Chapter 11:
Taylor had tried everything he knew to convince his parents to allow him to miss today's performance. He couldn't tell them, though, about Teresa. At 9 o'clock in the morning, they left the hotel to go to the promotional appearance scheduled on some talk show. Taylor had done the calculations. Right now, Teresa would be going to the clinic. It was 4 o'clock in Vienna.

He had made up his mind; if he killed their baby, it was then her problem. Taylor couldn't stop her from making that decision. That was her choice, she would live with the consequences. Although he still felt sluggish, he didn't try to dwell on his loss while they recorded the appearance that would air on TV in a few days. Afterwards, he pushed it to the back of his mind. He would mourn his loss later. For now, he had to at least seem like Taylor as usual.


Teresa followed a nurse down the narrow hall. Her mother had stayed in the waiting room. She felt scared and alone here. Taylor hadn't come. Oh, God, was this possible? Was she going to do this? The nurse sat her down in a room. In German, she said, "Watch this video. I'll be back in about 15 minutes. It's about the process of abortion."

Then, the nurse turned on the video and allowed Teresa to watch it. As the video passed, Teresa felt herself becoming sick. Is this what happened? Is this what they did? No… That is how they take the baby's life? Teresa got up and walked out before the nurse even came back. She found her mother in the waiting room. She whispered, "I can't do this."

Her mother nodded, and told the receptionist that she was taking her daughter home; that her daughter wouldn't be going through with the procedure after all. Teresa cried all the way back to their apartment. When they got inside, Teresa went to her room. Her mother looked to see if anyone had left a message on the machine. One. She checked it.

"Hello, Rosalie. It's me, Darwin," a male voice said. Mrs. Wilcombe recognized it as the voice of her boss. "You're request went through. We've got you a transfer back to New York. You'll be released from Vienna in two weeks. We wish you and your daughter the best of luck…"

Rosalie sighed with relief. Thank God.

They would be going home, after all.

End of Part One