She was staring at the television in front of her, her cup almost halfway done. Her hair was messy and her eyebags were dark and heavy. She would touch her cervical collar once in a while and she felt the soaring pain from there. Ingrid constantly hissed.
"How are you feeling now?"
"My neck hurts... some muscle aches too." She took a slow sip of her drink.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here when you needed me," Layla said. "I should have never let you be by yourself at such time of the night."
"When he had me in that towel and squeezed out whatever little had remained of me... when the light went dim around me, when the world went cold and silent all of sudden... I knew that... um, that was it." She coughed for a while. "I've never been so scared before, never felt so frail and it frightens me. He almost killed me."
"Ingrid it's okay, you're safe now."
"One more minute in the bedroom and he would have ended my life." A stray tear slid down her face. Layla moved over to her and wiped it away. She embraced her.
"If I may ask, who are you referring to?"
"I dunno. I couldn't see his face."
"Ingrid if you could try to remember... please."
"Mom... I – I could not see him."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Sure then. Take your time. If you remember anything and I mean anything, don't defer to tell me. I'm here now. Mommy will make sure you're safe. Okay?"
"Yeah." She said, nodding.
"Okay. I'm going to prepare something to eat. What would you like?"
"I don't feel hungry anymore."
"You need to eat baby. You can't stay hungry all this while."
"I had my fill with Ethan back in Arizona. Trust me I'm not that hungry."
"Fine. I just want you to know if there's anything you need from me, don't hesitate to ask." She replied with a simple nod. "Okay..."
"Can I go and sleep now?"
"Have you finished your ginger water? The paramedics were so serious about that."
"Yes." She said before she coughed once again. "Done." She showed her empty cup to her mother.
"Okay. Goodnight then. I want you to have plenty of rest. Tomorrow I'm taking you to the hospital for further medication."
"But I said I'm feeling quite fine," Ingrid responded but her response was followed by another series of dry coughs.
"I won't hear none of that. Go rest. Tomorrow we're going to the hospital."
"Fine." She got up from the couch in her plain shirt and pajama pants and went over to her mother and gave her a good night hug.
Her mother pulled her closer and held onto her as if she would slip from her grasp. "Tomorrow will be better I promise you."
"Thanks, mom." She told her in a sudden soft low voice. Layla's eyes widened when she held Ingrid's hips when the two pulled away from the embrace.
"Someone's getting fat..." Layla drawled.
"What can I say? School food sure does wonders." Ingrid said and turned away and headed to the corridor to where she would climb the stairs to the second level of the house. Layla watched her as she struggled to walk, her hands pocketed in her pajama pants.
"Ingrid..." Layla called out for her once again.
"Yes?" She said as she turned around to face her.
"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"
"No?" She answered shaking her head gently.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, mom. I'm tired, can I just go rest now?"
"Fine. Come here. One last hug then?"
Ingrid smiled a bit beneath her tired eyes as she walked toward her. She opened her arms to embrace Layla once again. But she instead went for Ingrid's shirt and grabbed the bottom of it and raised it up. Ingrid moved a step back to the sudden surprise.
There and then, the world came falling apart again— from Ingrid's perception at least. Layla saw Ingrid's belly and the swell on it. Her lips parted as she registered the sight beforehand. Her eyes slowly moved to Ingrid's face and she saw the fear in her eyes. Her green eyes were welling up already as her body froze in place.
"Ingrid, what is this?"
"Mom I can explain." She said as she pulled her shirt down and took two more steps back.
"Ingrid! What is that!" Mother asked once more as she closed the distance between them.
"Mom I'm sorry." Her squinted voice came into play. "I wanted to tell you but I was afraid."
"Ingrid is that what I think it is?" Ingrid nodded, with muffled lips and an already soaked cheek. "You have to be kidding me!"
"Mom I can explain... please calm down." She stretched out her arms to provide some distance between herself and her mother.
"Talk!"
"I – I don't know what to say!"
"Start from the beginning. How long? How long have you been having this… talk!"
"Mom, forgive me."
"Too late for that. Aren't we?"
"Three months." Tears slid down her cheeks – a certain custom it had been today. "I have been pregnant for three months." Layla closed her eyes and beneath her shut eyes her hand trembled. Her teeth ground against themselves.
"So you've been lying? To me, to your dad? To Ethan? To everyone?"
"I was scared to come out… Ethan said he would tell you."
Mother's eyebrows drew closer. "So he knew?" Ingrid nodded in response.
"My own children… scheming and plotting right under our noses!"
"Mom it's my fault. Do not place this on Ethan."
"SHUT UP!" She pointed at her. "Ingrid I'm so angry I could hit you right now!" She kept quiet as her mother ranted on. "Get out of my sight."
"Mom?"
"I said get out of my sight!"
"Mom… I said I'm sorry."
Layla whispered under shut eyes. "Ingrid go. Go before I do something I'm going to regret."
Ingrid covered her mouth with her palm, her eyes welling and tears coming as a result. "Mom please." Layla offered no response this time round and when she called her name once again, she got up from a seat by the kitchen counter and began to walk away. Ingrid must have called out her name four times by the time she reached the corridor that led to the staircase.
"Mom…" She whispered as she closely walked behind her. When she was upstairs, she headed straight for her room and closed the door behind her.
"Fuck!" She grunted in a cold sneer. And then she broke down. Her body slouched to the floor beneath her yet again and she dug her face inside her palms and cried her way through the late cold night. Whimpers. Shivers. Grunts. Swears. Over and over again they came and went. This is the worst night of my life. She thought. Her mother knew now of the pregnancy and her boyfriend had almost killed her. Her trusted brother was away and her friends were far from her. She was all alone. The sad little conniving girl that she was. She wished for the earth to open up and swallow her whole.
Ingrid opened her eyes ten minutes later and got on her feet. As she approached her bed, she saw Ayden standing on the other side with a warm smile plastered across his face. She gasped immediately. She took a step back and that's when she saw her body lying on the bed with the towel coiled around her neck. She screamed there and then to the top of her lungs. Before she could fathom further the images before her, she quickly dashed out of her room and bumped into her mother who was rushing toward her.
"Ingrid what is it?" Layla asked as he grabbed her by the arms and embraced her once again.
"I'm scared. Mom I saw him."
"Ingrid are you okay?" Layla asked in a low tone.
"Don't leave me alone. Please I'm begging you."
"It's okay honey. I won't. Come on." Layla said, went over to Ingrid's room, checked around for a while before she closed its door and walked back to her daughter. She grabbed her hand and walked with her to her room. "You'll be sleeping with me for the night and the many nights till you feel that you're safe, okay?" Ingrid nodded. "Fine. Climb the bed and sleep. You've been through a lot today."
"Mom about my pregn—"
"Ingrid. We'll talk about that later. Right now you need to rest." She nodded once again. Layla saw that she tucked Ingrid and covered her from head to toe like she did when she was a little girl.
"Goodnight honey."
"Goodnight mom," Ingrid said. And when her eyes went shut once again, Layla found herself crying on her own, her hands hiding the tears on her face.