Trigger Warner: Medical Horror Follows
Tony always said he was unlucky, but the truth was uglier than that. Luck had nothing to do with it. He was careless. He was selfish. He mistook charm for character and appetite for love. By twenty-three, he had already left behind unpaid debts, bruised friendships, and a string of apologies spoken only when cornered. Then he got Isabella Marino pregnant, and every mistake he had ever made suddenly gathered itself into one towering consequence.
When Isabella told him, she was trembling.
“We can figure it out,” she said, eyes shining with fear and hope in equal measure.
Tony had stared at the floor. He had imagined diapers, rent, overtime shifts, judgmental stares from his own parents, the suffocating weight of becoming a man before he had finished pretending to be a boy.
“I need time,” he said.
What he meant was: “I want to run.”
