2. The Report

Marina’s mind drifted to the night before. The loud groans and moans that threatened to deafen her ears as her husband banged two different women on their matrimonial bed.

She blinked away the sting of her tears.

She had cried herself to sleep the night before, and right now, she was there in the doctor’s office, crying again, oblivious to the fate that awaited her once the results of her fertility tests were delivered to her today.

The doctor’s entrance jolted her out of her reverie. She quickly wiped her eyes and feigned a small smile.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Mrs. Carter.” The doctor, an elderly man in a crisp white lab coat, settled into his armchair. His face held no form of excitement. “The test results are out.”

Marina’s heart pounded as the doctor handed her the paper. She hesitated before gathering the courage to take it from him. Her hands were still shaky. She was unable to bring herself to read through the report.

He decided to help her when she was stalling. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Carter.” She sensed danger looming from his first words, but she let him say more before concluding. “We ran the tests more than once to be sure.”

“And what does… it say?” Her chest tightened. The words were too hard to utter.

“Your hormone levels and scan results indicate premature ovarian failure.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Ruffling the paper in her hand, she breathed hard, her eyes on the doctor. Her palms had turned clammy.

“What it means is that…” his voice softened. “It’s going to be very difficult for you to conceive naturally.” He dropped the news, slashing the whole of her insides.

Sharp, uncontrollable pain coursed through her. Hard and fast. She wanted to halt it, but couldn’t pinpoint where it hurt. The whole of her body trembled. She had been the problem in their five years of marriage. She had been the one hindering them from having a child.

She had…

“That’s not the end of the world, Mrs. Carter.”

But it was the end of her own world. 

“There are other options for having children, Mrs. Carter.” The doctor encouraged, but she had stopped listening.

“You can try artificial methods like In Vitro Fertilization, using an egg donor, or even consider adoption.”

“Thank you, doctor.” She lifted herself to her feet, rumpling the sheet in her hands. She wanted to toss it at the doctor, but he wasn’t the cause of her predicament.

“Mrs. Carter,” he called again, but by then, she was out of the office, heading towards no destination with two things on her mind.

Her life was ruined, and her marriage to Collin Carter was over.

-

After aimlessly wandering the streets, her thoughts heavy with possible solutions they could adopt to fix her problem, she went back home with the plan to talk her husband into having an assisted conception. He could afford it.

She twisted her hand against the doorknob, slowing down to practice her approach for the last time before she faced Collin. She brazened up, pushed the door open, and walked into the house.

He was right there in the living room, by the window, perched on his favorite lounge chair. Apprehension set in with each step she took towards him. Upon seeing her, he reached for his glass of wine, returning his gaze to the laptop, not acknowledging her presence.

Marina swallowed hard. This wasn’t going to be easy. His signature, masculine scent enveloped her the moment she came closer—the one she had specially handpicked for him years ago, and he still hadn’t changed it.

That gave her the hope she yearned for. A part of her was still with him, and they could talk this situation through if she tried harder. She loved him so much. He used to feel the same way, too.

“I got the reports.” She coughed out, stretching out the paper.

Collin spared her a glance. His eyes darkened when he glimpsed the paper in her hand. He had monitored the whole process. He even got the reports from the doctor before she found out about it.

“There will be no need for this.” He muttered.

Regret slammed him as his eyes ogled her.  His family was right all along. He should have listened when they told him getting married to her would be a lifetime mistake.

“I…”

“You are barren.” He chuckled, flinging the paper away from his front. “What’s good about the news you want to share with me?” He yelled, causing her to flinch in fear. “I knew it. I knew I had married the wrong woman. Oh, I was so stupid to have been blinded by love.”

He was up on his feet, pacing the room. She tried to talk, but nothing came to mind.

“Collin, please. The doctor suggested other ways we can have children of our own.” Tears had formed in her eyes. She knew convincing him would be herculean but she wouldn’t give up without trying so hard.

“You have no fucking womb, woman.” He barked, kicking the chair with his feet. 

“I do. I can carry a child.” She stood there, praying for him to change his mind. She couldn’t lose her marriage now.

“Why the fuck would you have a womb when you were busy hooking up with those college boys before I decided to pity you and get married to you?”

Her big brown eyes popped with shock. She narrowed her gaze at him, wondering if he had suddenly forgotten that he was the man who took her virginity.

She moved closer to him, reaching for warmth and comfort. She was broken. Too weak. She needed his support, but he yanked himself out of her grip.

“Collin, please.”

“You do nothing for me.” He lashed out again, and she backed off, startled. “All you do is sit at home and do nothing, and now you want me to waste my money on an artificial conception method that would likely fail?”

“It’s not my fault you wouldn’t let me work.”

Collin scoffed, teeth clenched. “You’re just a lazy woman, Marina. So lazy, your womb cannot carry a child.” His eyes burned into hers, full of disdain. “That’s the least you could do for me as a wife. That was all I wanted from you, but even that, you could not give.”

Tears pricked her eyes. She wasn’t lazy. She was a sophomore juggling multiple jobs as a barista in a bar and a delivery agent before he met her. She would have gotten a college degree if he hadn’t coerced her into marriage. Her life and education ended after the marriage.

She had given this her all. She had pleased him, served him with her life. She didn’t deserve to be treated like this.

“But this is your end because this marriage is well over, Marina.”

Her shoulders slumped, every fiber of her body aching. Right before her very eyes, her worst fear happened.

Collin was ending the marriage.