the bed and sigh. "Hey, sweetheart. Don't worry. They'll just put some jelly stuff on your stomach and rub a wand over it. It won't hurt."

I smile as a male in scrubs walks in. "Hello. You must be Grace." He shakes my hand with a sweet grin. "My name is Doctor Allen Marks." He turns to Eliza. "Hi. And you are?"

"Eliza Brian." She smiles widely. 

"Are you Grace's mother?"

I lower my head. I feel Eliza glance at me before she says, "Motherly-figure."

"Ah. Well, Grace, I'm going to apply some liquid onto your midsection. Should you feel any discomfort, just say so and we will stop. Okay?"

I nod, wincing at the jelly hits my skin, sending chills throughout my body. He rubs it around with the probe, and an image appears on the screen. A dark little blob is inside a lighter circle.

"The darker part here is the baby, and the circle it is in is its egg. Everything looks fine. How far along are you?"

"I don't know, a month?" I shrug, placing a hand behind my head to see my baby better. "What gender?"

"You're not far along enough to tell. But I promise, as soon as I find out, I will tell you if you desire to know." Doctor Marks takes a few pictures and then turns on the lights, handing me some paper towels. "You can wipe the jelly off now."

I swipe the towels over my skin before throwing them in the trash can. "Here are the pictures I took. You may keep these and take them home." He hands me a roll of photos and smiles. "Good luck, Grace." With that, he is gone.

I stand from the bed, handing the pictures to Eliza. She grins and slides them into her purse. "See? I told you everything would be okay." She links her arm with mine as we walk out and to our car.

"Ice cream?" She glances at me and pulls into traffic.

"Sure." I say back, rubbing my hands over my stomach. A healthy living child inside me. Wow.

Getting out of the car, we enter the ice cream shop and order, then sit at a table in the corner.

"Now, raising a child is going to be hard. It requires a lot of-"

"I know." I say, accidentally cutting Eliza off. "Caleb talked to me. He told me about, um, about Rachel."

Her breath hitches in her throat. "He did." She says, her voice sounding strained. "Well. Just know that we are supporting you all the way, okay?"

I nod. "Thank you, for, you know, taking me in and caring for me. No one's ever done that for me."

"What about your parents?"

I sigh, looking down at my ice cream, suddenly losing my appetite. "They were, um, they were abusive alcoholics." I mutter. When I roll up my sleeve, all of my bruises are revealed to her.

Eliza gasps, grasping my hand. "Grace, I didn't know. I'm so sorry. We have to call-"

"No." I say, causing a hush to fall over the parlor. I lower my voice and begin again. "They'll just take it out on Alexis."

Her eyebrows come together. "Who is Alexis?"

I sigh. "Alexis. My sister." 

-

-

- 

The drive back to the Brians' house is silent. Neither Eliza nor I had anything to say after I told her my secret.

When I get out of the car, Caleb's car pulls in behind Eliza's. He walks up to me and says, "Hi. How'd it go?"

I nod. "Everything's fine."

He smiles. "Good."

"I'm going to meet your father at his office for a meeting. We'll be back later." Eliza says. I wave as Caleb and I watch her drive away.

I follow him up the walk and towards the door. Right as I reach for the knob, a hand shoots out of the bushes and grabs my wrist tightly. "Hi, sweetheart. Nice to see you again."

I gasp, whispering, "David."

Caleb throws my hand away from my father and pushes me inside, locking the door from his side. I am locked in. Tears start flowing from my eyes as I run upstairs to my room and lock the door behind me.

After a few minutes of silence, a soft knock comes from the hallway. I scream and squeeze myself in the corner of the room. I close my eyes, trying to block everything out around me.

"Grace." I hear a male say.

"Leave me alone." I manage to tell him through my sobs. 

"Grace, it's me. Caleb. He's gone. I made him leave."

"Leave." I say more sternly. Caleb sighs and I hear something hit the floor outside of my door.

I slide my body under the blankets of my bed and look out the window, just in time to see David drive through the yard and onto the street, leaving the house. A sigh escapes my lips, silent tears still falling, and I curl myself into a ball, falling asleep terrified.

-

-

-

I wake up the next morning alone. My bedroom door is still closed and locked. I change into sweatpants and a maternity shirt and go into the hallway. Caleb is sitting against the wall, asleep and snoring slightly. I shake his shoulder and whisper, "Caleb, wake up."

His eyes flutter open and he groans as he sits up. "Good morning."

"Did you stay here all night?" I exclaim, helping him to his feet.

"Yeah, I think." He shrugs.

"Why?"

His eyes meet mine and he is completely serious when he says, "I wanted to make sure you didn't leave."