Chapter Nineteen: The Cat's Out of the Bag

Layla felt sick. It was as if knowing about her pregnancy brought its symptoms to the surface. She awoke each morning, feeling nauseated and fatigued. She groaned weakly as she pushed herself to a sitting position on the edge of the bed. She slipped her feet into the slippers at the foot of the bed, clutching her lower belly, and padded to the bathroom to retch her intestines out. That was how she often felt whenever she spilled her guts into the toilet. Her stomach clenched, her heart burned from the effort it took her to force the nausea stuck in her chest out, and her head swayed on her neck. "If I had known keeping a baby is this hard.." Her words trailed off. She would have done what? Opted for abortion and endangered her life? She was still very young. That risk was not one she was willing to take. She hit the flush button, and while the water sloshed her puke down the drain, Layla forced herself to her feet and trudged toward the washbasin. She rinsed her mouth, spat