Shock

Two weeks later

Lila lay in bed. It was the middle of the night. She rested her head on her elbow.

It had been a stressful two weeks. Her Mom had gone in for an appointment yesterday, which Lila hadn't been notifies of until after the fact. Lila wondered if it had been a slight punishment for being gone all this time. I don't care.

Yawning, she went back to sleep. Of course, she dreamed of Nikola.

She dreamed of his smile. She dreamed of his eyes. She dreamed about how much she loved him. And then, she dreamed about something she usually dreaded her dreams about. her baby. Their child. Usually, the dreams were terrifying. Usually it felt wrong to dream about something dead which could have been alive. It felt twisted and morbid.

But this time, it didn't. It felt... happy. Strange, but happy. Maybe this is what it would have felt like?

Lila blinked open her eyes, feeling a little uncertain about her dream. Sighing, she looked up at the phone. A part of her itched to call Nikola, just to hear his voice. Lila watched in fascination as a call came through. It was him!

She scrambled to pick up the phone. However, the first thing that came out of her mouth was, "Niko! How the hell did you get my phone number?"

Nikola laughed. "Hey. Henry tracked you down."

"Damn HAPS these days." She muttered.

"Is it just me, or did you get a job in a cafe down there?" he asked.

"Believe it or not, I can work a normal job," Lila sighed. "I... I don't think I'll be there long."

"Really?" She could hear the rise of excitement in his voice, and a chair scooting backward.

"As soon as Mom gets better," Lila said.

"So she will get better?" Nikola asked quietly.

"The Doctor says its not as serious as it might have seemed. The results are back in a week, but there's very little doubt, apparently."

"Uh... Lila, I need to talk to you," Nikola said anxiously.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Well, I've been thinking a lot about Dana's plan, and something doesn't quite fit." he said slowly. "She said if we didn't cooperate, somebody close to us would pay dearly. But she couldn't hurt ay of us, we were too valuable."

Lila was silent. "Think it over, genius. I'll be back as soon as I can." And with that, the playful call ended.

*.*

A week later

Tracey called. Results were good, and Mom would be better within the week. Five minutes after she hung up, however, Tracey came to the door looking miserable.

"I know you don't want e in your apartment. I know I'm a really bad sister. But my ex is kind of getting his stuff out of my apartment."

Lila rolled her eyes. "Another breakup?"

"He broke up with me," Tracey clarified.

"Ah. Well, um, come in."

*.*

"You've been here for around four weeks and your stuff is already packed." Tracey sighed. It was a rainy afternoon, a week later.

"I'm not leaving today. Maybe tomorrow. I'm not feeling well." Lila said.

"They're going to miss you." Tracey said.

Lila pictured her parents for a moment. Their stiff expressions when she walked in the door. "No they're not."

"They named one of their cats after you," Tracey offered.

"They have cats now?" Lila frowned.

"Yeah, a black one and a white one." Tracey said.

"They never got me a cat," Lila muttered. "Let me guess - they called the black one Lila."

"Well, yes." Tracey admitted. "And they called the white one Rose."

"Who the hell is Rose?"

"Um... I think it was Mom's aunt." Tracey finished lamely.

"Why would they need me when they have a cat?" Lila said, sighing in mock despair. "But as soon as I get better, I'm leaving." Lila got off the edge of the bed.

"Are you okay?" Tracey asked as Lila stumbled. She caught Lila's arm.

"Uh..." Lila sat down again.

"Okay. I'm taking you to the Doctor. Come on, we'll have to take your car."

*.*

The nurse smiled at Lila. Lila waited for the answer, she was tired and for some reason sick.

"There's nothing to worry about honey. In fact, I should congratulate you. You're pregnant."

Lila opened her mouth to talk, but no words came out. She was vaguely conscious of ringing in her ears. She felt like screaming, or maybe laughing, or maybe crying. She really wasn't sure. Where are you, Nikola? Where are you now? What are you doing? Are you sitting in the library reading a book, are you doing some experiment, are you missing me?

Tracey smiled at the nurse. "She's a little shell shocked, that's all. I'll take her home."

Lila sat in complete silence the whole way back. When they got back to the apartment, Lila sat down on the bed. Tracey sat next to her. Lila's breath was coming in fast little pulls. "Tracey, I think I'm going to faint."

"Sh." Tracey wrapped her arms around Lila. "You're going to be okay. You're going to be happy once you get through the shock."

Where are you?