Chapter 1 - The Pain Nobody Believed
Three months before the ultrasound, Maya Thorne woke at 2:17 in the morning with the feeling that something beneath her ribs was trying to tear its way out.
She didn't scream.
She had learned not to.
Instead she rolled onto her side, pressed both hands against her stomach, and waited for the pain to fade.
It usually did.
Sometimes after ten minutes.
Sometimes twenty.
That night it lasted forty-three.
She counted every minute on the glowing clock beside her bed.
At 3:01, the pain finally loosened enough for her to breathe normally.
Maya climbed quietly from bed and walked to the bathroom.
The hallway was dark except for the light beneath her parents' bedroom door.
Her father's voice carried through the wall.
"You keep calling this number and eventually she'll notice."
Maya stopped.
Her mother's voice wasn't answering him.
Robert was on the phone.
A man's voice replied faintly, too muffled for Maya to understand.
Robert lowered his own voice.
"No. She's fine."
Maya remained still.
Then Robert said something that made her forget the pain.
"The girl doesn't remember anything."
Maya's fingers tightened around the bathroom doorframe.
She waited.
Robert spoke again.
"Fifteen years means fifteen years. That was the agreement."
Maya's breath caught.
A floorboard creaked beneath her foot.
Robert stopped talking.
The bedroom door opened.
Maya hurried into the bathroom and turned on the faucet.
A moment later her father's shadow appeared outside.
"Maya?"
She splashed water on her face.
"Yeah?"
"What are you doing awake?"
"My stomach hurts."
Robert's expression immediately changed from suspicion to irritation.
"Again?"
She nodded.
"Maybe we should go to a doctor."
Robert leaned against the doorframe.
"You already missed two days of school last month."
"I know."
"Your exams are coming."
"I know."
"And every time something gets difficult, suddenly your stomach hurts."
Maya stared at him.
"I'm not pretending."
Robert sighed.
"I didn't say pretending."
"You always say that."
"Go back to sleep."
"Dad."
"What?"
"It really hurts."
For a second, something passed across his face.
Not sympathy.
Fear.
Then it disappeared.
"We'll talk tomorrow."
He walked away.
Maya stayed in the bathroom until she heard the bedroom door close.
The next morning, Emily found her daughter asleep at the kitchen table.
Maya's forehead rested beside an untouched bowl of cereal.
Emily touched her shoulder.
"Sweetheart?"
Maya startled awake.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
Maya blinked.
Emily frowned.
"You don't have to apologize for falling asleep."
Robert entered the kitchen wearing a gray suit and tightening his watch.
"She was awake half the night."
Emily looked at Maya.
"Pain again?"
Maya nodded.
"We should make an appointment."
Robert opened the refrigerator.
"She needs more sleep and less screen time."
Emily's eyes hardened.
"Robert."
"What?"
"This keeps happening."
"So does school anxiety."
"I'm not anxious about school," Maya said.
Robert shut the refrigerator harder than necessary.
"Then what are you anxious about?"
Maya stared at him.
She remembered his phone call.
The girl doesn't remember anything.
"Nothing."
Robert watched her for one second too long.
Then he picked up his coffee.
"I'll be late tonight."
Emily looked disappointed.
"You said we'd have dinner together."
"Work."
"You always say work."
Robert kissed her cheek without warmth.
"Because it usually is."
He left.
Maya watched through the window as his car backed from the driveway.
Emily sat beside her.
"What aren't you telling me?"
Maya looked down.
"Nothing."
"Maya."
Her mother always knew.
Maya considered telling her about the phone call.
But what would she say?
Dad said a girl doesn't remember something?
It could have meant anyone.
Instead Maya whispered, "He thinks I'm lying."
Emily's face softened.
"I don't."
That answer almost made Maya cry.
Emily pulled her closer.
"I'm booking a doctor."
Maya hesitated.
"Dad will get mad."
Emily leaned back.
"Let him."
That afternoon, Maya collapsed during volleyball practice.
Her coach called home.
Robert answered first.
By the time Emily reached the school, Robert was already standing beside Maya in the nurse's office.
Maya sat on the examination cot, pale and sweating.
The nurse handed Robert a referral slip.
"I strongly recommend she be evaluated."
Robert folded the paper.
"We'll handle it."
Emily entered.
"What happened?"
Maya reached for her.
Robert stepped between them.
"She's dehydrated."
The nurse frowned.
"I didn't say that."
Robert turned.
"She hasn't eaten properly."
"Mr. Thorne, I said she should see a physician."
Emily took the paper from his hand.
Robert's jaw tightened.
"We can schedule something."
"Today."
"Emily."
"Today."
Maya looked between them.
Robert lowered his voice.
"You're turning this into something bigger than it is."
Emily stared back.
"Maybe because nobody knows what it is."
Robert's phone vibrated.
He glanced down.
Maya saw the screen.
No contact name.
Only a message.
Is she symptomatic?
Robert immediately locked the phone.
Maya's blood went cold.
Emily didn't notice.
Robert slipped the device into his pocket.
"I have a meeting."
Their mother laughed bitterly.
"Of course you do."
Robert looked at Maya.
For the briefest moment, guilt appeared on his face.
Then he left.
Emily watched him go.
Maya whispered, "Mom?"
"Yeah?"
"What happened when I was a baby?"
Emily turned.
"What do you mean?"
"Was I ever in the hospital?"
Emily thought.
"A few times for normal baby things."
"Anything serious?"
"No."
Maya hesitated.
"Did Dad ever take me somewhere without you?"
Emily's expression changed.
"Why are you asking?"
Maya looked toward the door Robert had just disappeared through.
She suddenly knew something was wrong.
May you like
Not with her stomach.
With her history.
