It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover (z-lib.org).epub

but then he stopped.”
“If you choose to press charges, you’ll need—”
“I don’t want the exam,” I say again, my voice firm.
There’s a knock on the door and a doctor enters, sparing me from
more pleading looks from Atlas. The nurse gives the doctor a brief
rundown of my injuries. She then steps aside as he examines my head and
shoulder. He flashes a light into both of my eyes. He looks down at the
paperwork again and says, “I’d like to rule out a concussion, but given
your situation, I don’t want to administer a CT. We’d like to keep you for
observation, instead.”
“Why don’t you want to administer a CT?” I ask him.
The doctor stands up. “We don’t like to perform X-rays on pregnant
women unless it’s vital. We’ll monitor you for complications and if there
are no further concerns, you’ll be free to go.”
I don’t hear anything beyond that.
Nothing.
The pressure begins to build in my head. My heart. My stomach. I grip
the edges of the exam table I’m sitting on and I stare at the floor until they
both leave the room.
When the door closes behind them, I sit, suspended in frozen silence. I
see Atlas move closer. His feet are almost touching mine. His fingers brush
lightly over my back. “Did you know?”
I release a quick breath, and then drag in more air. I start shaking my
head, and when his arms come down around me, I cry harder than I knew
my body was even capable of. He holds me the entire time I cry. He holds
me through my hatred.
I did this to myself.
I allowed this to happen to me.
I am my mother.
“I want to leave,” I whisper.
Atlas pulls back. “They want to monitor you, Lily. I think you should
stay.”
I look up at him and shake my head. “I need to get out of here. Please. I
want to leave.”
He nods and helps me back into my shoes. He pulls off his jacket and
wraps it around me, then we walk out of the hospital without anyone
noticing.