away, not waiting for his response. I quickly pull on a pair of black yoga pants, flip-flops, and a gray cotton sweater. When I walk out of the closet, Nathan is there, eyes on me, telling me something I don’t quite understand.
“If there’s something you need to tell me, Tori, now is the time. I might be able to help you.”
“It’s sweet that you’re worried, Nathan, but help me with what? This honestly isn’t about me. Seriously, it’s fine.”
“Okay, do you want me to leave?”
“No,” I tell him, touching his cheek. “You don’t have to do that. Go back to sleep and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He closes his hand around mine and gently pulls it off his face. He places a quick kiss on my lips.
“Be careful.” He lets go of me. I give him a nod and walk out of the bedroom, grabbing my jacket and purse as I go and heading downstairs where a car is already waiting for me. It takes no time at all to get to the hospital at this time of night because the traffic is light. I worry about what I’ll find when I get there, I worry that I may have just raised a few red flags for Nathan, and I worry that I won’t be able to get out of this life in time to hold onto him.
“Katie Johnson?” I ask the gentleman at the entrance to the emergency room. He looks at his computer screen then back at me.
“Room five,” he says, giving me quick directions.
I speedwalk my way there and shudder when I pull back the privacy curtain.
“Oh, my God.”
Katie’s swollen lip trembles at the sight of me. “Victoria?”
I rush over to her side and grab her hand, holding onto it for dear life. Her right eye is black and blue and swollen shut and there are bruises all over her arms and face.
“I’m right here, Katie,” I tell her, gently running a hand through her matted hair as she sobs uncontrollably. I sit there with her for a long time, listening to her cry and watching as she likely plays whatever has happened to her over and over again in her head. It isn’t until she finally calms down that I ask.
“Katie, what happened?” I ask her quietly. I’m afraid that raising my voice will startle her, and I have no idea what she’s just been through.
“I was mugged. I was walking home and two men grabbed me. They beat me up and left me there on the street.”
Mugged, my ass, I think to myself. Glancing around the room, I see her purse on a nearby chair still looking intact. If she had been mugged, they would have taken it.
“And the baby?” I question hoping that she’ll give me good news, but she doesn’t. She shakes her head, a fresh batch of tears forming.
“The baby is gone.” It comes out on a strangled breath, and I find myself getting emotional as well.
“I’m so sorry, Katie. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“I was looking for an apartment in Brooklyn. My mom and dad were going to help me cover the rent until I got through the training program at the spa,” she tells me, looking off into space.
“I know I’ve made mistakes. I know I let my greed, my need for material things, lead me down a path that was…” She shakes her head and swipes the tears off her cheeks. “Well, I’m a sinner. I know that, and maybe I deserved this.”
“No,” I whisper. “Katie, no, you don’t deserve this. This isn’t God punishing you.”
“I’ve been a selfish person, but my whole life, my whole life, I’ve always wanted to be a mom. I let myself veer from that dream, dropped out of school, got mixed up with the wrong people, and I made bad choices. But I really wanted this baby. I really wanted to change the direction of my life, and I thought this was my chance.”
“You can still do that. I can still help you do that; do not give up on me now. You can still have all of those things, Katie.”
“I don’t know.”
“I do. I know, and next time around, it will be different. You’ll have a career, and you’ll have a man who loves you, who wants you and wants to have a family with you. That is what you deserve. You deserve that life and I will do whatever I can to help you. I promise you.”
“You really believe