Chapter 1 One

Emerald immediately jumped off her couch and ran into the bathroom with the need to throw up. This has been going on for three weeks now. something keeps on telling her she's pregnant but on the other hand, she tries to talk herself out of it. Saying, it might be a stomach infection. But she could not bear it any longer. She hardly finds food to eat and the little she gets from the Hospital's leftovers, she could not even hold it down because of how nauseous she often feels.

After throwing up, Emerald sat on the bathroom floor for a few minutes to regain her lost energy. After that, she rinsed her mouth and did her morning rituals before putting on a very simple dress and a black sandals. She tied her hair in a messy bun after which she carried her bag and exited her apartment for work. She didn't have food in the house so there was no breakfast for her. Hopefully, she will get some leftovers from the Matron in the hospital.

The hospital was not Far from where Emerald stays; making it easy for her to walk down there. It is a fifteen minutes walk. well, it could be more than that, depending on how fast she walks.

Emerald found herself to be in a good mood as she will be seeing Luna later on today. She did not see Luna yesterday because it was a Sunday and also her day off.

It's been over three months and Luna is still in Coma. She hopes the little girl wakes up soon.

Emerald entered the hospital and immediately changed into her cleaning clothes which consist of a navy blue shirt and pants. After that, she proceeded to the hospital's store and cleaned there first.

While cleaning the store, She came across a box of pregnancy tests "Well let me get through this." she said to herself.

After a few minutes of deciding which one to take, Emerald proceeded to the restroom and peed on it. She was certain she wasn't pregnant. "I mean how could I be? It was just a one-night thing." she thought.

After waiting for three minutes as prescribed, Emerald checked the pregnancy test and saw what she dreaded to see. Two pink lines. She was indeed pregnant. "Lord Jesus." She exclaimed as the stick fell off her hand. She covered her hands with her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks.

She is pregnant and does not even know the father of the baby. What will she tell the child when he or she is born? Emerald hardly finds food to eat in a day, How will she feed the child?. "There's no way I'm keeping this." She muttered.

She made a mental note to meet a nurse to give her an abortion pill or something to get rid of the baby which has to be as soon as possible.

After crying for what seemed like hours. Emerald washed her face and exited the restroom. She went back to cleaning the store and after that, she decided it was time to see Luna and clean her up.

It was already 9 am so Luna's father would have left. She has been told not to enter Luna's room before 9 in the morning because Luna's Father usually come very early in the morning to spend some time with his daughter before he goes to work. So he needs some privacy with his daughter.

Emerald also knows that Luna's mother is no more. It was the Lazy nurse who was meant to take care of Luna that gave her all this information.

She entered Luna's room and immediately she saw the little girl a smile found its way to her face. She quickly went to her bedside and kissed her forehead.

A stranger who sees them together would think she was Luna's mother and Luna was her daughter.

Emerald cleaned Luna's room first, after which she cleaned Luna up and changed her clothes. Emerald was combing Luna's hair when she burst into tears. She would have loved to have a baby girl like Luna but due to circumstances, She has no choice but to abort her baby. No doubt she feels guilty about it but she had no other option. Emerald was lost in her tears and her thoughts that she didn't notice when someone entered the room.

Silvia's shift was to start at 9.30 but she got to the hospital earlier than expected because there was no much traffic today. Silvia dropped her bag in her office and put on her white coat. Since her shift does not start until 30 minutes, She decides to see how her niece is doing. She misses Luna a lot and she prays the little girl wakes up soon.

Silvia also decided to use that opportunity to see Emerald. She visited Anna [her mother] yesterday and Anna told her about Emerald. About how she takes care of her niece. Silvia wanted to thank Emerald. She had never been close to the staff in the hospital. But she knew Emerald was a nice, quiet and respectful young lady.

Silvia entered Luna's room and saw a crying Emerald who sat down beside Luna.

"Why are you crying, Emerald?" Silvia asked with so much concern in her voice, while walking towards Emerald.

Emerald stood up and looked at Silvia's face and Silvia noticed Emerald's puffy and red eyes. She also took in Emerald's features. She looked pale, slim and weak.

"Sorry, Doc. I didn't know when you entered." Emerald said while using the back of her hand to rub her face.

"Are you okay?" Silvia asked again while putting her right hand on Emerald's left shoulder.

"Don't worry about me, I will be fine, " Emerald sniffed. She removed Silvia's hand from her shoulder and ran out of the room.

"Hey, wait" Silvia shouted but Emerald did not bother to look back or stop running.

Silvia went over to Luna and kissed her forehead. "I will be back honey." She whispered and ran after Emerald.

"Em, wait.." Silvia shouted but Emerald kept on running.

"Damn, these heels" Silvia stopped running for a while and took off her heels. She held them on her right hand and continued running, not giving a damn about the ugly stares she was receiving.

"Emerald, I know you are there. please open the door." Silvia said while banging the door Emerald locked herself in. She identified the door as the cleaners room.

"Em, I promise to help you any way I can. just please open the door." Silvia said while banging the door very hard and breathing heavily.

Emerald made her run. The last time she ran like that was when she was in high school. Silvia is a very lazy person. She prefers doing a fifteen minutes crazy dance than doing other exercises.

Silvia was surprised to see Em in that way. Her mom described her as a very cheerful person, she wondered what's making her cry like that.

"Hope you know i'm still waiting Em. I won't leave here until you open the damn door." Silvia reminded.

Emerald had no choice but to open the door for Silvia to enter. Silvia entered the room and noticed it was a typical cleaner's room. Filled with cleaning materials and one large bench to seat. Emerald sat on the bench and Silvia removed her doctor's coat and sat beside her.

She looked so Vulnerable so Silvia pulled her into a hug and the tears came rushing down from Emerald's face.

"Cry it all out baby girl, " Silvia said while rubbing Emerald's back.

Emerald stopped crying after a while and pulled away from the hug.

"I'm sorry for staining your shirt, " Em said while sniffing.

"Don't worry about that" Silvia said while waving her hands.

"Em, what's wrong. You can tell me anything. I will help you in any way I can." Silvia assured.

Em nodded and they were both silent for a while. She was contemplating if she should tell Silvia about her problem. She then decided to talk to Silvia. since Silvia is a doctor, maybe she can help with the abortion process.

"I lost my parents when I was five, so I had to live with my aunt. I was never treated well. I was forced to stop school in my final year of high school and stick to doing the house chores while her children went to school."

" I ran away from them when I was 18 because life there was very unbearable for me. I would be beaten without any fault and I just couldn't bear it any longer. I ran away with the little money I had and came to the city."

" I was able to rent a room and my landlord recommended me here when I told him I was looking for a job. I was hired as a cleaner but the pay is not enough. It's almost the same amount as my house rent which leaves me with no food to eat. Our patients don't like hospital food so I'm lucky to always get some leftovers." Emerald paused, then continued.

" A nurse approached me when Luna was first brought in here, she said she will pay me a sum of money if I replace her to take care of Luna. I agreed because its an opportunity for me to earn more. The nurse paid me for the first month and refused to pay me for the second month. I was so angry because I had plans for the money."

"I didn't even know what I was doing that day. I remember dressing up in the only fancy dress I had and I made my way to the club to drink away my sorrow. That was where I had a one night stand with a Stranger." Emerald said as she burst into tears again.

Silvia pulled her into a hug and kept on rubbing her back. Em has really gone through a lot and Silvia could not even imagine herself being in that situation.

"Even after the nurse refused to pay me, I continued to take care of Luna. I have become very fond of her and I love her as if she were my own." Emerald said and Silvia nodded not failing to see the love in her eyes as she spoke about her niece.

"My mom said so, that's why I came looking for you, to thank you, " Silvia said.

"Anna is your mom?" Em asked surprised.

"Yeah. And Luna is my niece." Silvia replied and Em nodded.

"For the past three weeks, I've been feeling weak and nauseous and I kept throwing up from time to time. I kept telling myself that its a stomach infection until I decided to take a test this morning and it turned out positive." Em said with tears in her eyes.

"You saw me crying in Luna's room because I was thinking about my unborn child. I would love to have a child like Luna but I don't think it will be possible." Em said.

"What do you mean by that?" Silvia asked hoping Em does not want to do what she's thinking.

"I've decided to get an abortion" Em whispered.

Silvia took Em's hands in hers. " You can't do that Em, this child has a right to live."

"I hardly eat once a day, How do you expect me to feed the baby?. The leftovers I eat is not healthy, where I live is not conducive for a newborn, I can't get a better job because I didn't even finish high school. There is no way I provide for the baby? To top it all, I don't even know the father." Em said as she burst into another round of tears.

"Can you please abort this baby for me?" She asked Silvia.

"What? I can't do that Em. It's against my profession and even the laws of Massachusetts." Silvia replied.

"No one needs to know about this doc. It will stay between you and me, I promise. You wouldn't want an innocent child to come into this world to suffer. would you?" Em said which left Silvia speechless.