Part: 6

Viaje POV:

Noticing how quiet she had become, I peeked down, realizing that she had fallen asleep. Smiling at her sleeping face, I picked her up in my arms and carried her to bed after shutting everything down. She felt heavier than usual, but it was probably due to the baby. Smiling at the thought of how healthy it would be and pondering whether it was a girl or a boy made me excited. As I laid her down, I went off to the bathroom. When stepping out, I saw that she was sitting up in bed, staring out the window as if she were in a daze. “Everything alright?” I asked as I crept up beside her. When she didn’t respond, I stood in front of her and waved my hand. She remained silent and continued to stare unblinking at the window. A shiver ran down my spine as I placed a hand onto her shoulder. “Honey?” I asked but to no avail. Turning to see just what it was she was staring at, I paused and searched the streets below. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and with trepidation, I turned back around to try and get her to snap out of whatever trance she was under, but when I turned around, she was lying back down, eyes closed.

I don’t remember her ever being a sleep walker. I thought and decided to keep a mental note of it. Scratching my head, I decided to let it go and crawl into bed beside her. Clutching onto her, never wanting to let her go, I closed my eyes and fell into a peaceful slumber.

Waking up to see that the bed was empty, an all too familiar sense of dread weld up inside of me and I immediately hopped out of bed. Checking the bathroom and the walk-in closet to find she wasn’t there, I rushed down the hall, flew down the stairs and into the kitchen. My heart melted back into calmness. I walked up to her and placed a hand on her head. “Good morning.” I said, to which she responded with silence. Furrowing my brow, I stepped beside her to look at her face. She still had that blank expression as she continued to bore holes into the kitchen wall. “H~Honey?” I knelt down and grabbed her hand. “What’s going on? Are you alright?” When no response came, I tapped her hand. “Please say something? Look at me.” I said with worry. “I~I need to call a doctor…” I trailed off. What was wrong with her? Why is she acting this way?

I pulled out my phone to dial 911 but she grabbed my hand with a vice like grip, startling me. Peering back up at her, she was still giving the wall her full attention and continued to blankly stare at nothing. Momentarily stunned, but knowing my resolve as I studied her odd behavior, I yanked my arm free and tried to dial again, but she continued to grab my arm. A bit annoyed I swiveled my head back towards her direction and noticed that this time she wasn’t looking at the wall, but at me. Her eyes showing a hint of annoyance. “What is wrong?” I asked. “You’re clearly not in your right mind, so I need to call an ambulance…unless you want me to take you there myself?” I said angrily, not understanding why she was so bent on stopping me.

The annoyance washed away into anger. “N~No!…” she said, her voice sounding as if it were the first time she had spoken in years. “No Hospital.” She annunciated each word carefully as she scrutinized me with her unblinking eyes.

Feeling very uncomfortable, yet angry “Why?!” I shouted.

“I… said… no… hospital.” She repeated slowly. “You….make… me… mad.” She continued to watch me, her eyes analyzing my face until I gave her what she wanted.

I sighed, not wanting to stress her or the baby out, I cleared my throat. “F~fine.” I said defeated. “Are you hungry?” I asked changing the subject. She nodded and turned away, staring back at that damned wall. I made a simple bacon and egg breakfast with toast on the side. Placing it down, I sat across from her and watched as she finally looked somewhere else besides the wall. She picked it up and put it in her mouth, only to spit it out in pure disgust. “W~what’s wrong?”

She placed the fork down and scooted her chair back. “Not hungry.” She said simply and went to lay on the couch. Out of concern, I decided to look up her symptoms online. Not able to find anything on her weird behavior, but finding that loss of appetite; morning sickness; and increased cravings for weird things or anything in general, could play a factor into her not wanting to eat. I sighed and decided to finish her plate as well.

As time passed, I noticed she would either stare into space or stare out the window. It were as if she was a zombie, someone without a soul and just a former shell of herself, only to do normal routines but nothing else. What scared me the most was how she wouldn’t eat and I knew that wasn’t good for the baby.

As we sat down for breakfast, I placed a bowl of cereal in front of her and decided to ask if she wanted to at least get some tests done. I wanted to do whatever it took to coax her into going to the hospital. Opening my mouth to say something, as she lifted up a spoonful of cereal, only to stop as her mouth hung open in what appeared to be a silent scream. Furrowing my brows, I reached over to touch her arm. “Honey… You alright?”

She blinked and warmth came back into her eyes. Her expression finally changed from that dull lifelessness, to a more confused looking one. “Wasn’t I just in…” she trailed off, dropping her spoon back into the bowl as she gazed around her, lost in thought.

Finally taking this as my chance to coax her, I reached over with my free hand to touch hers. “I know you don’t want too…” I said trying to formulate my words in a way she wouldn’t be offended. “…But we should really see a doctor.” She cocked her head to the side, as if she were about to say something. Immediately I put my hand in the air to show her I meant no harm, but I wanted to make sure she hears me out first before going on the defense. Not allowing her to speak just yet, “You may be stressed…” I spat out “…from what happened last week and…”

“Last week?” She said in genuine surprise.

“Y…yes.” I said carefully as I scratched my head. “I wanted to take you but you kept refusing… remember?” I shook my head in dismay. “…Even so… I think we should at least make sure you and the baby are alright.”

I watched on with worry of what she might say and felt myself momentarily break out into a cold sweat. She pondered for a second then nodded her head. I felt a weight lifting off of my shoulders, like I was finally able to breathe. I didn’t want to waste time and immediately got up to schedule an appointment, giving her no room to back down.