Pain shot through my hands as they scraped against the rough edges, and my heart raced with panic. Instinctively, I curled in, shielding my belly. Thankfully, I managed to protect it just in time.
Behind me, the triumphant, gleeful laughter of a little boy echoed through the room.
Clutching my stomach, I struggled to steady myself and get back on my feet.
Right away, David rushed over in concern. He turned to his nephew, Ryan, and snapped, “What the hell are you doing? Don’t you know your aunt is pregnant?”
Ryan’s chubby face twisted into a smug grin, his squinty eyes narrowing until they nearly disappeared.
“I know. I did it on purpose,” he said, his tone so casual it made my blood boil.
David froze, clearly caught off guard by the boy’s brazen confession.
When he finally spoke, his voice was hesitant and weak, like he didn’t know how to handle the situation. “What you did is dangerous, Ryan. What if you hurt her? You can’t do that again, okay?”
But Ryan wasn’t done. He shrugged and added, “I read in a book that if a pregnant woman falls, she’ll have a miscarriage. I wanted to see if Elaine would have one.”