Page 14 of A Castle in the Sky: Fern & Connor
The colour drained from his face. "What did she—"
"She said you asked her to get an abortion when she was pregnant with Jacob." Her voice was calm, but her hands shook.
He hesitated, then nodded once. "Yes, I did."
For a moment, she couldn't breathe. "And when she refused... did you abandon her?"
Connor looked smaller than she had ever seen him, his big frame slumped, his eyes dull. "Yes."
Her voice came out as a whisper. "Is Jacob yours?"
He didn't speak, but the silence answered for him.
"You bastard," she said, the words tearing free. "You absolutebastard."
Her open palm struck his chest once, twice. He didn't stop her. On the third, he caught her wrists gently, holding her still.
"I don't know if Jacob is mine," he said roughly. "I don't know because—"
"I don't care," she snapped, pulling free. "You've been lying to me all this time. You're a bloody liar."
"Fern—"
"We don't want you. Coral and I—we don't need you. They can have you. I want nothing more to do with you."
She turned toward the hospital, and he followed, desperate. "Please wait—"
She rounded on him. "How could you tell her I was considering an abortion? How could you betray me like that?"
"I didn't," he said, voice breaking.
"Liar!" she shouted, the sound ringing out across the car park. A few people turned to look, then quickly turned away.
"I would have done anything," he said. "Anything to keep you from doing that. I'm sorry. I should have told you everything."
Her voice was flat, drained of anger. "Too late, Connor. So very late. I thought I was ready for this but I am not."
Her phone buzzed in her pocket with a message from her father:Are you at the hospital?
She swallowed and said quietly, "Dad's coming. I will let you know if anything changes. That is, if you still want to know."
She walked away before he could answer.
He stood there, watching her cross back through the automatic doors, the glass swallowing her reflection. His mouth moved soundlessly for a moment before the words finally came, too quiet for anyone to hear.
"I love you," he whispered. "I never lied about that."
Chapter 10
The ward had gone quiet for the night, monitors murmured and the corridor lights had dimmed to amber.
Earlier that evening, Dr. Gopalswami akaJimhad come by to explain the plan. "We'll do the procedure tomorrow morning," he said gently. "Keep her fasted after midnight—just sips of water if she needs them."
Fern had nodded, trying to focus on the details, on something practical. Coral was a fussy eater anyway, so keeping her fasted wouldn't be hard. She could almost hear the doctor's careful phrasing echoing still:It will be quick. We'll keep her comfortable. You'll go in with her to the anaesthetic room and be with her when she wakes up in recovery.
Now, as the hospital settled around them, Fern sat by the bed scrolling through her phone. Connor had sent a stream of messages—apologies, explanations, fragments of sentences that blurred into one another. She didn't open any of them. She just typed a short reply.
Keep your phone on tomorrow. They're taking her for surgery at nine.
