26 ??The hospital??

ZAYN

I went over to her and pushed the other chair off to the other corner of the room. It keeled over and fell. I bent at the waist and lightly shook Leia's arm. Her eyelashes were soaked with tears and she winced again.

"Hey, do you think you can get up?" I didn't bother asking whether she was all right. It was clear as day that she was anything but. "I'll get you to the hospital nearby."

She shook her head. "I'm fine. It's just a stomach ache."

Just a stomach ache. I tried not to think about what that could mean. I wouldn't believe it unless I heard it from the doctor. Until then, I'd pray to God that what I was thinking was wrong.

I wrapped a hand around her forearm. "Come on, let's go."

Despite the situation, despite her pain, she pried my hand off of her. If I wasn't so concerned, I would've laughed. "I said I'm fine."

A blind person wouldn't even believe her. "If you don't get up right this second, then I'm carrying you to my car."

She peeled her bloodshot eyes open and sighed, agony pirouetting in those light irises. Without another word, she slowly got up. She lost her footing midway and my hand shot out to her waist to steady her. She stepped back quickly and said, "Walk first." I frowned but did as she said and her hand clutched my shirt from the back. I almost groaned.

"Just hold my arm if you can't walk, Leia. Stop being so stubborn."

"I don't need to . . . go to the hospital."

I glared at her. "You can barely speak. Hurry up." I offered her my arm.

"I'm not touching you," she said, as if I had the plague. I tried not to take it personally.

"Fine," I said, my back to her. She got the message and held onto my shirt again.

"Can we go now?"

"Yeah."

. . .

I could tell Leia was nervous with me in the room. She kept fidgeting with her hands and barely glanced at me. The doctor was convinced I was her husband and I did nothing to deny it.

As soon as the nurses entered along with the doctor, Leia leaned close to me. "Can you please go?" she whispered. "I don't want to take off my niqab in front of you."

I regarded her with narrowed eyes. "I think you're forgetting that I've seen your face." Though this check-up might require more than just the doctor seeing her face. Not that I would admit that out loud to her.

I could tell that I was making her mad. I almost groaned. "Lee, please try to understand. I can't just leave you alone."

She was about to answer when her whole body shuddered. She lurched forward and pressed a hand to her mouth.

I didn't know what to do when I wasn't even allowed to touch her. Heck, she might slap me again.

"Leia? Please tell me what I can do for you." I bent down to her level and barely stopped myself from touching her. "Baby, please."

Her eyes flashed with an emotion I couldn't comprehend. "Don't call me that."

Dammit, Zayn. You make everything worse.

I internally slapped myself for the self-deprecatory words.

My hand hovered over her elbow but the daggers she shot me with her eyes stopped me from touching her.

Message taken.

I stood up and went over to the doctor, telling her to hurry up. She tossed me an irritated glance but thankfully asked the nurses to assist Leia to whatever was behind the curtains. Just as a precautionary measure, I peeked behind the curtain.

Hell no.

The doctor had similar thoughts to me.

My hands became all clammy and shit and I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to utter a single word until the doctor checked Leia up and told me that it was nothing. Just a stomach bug. Or a fever. Not . . . not that.

Leia was grateful to go behind the curtain so I wouldn't look at her. I would've rolled my eyes if I wasn't bubbling with apprehension. Her gait was unsteady and two nurses assisted her. I could tell how uncomfortable she was. If I were to look at her face, I was sure her cheeks would be coloured a lovely pink. And those full lips would be pressed together in discomfiture.

What was the point of knowing her so well, though? She wasn't mine. We weren't even friends.

Despite everything, she had come to me when she needed help. She trusted me. Despite the follies I had done. Despite the years of distance between us.

My eyes flicked up to the closed curtain when I heard Leia. "Um, can you just be here with me? I don't feel comfortable with so many people."

I took a step forward. If they wouldn't come out, I would throw the nurses out myself. I didn't want so many people looking at what was mine.

Not yours, Zayn. She. Is. Not. Yours.

If I could only just get that little fact into my head, I wouldn't have to deal with so much hurt. Thankfully, the nurses came out. Then, they glared at me.

One of them murmured obscenities. Before getting out of the door, she knocked her shoulder against mine.

What the hell? What had I done to earn that?

"No," I heard Leia again. This time she was whispering. "Please don't say anything to him. It wasn't him." I inched closer to the curtain. What was she going on about?

"My dear, we have to report this to the police. You don't have to be afraid of him. He'll get what he deserves." The doctor sounded pissed. At me?

A frown pulled intensely on my brows.

"Please don't tell him." My hands clenched tightly. Leia was practically begging. "He's just a . . . relative. He doesn't know . . ."

One second she was speaking and the other, I was staring right into her tear-stricken eyes. The doctor had pushed aside the curtain. Leia's eyes widened and she put her legs down at once. She was wearing her uniform, I noticed but her scarf was askew and the buttons of her shirt were half-done, as if in haste.

She doctor was dialing someone.

"No no no," Leia kept whispering.

I stared at her in confusion.

"Stop her," she pleaded. "Please, Zayn, stop her."

I didn't need any other words to snatch the doctor's phone from her hands and switch it off. She tried to run toward the door but I trapped her against the wall.

"You will tell me what's going on right now."

To her credit, she didn't tremble at my voice. She lifted her chin in defiance. "I've seen many men like you. I'm not afraid of cowards who feel strong by executing their authority through fists and ****."

All the breath left my body. I immediately released her and stepped back, my eyes meeting Leia's.

"Is it true?" I breathed out, unable to even recognize my own voice. "He beat you?"

She shook her head. "No, Zayn. No. It's complicated."

"Leave us alone," Although I was addressing the doctor, I didn't remove my regard from Leia.

"I will report you to the police—"

I glowered at her. "You will do no such thing. Let me deal with this on my own."

"He is not my husband," Leia cried. "Why aren't you believing me?"

The doctor stared at us for a moment before sighing and walking away. It was only when I heard the door creak close that I chanced a look at Leia.

"Zayn—" She started, voice a helpless whisper.

"No," I said. "You won't say a single word till I talk to the doctor. I can't believe you'd let him do this to you."

I was about to walk away when she grabbed the sleeve of my button-down. "Please don't. Let me tell you everything."

"Just tell me one thing," I didn't look at her when I spoke. "Are you pregnant with his child?"