It was driving her crazy. He was avoiding her, she knew it, but why? Had she done something wrong, something to hurt him? Had she offended him somehow?
Sure, she always kept hitting him with her frying pan, but he had always laughed it off like it was nothing. Maybe it wasn't, maybe it really hurt him but he just didn't want her to know. Maybe he had gotten enough of her scolding him over every little thing. Or maybe he just got bored with her.
That last thought scared her the most. What if he didn't want her anymore..
"Shut up, shut up, just.. don't think about it. Think about something else, something.. eh.. what to cook for dinner? Fry - no, nothing fried. Um, something.. chicken? No, no, that would remind me of Gilbird, that darn cute chick.."
The whole, agonizingly long day was spent trying to think about something, anything but Gilbert.
She never succeeded.
*
The next morning found her lying on her bed, already awake. She was tired, so damn tired, but she hadn't been able to sleep a wink.
What if..
"No.." she moaned into her pillow, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes again. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to face the fact that Gilbert found her boring, nor worth his time. He had probably found someone else and was now sleeping in their bed.
She squeezed her eyes shut to block the way of the tears that were stinging her eyes. No, he couldn't have, not after everything they had gone through, not after all the arguments, the fights, the fucking beatings they had gotten from each other.. he couldn't give up, not now. Not now when she needed him the most.
She needed him to be there, for her and -
A shrill scream cut through the thick silence like a sharp knife. It took her a few seconds to realise that it came from her own mouth. She rolled over on the bed, now looking up the ceiling. She let the tears run freely through her eyes because she didn't even comprehend that they were there at all.
For me, and for the.. the..
She couldn't even think about it. Now that he had left her all alone.. No.
No, she wouldn't cry. She wouldn't give up on herself just like that. She would fight, she would fight a fucking war and win.
Win, like she always used to.. when they were little kids..
A desperate wail pushed through her throat.
He must have abandoned her. There was no other explanation for his absence. He should have been with her yesterday, he should have known that something was wrong..
The sound of quick footsteps interrupted her inner monologue. Her bedroom door opened with a bang and the person that came in was next to her bed in a matter of seconds.
It took him a moment to recognise the messy-haired figure lying under the covers.
".. Eliza?"
Silence greeted him. Then, a sob and he suddenly found himself half-lying on the bed with the woman all over him.
"I.. I thought," Elizaveta breathed out in-between the rough kisses on his neck, "that you wouldn't come back.."
Had his absence shocked her that much? He had been gone only for two days! It had always seemed to him that no matter how long he took, she always thought that the time that had passed had never been long enough. But now..
"Why are you crying?"
The Hungarian answered by dragging him fully onto the bed and lying on top of him.
"Say you'll never leave me."
"I.. what?"
"Promise you'll never leave me," Elizaveta whispered into his ear, her voice shaky but surprisingly firm.
"Why?" A sudden stinging greeted his cheek. He felt the weigh shift from on top of him and he opened his eyes – it had become a reflex to close them whenever he saw Elizaveta's hand close to his face – only to see the woman on the other side of the bed, weeping.
"Oi! You know you can't just ask me things like that and expect me to answer them immediately without telling me what's going on. Eliza, -" he had sat up and turned towards her. She turned her back to him.
"Do you.. love me, at least?"
Silence.
He let out a sigh.
"Just tell me what's wrong."
"Gilbert.." Elizaveta finally turned to face him. He had never seen her look so.. tired.
"Gilbert, I'm.. I'm pregnant."