Chapter 56.2

As Wilson left, a bemused Elizabeth suddenly paled as she realized what the latter meant. Her hands automatically went to her stomach as she dropped her cane.

"No . . . no, it can't be," she whispered as she shook her head in denial. Yet, she instantly recalled how she felt the past two weeks and, deep down, she knew the answer. Her morning sickness, the inability to keep alcohol in her stomach, and even her recent dislike of her favorite foods …

"No, no, no," Elizabeth almost sobbed as she covered her face with her hands.

The father of my child is . . . Elizabeth thought as despair filled her thoughts. Jason. Oh, laddie . . . What am ay supposed to do?

She sat down, staring blankly at the space in front of her for hours, even after Jenny and Tommy returned from their date. Without explaining anything, she ordered Tommy to book another room for her, intending on staying alone despite Jenny's concern. After moving to her new room, she dashed once more to the bathroom as she heaved and retched again.

Returning and lying down on her bed, Elizabeth decided to call her friend. After a few rings, an annoyed voice picked up the phone.

"Damnit, Fey, it's past midnight and I've finally gotten a night to sleep in -"

"Tam . . . I need your help," Elizabeth cut in. Despite trying to regulate her voice, the heavy sobs came out and, on the other side of the call, Tam stood up at once.

"Where are you?" Tam asked immediately as she hastily dressed herself up.

"Hotel Belvedere."

"I'll be right there," Tam replied before instructing, "Don't hang up the phone. Just keep talking to me. Tell me what's wrong."

"I . . . I don't know what to do," Elizabeth tearfully admitted after a long pause. "I'm finally seeing him after so long . . . but now . . ."

"Fey . . . Liz is . . . Jason - is he your . . . target?" Tamara asked after she kissed her husband and ran down the stairs. 

Previously, Tamara was a team member of Elizabeth and former Morta associate. However, she had retired years ago. These days, she saved lives as a doctor instead of taking them.

"Tam . . . Tam," Elizabeth choked as tears fell down her eyes and down to her ears. "I-I'm . . . pregnant. With his child."

". . . Fuck," Tamara swore under her breath as she hailed an automated taxi. "Hotel Belvedere, please. Liz, listen to me. I'll be at the hotel soon, text me the room number."

Ten minutes later, a dishevelled Elizabeth opened her room's door and a breathless Tamara entered while catching her breath; she had run up to the 50th floor where Elizabeth's room was.

"Sorry," Tamara said as she hugged Elizabeth. "Elevator was taking forever, so I ran up here."

"Tam . . ."

"Nevermind me," Tamara waved Elizabeth's concern for her away and focused on the latter. "Are you sure you're pregnant?"

"I think so," Elizabeth gloomily replied with a sigh; it was as though she had caught an incurable disease. "I know the symptoms."

"Pregnancy is not an - anyways," Tamara was about to correct Elizabeth but coughed and shook her head. Instead, she pulled out a pregnancy test kit from her purse. "Here, we need to test it for sure. You need to -"

"I know how to use these, Tam. I'm not a blithering idiot," Elizabeth replied with a resentful gaze as she snatched the test kit and went to the bathroom.

Soon, Elizabeth exited the bathroom with a pale face, her eyes looking lost as she sat down on a chair abruptly, as though she lost all the strength in her body. Tamara, witnessing this, already knew the answer, but she took the tester from Elizabeth's hand and checked it. The plus sign was glaringly obvious and Tamara couldn't help but sigh.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tamara asked and Elizabeth absentmindedly told her everything.

"Does he know?" Tamara finally asked after she finished listening and Elizabeth jolted up and glared at her.

"No. And he can't know," Elizabeth replied, her firm eyes gazing at Tamara steely. "Not yet."

"You do realize that it'd be pretty bad if you don't tell him," Tamara couldn't help but point out logically. "You told him that you slept with other people for the past two weeks as reven -"

"Which was a lie," Elizabeth interrupted impatiently. "Ay may have flirted but ay would never sleep with anoth'er man. Ye know me, Tam."

"Uh-huh. But he doesn't know that," Tamara replied. "And the longer you take to tell him, the worse it'll get. He might just leave you if he misunderstands."

"Considering what I'm about to do . . . Do I deserve less?" Elizabeth asked with dull eyes.

"No. No, of course not," Tamara consoled Elizabeth as she hugged her. "It's not your choice and I'm sure he'd understand. You just need to explain the situation to him. The whole situation."

"I - I'll try," Elizabeth struggled with herself for a moment before answering Tamara, who nodded at her encouragingly. Inwardly though, she was sighing at how dramatic and messed up the whole thing was.

Oh, Fey, Tamara thought as she tried cheering Elizabeth up. This is why I told you to leave Morta with me when you had the chance.

***

Alina shifted restlessly in her sleep. Echoes of a distant, nightmarish memory coursed through her dreams and she shook her head while murmuring.

"Mom, no . . ." Alina muttered before jumping up and crying, "No!"

Bemused and disorientated, Alina looked around the room as her heart thumped rapidly with adrenaline. Her hand clutched the front of her pajamas tightly as she tried calming her breathless gasps. Her hands slowly loosened as the adrenaline coursing through her slowly died and she calmed down. She rubbed the scar on her chest that was tingling before sitting up and leaning on the headboard, hugging her knees as tears cascaded down her face.

"Mom . . ." she choked out with a quiet snivel. "Dad . . . Katie . . . everyone . . ."

As she sobbed silently, the dead hushful night was interrupted by a roar that shook the entire house.

"KATELYN!!"

Alina's eyes widened when she heard Jason's sorrowful shout, her mind shaken with shock. Listening carefully, she heard him lumbering down the stairs moments later.

"Oh, Jason . . ." Alina lamented, her heart aching as she felt his pain and suffering.

She had known that, just like her, Jason had nightmares of the night her life ended; for the past two years, he always relegated his own trauma to focus on her wellbeing. Yet, for the past year, Alina had noticed that Jason was no longer pretending to be cheerful, that he would genuinely joke and laugh, and Alina had assumed that he had finally moved on from Katelyn. But she was wrong, so very wrong.

God, I should've realized that he didn't, Alina thought as she admonished herself. How could he, when I couldn't? He's always been there for me . . . but have I been there for him? Did I even try?

Alina stopped hugging herself and stood up, her eyes turning firm as the tears faded away.

I need to be there for him now.