sat on an exam table, and a nurse asked her questions.
“The results of your pregnancy test was positive,” the nurse said.
“Okay.”
“I understand that you want to have an abortion.” The nurse read her file.
“That's right.”
She looked up at her sympathetically and nodded. “You have to make an appointment. We can probably get you in over the next few days.”
“Okay.”
“Is there someone that you can talk to about this? The father? A parent? A friend?”
Annie thought about her friends. Marcy was on her honeymoon, and the others were man crazy and just waiting to settle down and start families. She had met the man of her dreams. Her fated mate. And she was pregnant with his child but couldn't keep it. She certainly couldn't tell her friends about it.
“No. There's no one.”
“Here's a packet of information about the procedure. It's generally quick and painless. And when it's done, you can go on with your life.”
Annie took the packet and slipped down from the exam table. She shoved everything in her purse and walked out of the clinic, staring at the ground.
Outside, cool wind blew through her hair, and rain beat down on her. She slipped behind the wheel of her car and headed home, her mind blank. She didn't feel anything. When she returned home, she called the clinic and made an appointment for the first possible opening. She had a schedule full of responsibilities, but she couldn't do a single thing except stare at the black screen of the TV.
When she finally roused herself to make some food and get on with her workday, she pushed the reality of her situation from her mind. She went on like that for several days, until the morning of her appointment arrived. She rose, showered, and dressed. As she dried her hair, she stared at herself in the mirror. She placed her hand on her stomach and gasped. The alarm went off on her phone, indicating it was time to leave for her appointment.
She picked up the phone and turned off the alarm. She stood in her hallway, staring at the door. Then she looked down at her phone, which had her calendar app open, reminding her of the appointment. Annie clicked off the screen, pocketed her phone, and went to her office. She sat down at her computer, turned on the screen, and started her workday.
10
Dylan sat in the back corner of the bookshop, reading the same paragraph for the fourteenth time. He had all the time in the world now to read and relax, but none of that seemed to matter. There was no escape from the despair that had consumed him. Not even his books offered a respite from the loneliness of losing his mate.
Austin had brought a new office manager into the warehouse, and they were working through reassigning all of Dylan's duties. A few months ago, he never would have believed that was possible. But now it was the only thing that made any sense. Austin assured him that his job would be there when he was ready to go back to work, but he didn't know when that would ever be. He couldn't even find joy in his books anymore, and sometimes he wondered if there was really any point in trying.
He looked back down at the page and tried to focus. Maybe if he could feel something again, he could find a way through this. But deep inside, he could feel something was wrong. His mate was suffering. She was lost and alone, just like he was. He had no way to find her, though. No way to help her. No way to be the man she needed.
That assumption had to be crazy, though, because she'd left. She didn't want to be with him. What made him think that she was suffering as much as he was? He needed to get a grip and deal with his own failures.
“Hey, Dylan,” said a familiar voice.
Dylan looked up and saw his friend Zander standing above him, holding a book of poetry under his arm.
“Hi, Zander,” Dylan said in a low voice.
“Are you still reading the same book you bought the last time I saw you?” Zander asked, sounding shocked.
“I haven't been able to concentrate very well lately.”
Zander took a seat beside him in the other chair and gave him a concerned look. “What’s going on?”
“I should just get over it.”
“You can tell me, whatever it is.”
Dylan sighed. He hated looking weak. But the truth was, he felt weak,