Cold Crab, Cold Heart

Synopsis

On Thanksgiving night, my morning sickness had my stomach churning with acid, but all I wanted was the steamed crab from the Crab Shack, twenty kilometers away. My boyfriend, Ryan Carter, said he'd go get it. He took three buses, got caught in the rain, and didn't make it back until eleven at night. But when he handed me the bag, all that was left inside were a few crab legs and a pile of broken shells. He said, "I ran into Emma on the way. She just got her heart broken and was crying so hard she couldn't breathe, so I stayed and had a few with her. "You're pregnant. You shouldn't be eating so much food anyway. Don't be so unreasonable." Before I could say a word, Emma's social media post popped up. In the photo, a full plate of shelled crab roe and crab meat sat in front of her. The caption read: [He said I shouldn't spend Thanksgiving alone and sad, even if it meant crossing half the city.] So those three bus rides were never for me. I rushed to the bathroom and threw up until my vision went dark. When I looked up, bracing myself against the sink, the face in the mirror was a joke. Back at the dorm, I opened the hospital app and tapped on the abortion appointment.