Chapter 9 Deadbeat

The room had gone quiet again.

Not empty-never empty in a hospital-but settled into that strange pause between interruptions. Machines hummed. A cart rattled somewhere down the corridor. Voices rose and fell beyond the door, lives moving on while hers stayed pinned to this narrow bed.

Mia stared at the ceiling, counting nothing.

Chris stood near the window.

He hadn't sat. Hadn't leaned. Just stood there with his hands in his pockets, shoulders stiff, like he didn't trust himself to relax. The fluorescent light caught the side of his face-sharp cheekbone, jaw clenched hard enough to ache. His skin was a deep, warm, familiar in a way that made her chest tighten without permission. He looked taller than she remembered, or maybe she was just smaller now, trapped under wires and sheets and too many things she couldn't escape.

She broke the silence first.

"Why are you here?"

Her voice surprised her. Steadier than she felt. Low. Flat.

Chris turned from the window slowly, as the movement cost him something. His eyes-dark, intent, always too observant-met hers. He didn't answer right away.

"I had to be," he said finally.

"That's not an answer."

His mouth twitched, almost a smile. It didn't last. "It's the only one I've got."

Mia let out a breath through her nose. "You always do that."

"Do what?"

"Show up when everything's already broken." She shifted slightly, pain flaring along her ribs. She ignored it. "And then act like it was inevitable."

Chris stepped closer, stopping at the foot of the bed. He didn't touch her. Didn't reach for her hand the way he used to, back when that felt allowed.

"Someone had to find you," he said quietly. "You didn't exactly leave a trail."

Her fingers curled into the sheet. "I wasn't trying to be found."

"I know."

That-that soft certainty-made something inside her snap.

"Then why are you here?" she asked again, sharper now. "If you know I didn't want this."

His gaze dropped briefly, then lifted again. "Because you don't get to disappear like that, Iris."

Her chest tightened. "Watch me."

Chris exhaled slowly, like he was counting to ten in his head. "You almost died."

"But I didn't."

"You're still bleeding internally."

"But I'm still here."

"And you're pregnant." The words came out rougher than the rest. Less controlled.

Mia's hand slid instinctively to her stomach.

"I know."

"They're worried," he continued. "They should be. This isn't something you can be stubborn about."

Her eyes flashed. "Don't talk to me like that."

"I'm talking to you like someone who doesn't want to lose you."

She laughed then. A short, humorless sound. "You don't get to want that anymore."

Chris stiffened. "That's not fair."

"Neither is showing up now," she shot back. "Neither is standing there like you still have a say."

His jaw worked. "You made me your trustee."

"I made you paperwork," she snapped. "Years ago. When I thought-" She stopped herself. Swallowed. "When things were different."

"They were real," he said immediately.

She looked away. Toward the monitor. Toward anything that wasn't his eyes. "That doesn't mean they still are."

Silence pressed in again, heavier this time.

Chris broke it carefully. "The doctors said they need to terminate."

Her head snapped back toward him. "I said no."

"And they said that might kill you."

"Then that's my choice."

"That's not a choice," he said, voice rising despite himself. "That's punishment."

Her breath hitched. "You don't get to decide what this is."

"I get to care whether you live."

"Why?" she demanded. "Why do you care so much now?"

He stared at her, something naked flickering across his face before he could hide it. "Because I never stopped."

The words hung between them, fragile and dangerous.

Mia shook her head. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't say it like that," she whispered. "Don't say it like it changes anything."

Chris took another step closer. "It changes everything."

"No," she said. Her voice trembled now, but she didn't stop. "It changes nothing. You left. I moved on. I built a life-"

"With a man who didn't care about you," he cut in.

Her eyes burned. "You don't know that."

"I know he's not here."

The truth of it hit harder than she expected.

Mia's voice dropped. "That doesn't make you right."

"It makes him absent," Chris said. "And it makes this-" He gestured toward her stomach, then stopped himself, hand falling back to his side. "This is complicated."

Her mouth twisted. "It's not complicated to me."

"It should be," he insisted. "The father doesn't want it. He doesn't want you. What kind of life is that for a child?"

Her anger flared hot and sudden, burning away the ache and the fear.

"Don't you dare," she said. "Don't you dare talk about my child like it's a mistake."

Chris's eyes widened slightly. "I didn't say-"

"You implied it," she shot back. "You said it's of no use."

He hesitated. Just a fraction too long.

Mia felt something inside her crack open.

"Say it again," she challenged. "Say it to my face."

"That's not what I meant," he said, but his voice had lost some of its certainty now.

"You meant it," she said. Tears blurred her vision, but she didn't let them fall. "You meant that because the father is a deadbeat, because he walked away, because he doesn't care-this baby shouldn't exist."

"That's not-"

"That's exactly what you meant," she said, louder now. "And you don't get to decide that. Not you. Not the doctors. Not him."

Chris ran a hand through his hair, frustration bleeding through his control. "Mia, you're risking everything for someone who hasn't even had a chance to be wanted."

Her breath shook. "I want them."

The room went still.

Chris stared at her. Really looked at her.

"You're doing this alone," he said quietly.

"Yes."

"And you're okay with that?"

She hesitated. Just for a second. Then she nodded. "I'd rather be alone than give up something that's already mine."

His voice softened. "You don't have to do it alone."

Her laugh broke then, sharp and bitter. "You don't get to offer that now."

"I'm offering it anyway."

"No," she said. "You're trying to fix something that isn't yours anymore."

His eyes darkened. "That's not fair."

"Neither is telling me to erase my child because it makes things easier."

"That's not-"

"Leave," she said suddenly.

Chris froze. "Iris-"

"I said leave."

The nurse outside shifted, clearly listening now.

Chris stepped back, disbelief written across his face. "You don't mean that."

"Yes," she said. Her voice was shaking, but her resolve wasn't. "I do."

He stared at her for a long moment, pain and anger warring in his expression. "You're making a mistake."

She met his gaze. "Maybe. But it's mine."

His mouth pressed into a hard line.

"Fine," he said. "I tried."

He turned sharply, crossing the room in long strides. At the door, he paused, his hand on the handle.

"You always do this," he said without looking back. "You shut people out and call it strength."

Her chest ached. "And you always mistake control for care."

He flinched.

Then he left.

The door closed harder than necessary.

Mia stared at it long after he was gone, her heart pounding too fast, her breath uneven. The room felt colder now. Larger. Empty in a way it hadn't been before.

Her hand slid back to her stomach, trembling.

"I'm still here," she whispered. To herself. To the life inside her. "I'm not leaving."

Mia covered her face with a pillow and cried.