||"He saves his pain for the isolation of night."||
For two weeks, Wanda avoided Elijah.
She felt embarrassed for what she'd asked at their last session; she'd questioned him in a way that wasn't fair. She kept needing to remind herself that he was there to help her, not ruin her. These doubts she had were nothing more than her past trauma getting the best of her. So, she refused to see him, in hopes of not having to confront her shame just yet.
In the meantime, she and Vera kept busy. Instead of staying in her room all day, they walked around the facility, stopping by the kitchen and helping out with cooking, going down to the weight room and bouncing idly on the giant bouncy balls for what felt like hours as they discussed the most mundane subjects. There were days when Vera would put a movie on for her in the staff room and they'd curl up on the couch and laugh and cry at whatever movie it was they were watching that day.
It was all so simple and bleak, but Wanda didn't mind. She enjoyed this simple new life. No wars, no missions, no blood. Just plain old living.
In these two weeks, Nik didn't visit. She'd stare at the dark corner of her room where he usually appeared, waiting for his arrival, but he never came. Sometimes she'd sit in the bathroom and wonder if she'd see him in there, or if he'd wake her in the middle of the night to tell her about where he'd been. But he never showed.
Her headaches eased, but her heart ached. Where had he gone?
It was noontime, and Wanda sat in her bed, her hand flat against her stomach as she felt the baby kicking. The little thing had gotten restless these past few days, and the sensation of it weirded her out a bit, but still, it made her smile. She wondered if the baby would turn out like Pietro--fast and giddy, unable to sit still.
Today, she had a checkup. It was hard to get ready for the day, knowing she'd be going in alone to see how her baby was growing. Deep in her heart, she wanted Steve with her, either to hold her hand or just be there--it didn't matter. She just wished for his presence on days like these.
"Time to go," Vera said quietly, her voice almost a whisper. Wanda broke away from her thoughts and stood, and together, they walked down to the medical floor.
The technician she always had was already in the room waiting, and they shared a smile as Wanda was helped onto the chair.
"You look healthy, Wanda," her technician said. "Your belly is growing nicely and it looks like you're gaining a healthy amount of weight."
"I definitely feel it," Wanda said, and both the technician and Vera laughed.
As her technician worked on her computer for a bit, Wanda lay back in the chair and sighed. She'd come here a few times already since that last time with Steve and Pietro. It felt like ages had gone by since that day, and she ached for them still, even after all this time. She wondered what they were up to, if their missions were still ongoing or if they'd settled down for the time being.
She wasn't sure, no one spoke of the Avengers around here.
"Okay," her technician lifted up Wanda's shirt and exposed her stomach, then placed her stethoscope onto her belly. Wanda couldn't hear her child's heartbeat but she knew it was there. "Sounds good."
Vera squeezed Wanda's shoulder reassuringly.
"As your body stretches you'll start to develop more stretch marks so don't worry too much about that, it's completely normal. Are your feet hurting?"
Wanda nodded.
"That's normal as well, your body is beginning to adjust and as it does, it'll begin to ache in certain areas. Now at 23 weeks, I can tell you the sex of your baby. I know you've refused these last few visits but I just wanted to ask one more time."
