Withered Yet Freed

The nurse who answered the phone was clearly surprised, probably because she hadn't seen anyone so eager for an abortion before. But she didn't ask too many questions—just inquired about some basic information and told Sarah to come to the hospital for an examination first.

Sarah's nose stung with emotion as she nodded. "Okay, I'll come as soon as possible."

"Where are you planning to go?" The bedroom door was suddenly pushed open, and Nelson walked to the bedside reeking of alcohol.

Sarah quickly hung up the phone and shook her head slightly. "Nothing. Have you been drinking all night?"

Nelson grunted in agreement, casually unbuckling his belt and removing his alcohol-stained clothes.

As usual, he tried to embrace Sarah, but she instinctively moved away. He frowned. "What's wrong? Do I smell bad?"

Sarah shook her head. After a sleepless night, she felt dizzy. She got up from the bed only to be pulled into Nelson's arms.

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his lips lightly grazing her earlobe as he asked in a hoarse voice, "Going out soon?"

"Yes," Sarah replied, avoiding his hot breath.

He seemed not to notice her resistance. His hand rested on her waist, pressing her body against his. "Meeting a friend?"

"No," Sarah was exhausted and didn't want to talk further. She pushed him away and said, "I'm going to take a shower."

With that, she hurried into the bathroom. Watching her retreating figure, Nelson felt something was different about her.

When she came out after her shower, Nelson was already sound asleep on the bed. He must have drunk too much last night—he didn't even stir when his phone vibrated beside him.

Sarah glanced at the phone screen. The caller ID showed "Lucy."

She wasn't going to answer, but the caller persisted. Sarah finally accepted the call.

Before she could speak, a flirtatious female voice came through. "Nelson, did I disturb your rest? I'm sorry. I just wanted to tell you that I really appreciated you staying with me last night. I was so happy."

"If you were that happy, why did you let him come back?" Sarah spoke without emotion in her voice.

There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by Lucy's sharp voice, "Sarah? Why are you answering? Where's Nelson? Put him on."

Glancing at the deeply sleeping Nelson, Sarah responded coldly, "He can't come to the phone right now. Next time, Miss Leedon, when you keep him overnight, try harder. That way he won't come back with energy to spare for me before he can finally sleep."

"Sarah, have you no shame?" Even through the phone, Sarah could sense Lucy's face reddening with fury.

Not wanting to hear Lucy's unpleasant words, Sarah simply hung up.

Looking at Nelson sleeping beside her, Sarah eventually tore her gaze away.

After a long moment, she silently apologized to the child in her womb.

She needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

Her appointment was scheduled for the afternoon. With plenty of time, Sarah decided to clear out everything that belonged to her from the apartment. Three years together had left too many traces of memories.

During those three years, to make them feel more like a couple, she had gradually filled their small apartment with matching items—matching slippers, pajamas, cups...

Nelson didn't like these things she bought. Sometimes he even found them annoying, thinking she was being fussy.

Back then, she always thought that with time, he would get used to it and accept it.

Now she realized that all these years, she had been forcing her wishes on him.

There were quite a lot of belongings, and Sarah made several trips to throw everything into the dumpster downstairs.

After dealing with all these items, Sarah returned to the apartment. Nelson had woken up at some point and was waiting by the door, his dark eyes watching her. "Where did you go?"

"Throwing out trash," she replied, walking past him into the bedroom.

Noticing that quite a few things were missing from the apartment, Nelson looked puzzled. "You threw out that much?"

"Things I don't need anymore, naturally I got rid of them," Sarah answered casually, her expression unchanged.

Nelson nodded, not making much of it. "Fine. If you don't like the old stuff, throw it out and we'll buy new things."

The rumbling sound of the garbage truck came from downstairs as it carried away the several boxes of items Sarah had discarded.

She glanced down briefly before looking away. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Nelson's handsome face smiling at his phone.

Sarah had always known that Nelson was a cold person. He rarely smiled, and when he did, the smile never reached his eyes.

But now, his smile was genuine—Sarah could tell immediately that it came from the heart.

Was it Lucy on the phone?

Most likely.

She tightened her hand at her side and said, "Nelson, do you have time later?"

"What is it?" Nelson didn't look at her. His eyes remained fixed on his phone, seemingly absorbed by whatever message he had received.

Sarah pressed her lips together. "I need you to come with me to the hospital. I'm pregnant and planning to get an abortion..."

Her words were drowned out by Nelson's ringing phone.

Nelson got up to answer the call. When he returned and saw Sarah staring at him intently, he finally seemed to snap back to attention. "What were you saying just now?"