CHAPTER 5: THE HEARTBEAT OF SILENCE

CHAPTER 5: THE HEARTBEAT OF SILENCE

Pia's Point of View

It happened in a moment.

One second I was pouring tea, humming some random tune while Rhea read a magazine nearby. Next, the world blurred. The cup slipped from my hands, crashing into pieces on the floor, and the sound of shattering china echoed before everything else fell away.

Darkness folded in, soft and sudden.

---

I woke up to the scent of antiseptic and lavender. The sheets beneath me were clean, tucked tightly like a hospital bed—but I was home. My room. The curtains fluttered slightly from the open window, and someone had placed a warm compress on my forehead.

I blinked.

Then blinked again.

"Pia?" The voice was soft, tentative.

I turned slowly, my head throbbing. Rhea was sitting by the edge of the bed, her face unusually pale, fingers fiddling with the edge of her dupatta.

"Ma?" My voice came out rough. "What… what happened?"

She gave me a tight-lipped smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "You fainted, sweetheart. I was right there. Caught you before you hit the floor."

My brows furrowed. "I don't usually faint."

"I know." She looked down at her hands. "Which is why I checked your vitals. Then called my junior. She came home to run some quick tests."

Tests?

I sat up straighter, though my body felt oddly lightheaded. "Is something wrong?"

There was a long pause. Too long.

"Ma," I said firmly, "you're scaring me. What's going on?"

She inhaled deeply. "Pia… you're pregnant."

Silence pressed in around me, heavy and thick. The words floated in the air between us, almost unreal.

Pregnant.

I stared at her. "Are you sure?"

"The test was positive. Twice. We're still waiting on the blood results, but there's no doubt."

Pregnant.

It felt like the word echoed off the walls and landed somewhere in my stomach like a stone. But it wasn't joy or panic I felt—not yet. It was confusion.

I placed a hand unconsciously over my lower abdomen, as if hoping for some sign, some confirmation from my own body.

"I didn't… I mean, I don't feel different," I whispered.

"That's normal," Rhea said gently. "It's very early."

Her hand reached out to cover mine. Her touch was warm, grounding—but her eyes. Her eyes were unreadable. Something flickered there. Something she didn't say.

"You don't look happy," I said before I could stop myself.

She blinked. "What? No, no—it's not that. I'm just surprised. You fainted, Pia. It was sudden."

"But that's not it," I pressed, tilting my head. "There's something else. You're holding back."

She looked away. "I didn't want to overwhelm you. You've only just woken up."

I studied her face. "Please be honest with me."

She stood up and walked to the window. Her fingers gripped the edge of the curtain as she stared out at the street below.

"It's just…" she began, voice quieter, "You're already a few weeks in."

My heartbeat quickened. "So?"

"You said you hadn't felt anything different. No fatigue, no nausea, no mood swings. And yes, some women don't. But given your health history, I… I just didn't expect it to be this far along without any symptoms."

I frowned. "My health history?"

She turned back, as if realizing she'd said too much. "I mean… I mean just in general. You've always been sensitive to hormonal changes, haven't you?"

"Yes, but—how do you know that?"

Rhea opened her mouth, then closed it. Her expression faltered just a little.

My heart thudded.

"Ma?" I said slowly. "What's going on?"

She walked back and sat beside me, placing a hand on mine again. "Pia, I don't want to stress you. Truly. It's just… when I saw the symptoms weren't showing, and the test came back positive, I panicked a little. It brought back memories from when I was pregnant with Arjun. I had complications early on too. So I called the doctor not just for confirmation, but to be sure you were safe."

I relaxed slightly at that. That made sense. Still, the tension in her voice hadn't fully gone away.

"So everything's okay?" I asked. "I mean… physically?"

"We won't know until the full results come tomorrow," she said honestly. "But you seem stable now. Just need rest."

I lay back down, staring at the ceiling.

Pregnant.

The word still didn't sit neatly inside me. Like I needed more time to try it on. Feel how it settled in my skin.

"I didn't think I'd be this unsure," I murmured aloud.

Maa's voice was gentle. "You don't have to feel one way or another right now. It's a lot. It's okay to take time."

I turned my face toward her. "Did you feel this way with Arjun?"

She chuckled lightly. "I was terrified. Overwhelmed. Then, guilty for not being happy enough. It took me a while to accept it—before I began to love the idea of him, not just the fact of him."

I let that sink in.

Then I asked the question that had been forming at the edge of my mind.

"How far along do you think I am?"

She hesitated.

And there it was again. That flicker. That pause was too long.

"Ma?"

Her voice dropped. "Three to four weeks… maybe more."

I sat up, startled. "That's impossible. We've only been married a month."

Rhea froze.

The air in the room shifted. A weight settled on my chest.

"What do you mean more?" I asked again, slower this time.

"It's just an estimate," she said quickly. "Could be off by a few days. We'll wait for the scan. Don't overthink it, Pia."

But I was already thinking. My mind was moving in directions I couldn't stop.

Had I miscalculated something? Could it really have been before the wedding? No… no, Arjun and I had only been physically intimate after that.

Unless…

Unless the tests were wrong. Or something else was at play.

"Ma," I whispered, "are you sure there's nothing I should know?"

She squeezed my hand. "Pia. Please. Trust me. Let's wait for the results, hmm? Then we'll sit down with the doctor and talk everything through."

I nodded numbly.

But I didn't feel reassured.

Because I had never seen Maa look like this before—uncertain. Guarded.

---

Hours later, Arjun returned home, eyes wide with worry the moment he saw me sitting up in bed.

"Pia! Are you okay? Ma messaged me but didn't say much—just that you fainted!"

I reached for his hand. "I'm okay. I'm just… a little overwhelmed."

He sat beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "Talk to me."

"I'm pregnant."

He blinked. "You're what?"

I saw the exact moment the shock melted into stunned joy.

But I didn't mirror his expression. Not yet.

"I'm just… processing," I said softly. "It's a lot."

He cupped my face. "We'll go through it together. Every step."

And I believed him.

But in the corner of the room, I caught Maa watching us with something behind her eyes that I couldn't quite name.

And a voice inside me whispered: Not everything has been said.

Not yet.

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