The hospital was dimly lit, and the hallway was silent. Beth walked down the very center of the corridor, looking for the painted number 56. It was there, on the right, the door fitting snugly in its frame. The small window offered a peek into the room, but all she could see was the linen curtain surrounding the one inhabitant's bed. The closed door, the drawn curtain, the darkness in the hallway: all carried a sense of finality that frightened Beth. She could only imagine how Amanda was feeling.
With a deep breath, Beth turned the doorknob and let herself into the room. She heard Amanda's soft sobs before she even touched the curtain, and her heart clenched. If she had kept the video to herself, would this be better or worse?
"Hey, Amanda," she said quietly, sitting in the empty chair beside her bed. Amanda's back was facing her, and her arms were wrapped around her stomach, her knees pulled in to her chest, as though she were trying to keep something holed up inside.
She didn't respond. She just let the tears roll down her cheeks and the sobs wrack her body painfully.
Beth didn't know what to do, so she stood and reached out to touch Amanda's arm. She flinched, her eyes finally looking up to see her visitor. Bethany smiled gently at her, almost reluctantly.
"The baby is dead," Amanda said, her voice as cold as the child's body. "He killed his...he...killed...his...daughter." As she spoke, the sobbing increased, and her face returned to the pillow, the agony-tainted groans growing and bouncing off the walls.
Beth sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her back, her shoulder, her arm as soothingly as she knew how. I'm so sorry, Amanda. I had no idea. I didn't mean for this to happen. No one should have to go through this.
"He's going to prison for a very long time," Beth assured her, though it did little to quiet her cries.
A few long minutes went by, and finally Amanda was finished crying. Her eyes dried, and she just stared at the pure white curtain as though it was the most fascinating kaleidoscope.
"I love him," she whispered, as though she were talking to no one. How can you love a man who would do this to you, Amanda?
"It was his idea, all of it. He wanted the money, not me. I should have seen it before, but he was so...he wasn't like anybody I ever knew. And I...I so wanted to have his daughter. She was going to be so beautiful. She'd look just like him."
Bethany froze. Wait...
"Amanda, did you say you were having Matt's child?"
From her place on the bed, she blew out a breath and nodded feebly. "I was supposed to sleep with Hunter. I was supposed to...but I couldn't. I had the bartender spike his drink at the party, and he was so drunk he passed out in the taxi. I couldn't tell Matt. He'd...he'd be so upset with me. It was my idea to falsify the DNA test. I told Matt it was just in case, but I knew...I knew it couldn't be Hunter's. I still don't think he knew she was his...and now she's dead, and Matt is going to jail..." A few more tears fell from Amanda's eyes, and Bethany rubbed her arm again, trying to process what she was saying.
"I have no one now." Beth watched her eyes close, and made a sudden decision.
"That's not true, Amanda." She looked up at Beth wearily. "I'm here for you."
Amanda shook her head. "How can you say that, after all I've done to you?"
Bethany sighed. It was going to be hard, true, but..."Everyone deserves a second chance."
Amanda smiled slightly before the grief took over again. She rolled into a tighter ball, clutching her stomach as though she could get her baby back.
YOU ARE READING
Secret Love (Hunter Hayes Fanfiction)
Romance"I'm falling for someone who isn't falling for me." "I know exactly how you feel," he answered, leaning down and hugging her tightly. "Do you?" She hugged him back, willing him to know just how much she cared for him. He chuckled. "Yeah, I do." H...
