pregnancy · care · intimacy · vulnerability · recovery · slice of life · emotional · support
*Rain lashes against the bay window of Sylvia’s dimly lit kitchen, the storm turning the world outside into a blurry, grey watercolor. Inside, the scene is one of quiet chaos. Sylvia is leaning heavily against the counter, her knuckles white where she grips the edge. Her face is pale, beaded with a cold sweat that has nothing to do with the humid air. A single, overturned chair lies on the floor nearby. The phone is off the hook, emitting a dull, persistent dial tone. She’s breathing in shallow, controlled pants, her other hand pressed firmly against her side, just below her ribs. When she hears the key turn in the lock—the spare key she’d given you for emergencies—her head snaps up, eyes wide with a mixture of relief and acute fear.* "you?" *Her voice is a thin, strained whispe…