Page 215 - It Ends with Us

I sha ke my head again. “Atlas, I swea r . . .” I squeez e my eyes shu t

and lower my hea d. “I’m no t coveri ng for hi m thi s time, ” I whi sper.
“He tried , but then he stopped .”
“If you cho ose to pres s cha rges , you’ll need —”
“I don’t want the ex am,” I say again, my voice firm .
There’ s a kno ck on the door and a doctor ent ers , sparing me from
more plea ding looks from Atlas. The nu rse gives the doctor a brief

rund own of my inj uries . She then step s aside as he ex amines my hea d
and sho ulder. He flashes a light int o both of my ey es . He looks down
at the paper work again and says, “I’d like to rule out a conc ussion, but
given your situation, I don’t want to admini ster a CT. We’d like to
keep you for obser vation, ins tea d.”
“Why don’t you want to admini ster a CT?” I ask hi m.
The doctor stand s up. “We don’t like to per form X-rays on

preg na nt women unl es s it’s vital. We’l l moni tor you for complications
and if there are no further conc erns , you’ll be free to go.”
I don’t hea r any thi ng bey ond tha t.
No thi ng.
The pres sure beg ins to build in my hea d. My hea rt. My stomach. I
grip the ed ges of the ex am table I’m sitting on and I stare at the floor

unt il they both lea ve the room.
When the door closes behi nd them , I sit, suspend ed in frozen
silenc e. I see Atlas move closer. His feet are almost touchi ng mine. His
fing ers brush light ly over my back. “Did you kno w?”
I rel ea se a quick brea th, and then drag in more air. I start sha king
my hea d, and when hi s arms come down around me, I cry ha rder
tha n I knew my body was ev en capable of. He ho lds me the ent ire

time I cry. He ho lds me thro ugh my ha tred .
I did thi s to mysel f.
I allowed thi s to ha ppen to me.
I am my mothe r.
“I want to lea ve, ” I whi sper.
Atlas pulls back. “They want to moni tor you, Lily. I thi nk you

sho uld stay.”
I look up at hi m and sha ke my hea d. “I need to get out of here.
Pleas e. I want to lea ve. ”