CHAPTER 2: The Baby I Never planned for

Alina’s POV

I held the gold bracelet tight in my hand.

S. Blackwell. My heart started ringing aloud.

My heart jumped. I didn't know who he was and I didn't care. I didn’t want to ever see him again.

I put the bracelet in my bag and I took one last look at the room and then I left.

___

I walked down the street, it was raining and my body was wet in rain, but I did not care, I just wanted to get home. 

In my hand, I held an envelope. It was thick and full of money.

I didn't look at it. I just ran.

I took the bus to the hospital and I pushed through the doors and ran to the front desk.

“I’m here to pay,” I said quickly. “Please. My mother…”

The nurse looked at me and her face was tired. She took the envelope and walked away.

I rushed into the ward. Mama was on the bed and her skin was pale. Her lips were dry and she coughed. Blood came out.

“Mama,” I whispered, and held her hand. “I brought the money. You will be okay now.”

She tried to smile, but her eyes were so tired.

She looked at me like she wanted to say something, but she couldn't.

I sat by her bed and I didn't move.

__

One month later...

I sat on the bathroom floor, the tile was cold and my hands shook.

I held a small stick in my fingers and there were two red lines.

Two.

“No…” I whispered. “No, no, no…”

I dropped the stick. I threw up again in the sink.

I heard a knock on the door. Lila walked in without asking.

“You are pregnant, aren’t you?” She said, Her voice was hard.

I said nothing. I just stared at the floor.

Lila stepped closer and her arms were crossed. “You don’t have a job. You don’t have a man. 

You live in a small room with a sick mother and a little sister. You can’t even buy diapers.”

I nodded slowly. “I know.”

“Then get rid of it.”

I shook my head. “No.”

Lila laughed a little. But it was not funny. “You don’t even know the guy’s name, Alina.”

“I know enough. He is rich. He is cold. That’s all.”

“You think he will help you?”

“I don’t want help. I will raise the baby myself.”

“You will suffer.”

“I already do,” I said softly. “This baby… it’s mine. I didn’t plan it. But I will love it.”

Lila turned and walked away. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

___

Nine months later...

The small clinic smelt bad. The lights were off and the fan didn't work.

I lay on the bed, and I was sweating and screaming.

Mama held my hand.

“You’re strong,” she said“You can do this.”

“I’m scared,” I cried.

But I did it.

After hours of pain, I heard a small cry and the doctor placed a baby in my arms.

He was tiny and his skin was soft. His hair was black and he stopped crying when I held him.

I named him Leo.

“You’re mine,” I whispered. “You are all I have now.”

But that night, Mama didn't wake up.

The doctor said her heart gave up. It was too tiring and too weak.

I fell to the floor and screamed. But no one could help me.

I was alone. With a baby and no money, no food and no one.

I looked down at Leo. He blinked at me. He was so small and so quiet.

“I will protect you,” I said. “I will give you everything I have.”

Even if I had nothing.

__

Five years later...

I mopped floors at night and I cleaned the toilets in the morning, my hands were dried and my back hurt. 

But I never stopped.

I did it for Leo.

He was five now and he loved to draw. He asked me big questions like, “Why do stars shine?” and “Why don’t we have a car?”

He smiled when I told him stories. He hugged me every night, he was my light.

But today… he didn’t smile.

He lay on the bed and his face was red. His body was also hot.

“Mama, my tummy hurts,” he said.

I touched his forehead and it burnt.

I rushed him to the hospital and the nurse checked him and ran tests.

Later, the nurse called me to the side.

“We gave him medicine,” she said. “But something is wrong. His body is not healing.”

I looked at her, scared. “Why not?”

She looked serious. “His blood is not matching. His cells are rejecting the treatment.”

I didn’t understand.

“What does that mean?”

“It means we need a special donor. A close match. Very close.”

“Like… me?”

“You’re not enough,” she says. “We need the father.”

I freeze.

“No…”

“It’s urgent. The father may be the only one who can save your son.”

I stared at her. My lips wouldn’t move and the room spinned.

I remembered the hotel room, the cold sheets and the gold bracelet.

S. Blackwell.

I shook my head. “No... He doesn’t even know we exist.”

“Then find him,” she said. “Or your son might not make it.”