A Bride For Us

Abortifacient

It was several minutes before Lily began to stir. He released a deep sigh of relief and threw the wet rag to the side before turning his attention back to her. Her eyelids pulled open weakly and she stared up at him.

“Ray?” She mumbled.

He settled into the bed and pulled her into his arms once more. “You should rest.” He whispered against her hair.

“Should... Tired...” She turned in his arms and rested her head against his chest as her eyelids closed once more. “We're having a baby...”

Those were the last words she spoke before falling asleep and the only thing that kept him awake all night; they were having a baby, the very thought alone filling him with unspeakable fear.

He tightened his hold around her and closed his eyes briefly, wishing he could open them and find that her announcement was nothing but a terrible dream but he knew it wasn't, it wasn't a dream. Could he bury another woman? He sighed, frustrated. He hadn't meant to fall in love with her, he hadn't meant to get her pregnant! But he had done both and there was almost nothing he could do about it. Asking her to get an abortion had worsened her already frail state and he knew that even if she might not remember what happened by the next morning, he couldn't speak of an abortion again.

And he didn't.

He didn't speak of it when she woke up the next morning and broke the news to him once more. He instead pulled her into his arms and pretended to be happy as his hand ran up and down her back.

“You seem better than last night.” He finally stated, relieved that her fever had broken.

“I must have been delusional due to the fever as well. I can barely remember you coming into the room and I am nearly certain I told you about being pregnant and well, you...”

“You didn't.” He lied, tightening his hold around her.

“Well, are you happy?” She asked, pulling away.

Her blue eyes studied him as a small frown settled on her face.

He wanted to tell her he was happy about a new baby, but he knew he wasn't. If anything, he cursed the child growing inside of her. But as he stared at her and saw how frail she really was, he knew he couldn't tell her how he really felt. He would deal with the pregnancy himself, he thought, knowing she would never concede to an abortion. He could ride into town in spite of the snow and find an apothecary . He would then purchase an abortifacient and find a way to slip it into her coffee without her knowing.

He leaned down and kissed her lips. “I must go into town right away.”

Her frown deepened. “It is unwise to go that far especially considering how dangerous it is to have that rusty wagon battle the terrible weather.”

“I won't take the wagon.” He turned from her and climbed out of bed. He made his way to the table and found his clothes from the night before. “I will take a horse and will be back shortly.”

She was silent as he dressed and only began speaking when he was buttoning his shirt. “It's still dangerous and perhaps worse. Why is it important to go into town today?”

He turned around when he felt her hand on his elbow. “You're sick.” He said, touching her face.

“Pregnant, not sick.”

He wanted to point out the fact that being pregnant was a greater evil but he held his tongue.

“I will be back shortly.”

She released a tired breath. “Very well.” She stood on tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Do you have a little more time before you go?” She whispered seductively against his lips.

He smiled, shaking his head. “I'm afraid not.” Her countenance dropped at his announcement, causing him to kiss her lightly. When he wrapped his arms around her and drew her further into him, she returned his kiss.

“Raymond,” There was something in her voice, he thought, something he couldn't decipher. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again and instead pressed her lips to his.

He didn't want to lose her!

The thought frightened him, the realization that he might lose her, causing him to release his hold around her.

“I must leave now.” He backed away but she took captive of his hand, halting him in his tracks.

She took a step to him and pressed her cheek to his chest, her hands hanging loosely by her sides. “I love you, Raymond.” She said in a low whisper.

Her words traveled so fast to his heart, it caused his heart to stop beating for a second. It had been so unexpected, he didn't know how to respond to it other than to take another step back and turn from her fully as he began to make his way down the stairs and out of the back door.

!!!

Lily hadn't been exaggerating when she said it was a dangerous weather outside. While the snow had ceased falling, it was obvious it would most likely resume falling any time soon. Raymond knew he didn't have much time left.

Raymond's heart however seemed only capable of pounding to the rhythm of her last words to him before he left home that morning; 'I love you'. He found himself wishing he had said those same words back to her, wishing he hadn't stormed out of the house and into the snow.

Her announcement had filled him with a sense of urgency, an unexplainable desire to get rid of the child that was sure to take her away from him.

It was several hours before he rode into town. He tied his horse to a pole and made his way into the apothecary where he bought the abortifacient and slipped it into his pocket. He then made his way back outside and mounted his horse.

The ride back home was a lot harder than it had been to get to town that morning. Snow had begun to fall in an alarming intensity and before Raymond knew what was happening, his horse was nearly buried in snow.

He forced the physically tired horse forward. It was obvious that the horse couldn't move past a slow pace, but he knew it was only a matter of hours before he himself becomes buried in snow. And so, he kept pushing. He could hardly see the path before him, but his mind told him he was moving in the right direction.

He needed to get the abortifacient to Lily, his mind screamed as the horse slowed down. He pounded the heel of his boot against the horse's side, frustrated and cold for the snow was beginning to penetrated his shabby clothes.

“Faster!” He hissed through ice cold lips.

The horse tried to gallop a lot faster, but his hooves must have come in contact with something that caused him to fall to the snow, throwing Raymond off of his back in the process.

A loud sound followed the horse's action and with it, darkness.

Copyright © 2017 Lily Orevba All rights reserved.

A/N

I'm not certain how I feel about this chapter but I guess there'll always be chapters i feel this way about.

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