I paced up and down my bedroom, massaging my temples as Bear tapped the little white device against my dresser.
“It’ll be fine. You won’t be. What would the chances of that be? They’re so careful and you get the injection every three months like clockwork.” Even as she said the words, it didn’t help my panic, because when she tossed me the little white device and I flipped it over to find two perfect pink lines, my heart flatlined.
“Fuck.”
“No…” Bear whispered, shoving up from the desk and snatching it back off me. “How? Who? You haven’t had sex with anyone, have you?”
I shook my head. “No, well, not for the show…”
“Then who?” Her face paled. “Oh.”
I breathed out loudly. “I need to find out how to get off here and get it taken care of.”
“Okay, we will do that,” Bear said, but my door was swinging open and my dad and Kennedy, the doctor, were both standing on the other side, watching me. Suddenly, she was out of her hellhole of an office. Weird.
“Give me the test, Lilith, and follow me to my office.”
I stepped back, shaking my head. “No, it’s fine.” My eyes flew to my dad. “I’ll get it taken care of.”
He flicked his finger over his shoulder, gesturing to the soldiers. “Take her.”
“No!” I screamed, reaching for Bear.
Bear let out a screech, her arms flinging around the place to fight off the soldiers. I watched helplessly as bodies fell to the ground, but eventually she was restrained. Her wailing became desperate, but suddenly…
None of it mattered.
My eyes pop open, and I’m back in the now, on the sofa with Kyrin beneath me and Cartier on the other side. “They—” I blink past the first memories of finding out I was pregnant. “They found out. Bear and I wanted to take care of it privately, but for whatever reason, Kij, Kennedy, and my dad wanted me to go full-term.”
“I want you to think of that day you found out you were pregnant. What were you doing?” I hear footsteps in the back of my mind. At first an echo, then loud clapping against the floor.
“I’m in my Dollhouse. Standing near my bed. Bear is opposite, holding the test.” It’s as though I’m watching myself. I’m watching what happened play out in front of me like a movie.
“Good. You remember all of this?” Killian’s voice sounds closer, the footsteps back again but now a heavy breathing over my lips.
My eyes move from side to side, but every time I try to open them, they become heavier and heavier.
“Talk to me, Lilith. What’s happening now?”
It’s hard to breathe, like a ton of bricks are on top of my chest.
“I—” Another pound is added onto it. “I’m being taken by Kij and my father, Kosta. Kennedy is there, too. Hate her. They use her as a therapist for The Dolls, and the doctor. Damaged girls give better shows, but broken ones can’t fuck.”
My blood warms in my veins, my breathing becoming desperate. I watch as they throw me into The Pen, the same one I’m always in when I’ve got training, or some other weird shit happening… “I’m in a cell called The Pen. Crying. Confused. I’m pregnant. What the fuck am I going to do…”
“You know who the father is?”
“It’s Eli,” I answer instantly. “I hadn’t been with anyone else since him. They—they had a new trainee and were too busy to make sure I fucked on stage. I hadn’t been touched in over six months.”
Kennedy walks in, dressed in a white lab coat. She always wore it. Didn’t know fucking why.
“Kennedy is back. We didn’t really know that she was a real doctor. She’d give us our contraception and make sure we were clean.”
I begin pacing around the spot, watching as I sat helpless in the middle of the floor as the doctor leaned down, curling my hair around her finger.
She opens her mouth. “You’ll carry this baby to term. You will comply. And then when you are done, I will wipe everything clean from this moment onward. Do you want to know why we’re letting you keep this baby to full-term?” She leans closer, her cherry-red lips glowing against the hanging light. “I’ll tell you a secret. The Elite Kings are the most feared and powerful organization in the United States. We need them. You having this child?” She stands with a chuckle, stepping backward and looking down at me like disposed trash. “Is promising Patience never dies. You see, Kiznitch are coming to destroy Patience once and for all. We know that, and we’re prepared for it. The last little bit to this puzzle was getting you pregnant with Eli’s child.” Her footsteps begin to fade as she makes her way to the exit. “Don’t you love science and fertility?”