"As a pregnant woman, running around recklessly with your baby—do you even care about basic safety?" he barked. "Your prenatal check-up isn’t due yet. Did you come to the hospital today just to follow me?"
Ever since meeting Annie, Dwayne’s mindset had turned stubborn and accusatory. No matter what I said, he would twist it to fit his narrative, refusing to believe anything I explained.
"I'm here to see a doctor," I replied plainly, though I knew my words would fall on deaf ears.
Predictably, my response only strengthened his suspicion. He became even more convinced that I had followed them to the hospital. His sharp, scrutinizing eyes bore into me, searching for confirmation of his baseless accusations.
Despite his abrasive attitude, he still offered to take me home.
I shook my head and refused, walking past him toward the registration kiosk to sign up for my appointment again.
It must have been my strange behavior that tipped Dwayne off. His gaze shifted to my flat stomach, and his voice took on an unusually nervous tone, "What's wrong with you?"
Just as he seemed ready to accompany me for the examination, Annie suddenly doubled over in pain. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and her face turned pale as she weakly called out to him.
"Mr. Doyle, I feel so uncomfortable..."
Dwayne hesitated for a moment but ultimately turned away from me, choosing to help Annie instead. He guided her back to the examination room, leaving me standing there frozen.
A wave of memories hit me, and I suddenly recalled the day I had begged Dwayne to take just ten minutes to drive me to the hospital.
I had pleaded desperately, insisting that it would only take ten minutes, but he refused.
I was shaking from the cold, my body convulsing, but I kept begging him.
But his response was cruel, "Annie says that pregnant women are just being dramatic. I know you want to keep me, but using the child to manipulate me won’t work anymore!"
"If you want to pretend, then go ahead—pretend as much as you want!"
He slammed the door on me and locked me inside the house.
The stark contrast between his callous departure back then and his nervous concern for Annie now was jarring—like night and day.
Perhaps due to some lingering conscience, Dwayne turned back and said to me, "Wait here. I'll come find you when I'm done."