Chapter 313
CHAPTER 2
Winter brought the slow season to Johnson’s Feed & Supply. The store was nearly empty most days, and today had been no different. Andrea had seen only one customer – Mrs. Kline, the sweet old lady down the street, who’d picked up some calendula seeds for her garden.
Andrea worked the register, her paycheck barely above minimum wage. With business so slow, the part–timer they usually hired had been let go, which meant all the extra work had fallen on her. And though she was grateful to still have a job while seven months pregnant, the exhaustion was becoming unbearable. The simple act of walking the aisles, talking to customers, and cleaning the constant spills of soil and feed felt like moving mountains.
By the time the second customers of the day walked in, Andrea was so tired she could feel it deep in her bones. A young couple entered, their voices carrying softly as they strolled through the store.
“Tulips would be nice. They’re in season,” the girl suggested with a hopeful smile.
“You could buy $500 worth of those tropical orchids,” the boy muttered, “and I’d still bet your mom would look at me like I’m not worth the dirt on her
shoes.”
“She’s just… hard to please,” the girl sighed. “But you could at least try. Make an effort.”
“All I’ve been doing since the start is trying,” he snapped back. “This dinner’s just gonna make it worse.”
Their bickering quieted as they approached the counter. “We’d like some tulip saplings, please,” the girl said politely.
Andrea nodded, her body feeling heavier with every movement. “Just a second. I’ll get them for you.”
But as she stood, everything shifted. The world tilted. Her vision blurred, then darkened, and then flickered back to light. She tried to steady herself, her hands grasping at the air, reaching for something–anything—to hold onto. But there was nothing.
The ground rushed up to meet her.
She heard distant voices – panicked, worried
but they were fading fast. The darkness was
pulling her under.
“Andrea! Are you okay?” The girl’s voice was frantic, but Andrea couldn’t answer. Could barely breathe..
“Call 911!” the boy shouted, “She’s pregnant–she–God, she’s not waking up!”
As the cold floor pressed against her cheek, Andrea slipped fully into the blackness, the sound of their panic the last thing she heard.
Andrea woke to the sterile scent of antiseptic and the soft, rhythmic beeping of a monitor. The fluorescent lights above her buzzed faintly, making her squint as she tried to adjust to the brightness. A strict–looking nurse stood beside her, fixing the IV line in her arm, her expression unreadable–though Andrea swore she caught the flicker of something like irritation.
Realizing her patient was awake, the nurse let out a sigh and turned on her heel, heading briskly toward the hallway. “Doctor Reid, she called out, her voice clipped.
Doctor Samuel Reid.
Andrea knew that name, knew the man. He had been her gynecologist since the start of her pregnancy, a rare kindness in her life. When he’d learned she
3:30 pm PPPP
Chapter 313
was pregnant and had no real place to stay, he had helped her find the small, run–down apartment she now called home–a place she could afford, even on her meager salary. He was a good man. A kind man.
And yet, when he walked into the room now, his usual warm demeanor was clouded with something else. Concern. No–fear.
“How are you feeling, Andrea?” His voice was calm, measured. But she could hear the underlying tension.
Something was wrong.
Andrea’s breath hitched, her mind racing, grasping for the last thing she remembered. The store. She had been working. The couple buying tulips. The
dizziness. The darkness,
Panic surged through her.
“Oh my God–the store! Doctor, I left it open! It’s been unattended all this time. I have to-” She tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through her skull, and her vision blurred at the edges.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
