ANASTASIA


    It''s been weeks since the imnt took ce... weeks!


    Oh God. The mere thought of it stressed me more than I should be.


    The friendly doctor had said it would only take a few days, at most a week before we''d know if the procedure worked or not.


    After the first week, I had gone to him, struggling to hold back my tears as I asked if anything might be wrong.


    "You need not worry, ma''am," he had said with apassionate smile. A week is the least. If it takes more than a couple of months, that''s when there might be an issue."


    I really hoped it wouldn''t take months. I prayed that it wouldn''t take up to a month but here I was, few days to a month, still waiting and hoping.


    The doctor had stressed that I should not stress myself and to get enough rest but how could I do that when I constantly needed to be by my baby''s side?


    I stayed with Amie day and night. To elude the endless worry that came with the thought that were still waiting to see if the procedure worked, I threw myself into caring for Amie as I should. Dennis, when he sensed my worry and I finally opened up to him, had said, "Be hopeful, love. Be hopeful. I already see a mini version of you and Amie prancing around the house."


    I decided to listen to him and believe. I then began to prepare for the new baby but the doubts never ceased to creep in.


    I''d read stories of people like me who tried this method but it didn''t work for them which led to the death of their loved one.


    I would shake my head each time the thought sneaked in and rey Dennis''s words in my head.


    As time went on, my cause of worry doubled as the hospital and care bills began to multiply by the day.


    Though Dennis neverined about paying the bills, I knew I had to help.


    I was well aware that he loved Amie and considered her his but I have to do something about the guilt that gnawed at me everyday. He works so hard only to pour all his earnings in paying her bills. It''s unfair. There was only so much a man could shoulder. Especially for a child that wasn''t his and a wife who was preparing to carry another man''s child.


    "Ana, it''s fine. It''s not your fault. We have no choice in this," he had said countless times but I knew he could not just be cool with it. There would be dark thoughts that he must be struggling to keep at bay.


    I thought about getting a job but that would mean less or close to no time with Amie. Also, if- when I get pregnant, I would still have to take a maternity leave. I knew that wouldn''t sit well with whichever firm I get a job at that I have to take a maternity leave few months after resumption.


    So I resorted to the only other option I had. I called my ount manager and discussed with him. He told me the requirements for the withdrawal of my fixed deposits and informed me that I''d need to be present at the bank to finalize the whole thing and make my withdrawal.N?velDrama.Org owns all content.


    I had spent the night with Amie. It


    was a turbulent night for the both of us. She woke up at intervals andined about body aches and all types of pain. At some point, she said she couldn''t sleep, so I stayed up and kept herpany. read to her and painted with her till dawn.


    In the morning, just as the first rays of sunlight peeked into her room, she fell into a deep slumber.


    I took the opportunity and rushed home.


    I took a quick bath, prepared the things I would need to return to the hospital with when I return from the bank.


    At the bank, I stood for a whole


    minute as I gaped at the long line


    Let


    before me. It felt like the longest queue I Kad ever seen. Eventually, rushed forward to join the line when a man who just stepped in, walked past me and headed toward the queue.


    A number less is better than a number more, I told myself.


    I struggled to keep my heavy lids open as I yawned several times and watched the line move from where I stood at the back. Sometimes, the move was fast and sometimes, it dragged like a slug.


    It wasn''t until my stomach started to grumble that I remembered that I missed breakfast.


    I shook my head. I made a cereal. I remember cing it right on the kitchen counter before I went to retrieve my card but I forgot all about it.


    ttening my palm on my tummy, hoping it would stop my stomach from twisting to cruelly, I contemted leaving the line to get something to eat.


    But when return, I''d have to start at


    the beginning of the queue all over again. And I needed to hurry and return to Amie. What if she''s afone?


    What if she''s woken up and is asking


    after me?"


    I nced at the man that was being attended to. Three more women and it would be my turn.


    "Just wait a bit longer," I whispered to my grumbling stomach.


    I could feel that my forehead and face was coated with perspiration. When I stopped before the young man behind the counter, his gaze lingered on my face, particrly my forehead. "Good day-"


    Those were thest words I heard before the world began to spin around me, apanied by a debilitating headache that threatened to make my head useless with pain.


    A groan escaped my lips as I clutched onto the counter.


    The man''s face was etched into a frown and by the way his lips moved, I could tell that he was speaking rapidly.


    I didn''t hear what he said but I nodded. I just need to get my money, rush to the nearest restaurant and restore my energy.


    I shook my face to clear my vision. Then I pushed off the counter I had leaned on. Sluggishly, I dipped my hand in my bag to retrieve my card when the dizzying started again.


    I tried to reach for the counter but all I could do was stagger backward before Inded on the floor and everything became dark.