Fic: Thrown Together, Ripped Apart - Ch. 5
Title: Thrown Together, Ripped Apart
Author: starrdust411
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: Matt/Mohinder
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Back in India, Mohinder tries to get his life back together. (Word Count: 3,087)
Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes.
Warnings: Slash, Mpreg, Angst, AU
Chapter 1| Chapter 2| Chapter 3| Chapter 4
Chapter 5
They went into the kitchen and talked until the sun came up. The kitchen had shifted from a gloomy blue gray to a warm golden hue in no time at all, yet the struggle to think of just what to say made Mohinder feel as if they had been sitting across from each other discussing this for days. His throat felt tight, dry as he stared down at the smooth table top, his eyes focused on his hands as he waited for a response from the woman. Every now and again Mohinder would turn and throw a glance over his shoulder to make sure that Molly didn't wander in and interrupt them. It was hard enough explaining everything to his mother; he wasn't ready to have this same conversation with her as well.
His mother had been quiet for far too long. She merely sat in muted silence at the kitchen table, clutching her now cold cup of tea in her hands. She had asked him questions at first, interrupting him every so often with a puzzled "how" or "why", but her silence now made him jump to the very worst conclusions.
"Who is the father?" she asked after what felt like an eternity of deafening silence.
"Matt Parkman," he said automatically, before adding a sheepish, "I think."
The woman blinked, raising her head to give him a confused look. "You think?" she repeated.
His face flushed as he glanced down the hall towards the bedrooms. There was still no sign of Molly, but he reminded himself that it was still early and they were talking quite softly. There was no reason for her to be awake at this hour.
"It's complicated," Mohinder whispered, keeping his eyes lowered and trained on his hands jittering nervously against the table. "But there's a possibility that it might be someone else."
"Oh Mohinder," she breathed. He cringed at that too familiar tone. It was the tone of voice she always used whenever she was disappointed in him. It was a rare occurrence, but it still had the right effect. "Who is he, this other man?"
"That I cannot tell you," he answered knowing that he was only adding to his shame. Yet the idea of telling her made him feel sick inside. "I'm still far too ashamed of it to even admit it to myself."
His mother nodded slowly before slipping into another long, thoughtful silence. The kitchen suddenly felt too quiet and too empty. It was as if a vast cavern had opened up between them.
"I'm so sorry about all of this," he whispered regretfully, refusing to meet her gaze. "I've become such an awful person lately. You must be so ashamed of me."
He stiffened slightly as his mother's small hand went to rest on top of his. "I could never be ashamed of you," she whispered, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm just... worried. Experimenting on yourself? What would possess you to do such a thing?"
Mohinder shook shamefully his head as he remembered the night that he had injected himself with the formula. It wasn't scientific curiosity that had driven him to jam the needle into his vein; it was the desire to be special, the yearning to no longer be a victim. Sylar's attack had been too fresh in his mind. The terror in Molly's eyes and the inability to do anything had been so painfully frustrating. It was maddening that even while the serial killer was powerless he had been able to gain the upper hand on him.
Looking back on it now, his actions seemed painfully foolish. Even though there had been no way of foreseeing the horrendous results that the broken formula would inflict upon him, it was still a terrible idea to inject himself with something without studying it first. He was still too embarrassed over the whole thing to even bring himself to talk about it.
Fortunately his mother seemed to sense his discomfort and changed the subject. "Have you been to a doctor?" she asked.
"No," he admitted. "How can I? If I were to walk into a hospital and tell them that I was..." He stopped, frowning wearily as the words stuck to his throat. It was still impossibly hard to name his condition. He briefly wondered if it would ever get any easier for him to say that he was with child. "They'd lock me up in a padded cell for sure."
"I realize that Mohinder, but you must do something," his mother said. "After all, this baby still needs medical attention. You need to get an ultra sound to see how far along you are, when you are due, and make sure that the child is healthy."
"I know," he sighed, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm. "But how?"
His mother frowned, considering their options carefully. "Do you remember Dr. Patel?" she asked suddenly.
"The surgeon?"
She nodded. "He and your father were good friends back in university. Perhaps he could help us with your situation."
He chuckled weakly. "Mother, I don't exactly need to have surgery right now."
"Of course. I know that," she chided. "But he is someone that we can trust. Someone that we know will be discreet and help to keep our secret."
Mohinder was silent as he thought about his mother's suggestion. She was right. Dr. Patel may be their best option at the moment, but the idea of telling yet another person that he was carrying a child made his skin drain of color. The geneticist had barely been able to bring himself to tell Matt, to tell his own mother, about his condition, how on earth was he supposed to tell a man he barely knew?
His mother's grip on his hand drew him out of his dark musings and back to the matter before them. "Mohinder, I know that you're embarrassed about all of this, but if you are pregnant then the baby you are carrying is my grandchild. And as a grandmother I need to know for certain that this baby is healthy."
Mohinder nodded, his free hand sliding off the table to rest on his stomach. He didn't know anything about this baby. He didn't know how old it was, how it was developing, or even if there were any possible deformities, and because of all that he felt sick inside whenever his thoughts turned to this child. He needed to take that worry away. He absolutely needed to know that this child was alright so that he could stop panicking and prepare his heart to love his baby.
"You're right mother," he said finally. "The baby's health is the most important thing and as the father it's my duty to make sure that everything is right."
She smiled, patting his hand reassuringly. "I'm so glad you agree," she said. "Now what do you plan to tell Molly?"
Mohinder groaned as his head hit the table with an audible thud. "Do we have to tell Molly right now?" he groused. "Can't we just wait until the baby comes and have it tell her?"
"Mohinder!"
He gave a strained laugh as he sat up straight, rubbing his forehead wearily. "I'm kidding of course," he muttered. "But... I'm not ready to have this conversation with her. She's only a child after all. How could she understand a situation like this?"
"She's more mature than you give her credit for," his mother insisted. "This world has already forced her to grow up so quickly. Talk to her and she will surprise you." He nodded just as his mother leaned in, her grip tightening on his hand. "Of course, perhaps you should leave out the part about Matt Parkman possibly not being the father."
"Yes, of course. But perhaps I should wait until after I go to the doctor."
His mother frowned, shaking her head vigorously at his suggestion. "No. She is a part of this family and has a right to know exactly what's going on. I want you to tell her right away, after breakfast."
He sighed, knowing that there was no way in escaping this. "Of course. You're right mother."
-+-+-+-
Molly's reaction to his announcement wasn't that different from his mother's; at first there were a few interjected questions, before a long thoughtful silence settled between the two. They sat side by side on Molly's bed (her room had once been his as a child, but Molly had completely transformed the space into her own private hideaway) as Mohinder waited for her to react. The expression on her face was completely unreadable as she gripped the edge of her sheets tightly in her trembling hands.
"Are you alright, Molly?" Mohinder asked gently. He didn't want to force her into reacting before her emotions had been properly sorted out, but the geneticist was eager to find out exactly how she felt. He feared that she would jump to all the wrong conclusions and wanted to do his best to divert her from that path as soon as possible.
"You and Matt are having a baby," she whispered. Her voice was small and weak as he caught the unmistakable glimmer of tears welling up in her eyes. "A real baby between the two of you. That's... that's huge."
"Molly," he began soothingly as the girl began wiping her eyes to erase the evidence of her obvious distress. "I want you to know that just because Matt and I are having a baby it doesn't mean we'll love you any less. You'll always be our little girl."
"Yeah, until you have your own real little girl," she said bitterly. "Or boy."
Mohinder frowned, his gut twisting miserably at her words. He hadn't expected Molly react this way and it made him feel absolutely sick inside to think that the child would even imagine that they would want to replace her. Yet at the same time, Mohinder supposed he should have seen it coming. Molly had been an only child her entire life and suddenly being presented with the idea of sharing her newly adopted parents with a baby was no doubt a frightening concept.
He sighed as he wrapped his arms around the girl and pulled her onto his lap. "Molly, I'm not going to lie to you," he told her carefully, "things are going to be different when the baby comes." He paused, reconsidering his words. "Things are most likely going to be different before the baby comes. I'm going to change. I'm going to get bigger, moodier, and I'll have less energy. And Matt and I are probably going to have to pay more attention to the baby, only because it'll be small and defenseless. But Molly, I promise you that one thing that will never change is how we feel about you." Silent tears continued to pour from Molly's eyes, streaking her pale cheeks, but Mohinder wiped them away with the pad of his thumb. "We'll always love you Molly."
She whimpered as she wrapped her thin arms around Mohinder and buried her face into his chest. "I just... I don't want things to change," she cried. "I hate when things change."
"I know sweetheart," he whispered, clutching her small frame tightly against him. "I know that a lot of times change can be hard and... scary." He swallowed against those words. It was hard to blame the girl for being so hesitant at the prospect of change. Nearly all the major changes in her young life had not only been dramatic, they'd been filled with bloodshed and tears. "But it's not always bad. After all, you're going to be a big sister soon and this baby is going to need you, too. Don't you think that it'll be fun to have someone to teach and protect and love?"
"I guess," Molly sniffed. Her words were still wavering, but Mohinder could tell that the tears had stopped. "Does... does that mean I have to change diapers?"
Mohinder laughed as he gave the top of her head a quick kiss. "We'll talk about that later."
-+-+-+-
Mohinder grimaced as he spat out the rest of his water into the sink. These constant fits of nausea were really starting to get to him. The taste of bile seemed to be permanently attached to his tongue and the only thing he seemed to be able to stomach was water and plain crackers. He groaned, turning the water on and splashing a few handfuls against his face. The cold water sent a shiver down his spine and served as a refreshing shock. He proceeded to towel his face dry before stepping out into the hall.
Almost as soon as he left the bathroom Mohinder found his mother approaching him with a small square of paper in her hands.
"How did Molly take the news?" she asked when she was by his side. He could tell by worry in her tone that she had wanted to talk to him about it for a while.
"As well as you would expect, I suppose," Mohinder shrugged.
He couldn't say whether or not he had handled the situation well. Looking back, he supposed should have put a bit more thought into what he was going to say instead of just blurting it out, but it was done now and he did feel a bit better knowing that he didn't have to walk around with the burden of this secret on his shoulders.
On the other hand, he was worried about poor Molly. It must have come as a great shock hearing that you would soon have a younger brother or sister after spending years without any siblings and months believing that such a possibility was unthinkable.
"I don't think she's happy about it, being a big sister that is," he sighed. "She's always been the only one, the only child, and having to share Matt and me with a baby is going to be hard." He smiled ruefully. "She thinks that we're going to forget all about her once the baby is born."
"She's just feeling a bit jealous, but it's natural," his mother assured him. "Give her some time and she'll come around to the idea."
Mohinder nodded slowly, suddenly wondering if his parents had had a similar conversation with Shanti before he had been born. Had his own sister reacted in the same way to the news of a new baby? He frowned, dismissing the stray thought. Now was not the time to dwell on that subject.
"I hope you're right. I already feel guilty enough as it is."
"You have no reason to feel guilty," his mother told him. "This pregnancy was unplanned. You didn't even know that having a baby was a possibility."
"That still doesn't change the fact that it's happening and that..." He stopped himself, realizing that his tone was a bit too hostile, too loud. "It doesn't change the fact that I cheated on Matt," he whispered, unable to hide the disgust he still felt for himself whenever he admitted to that fact. "And this baby may not be his."
"But you were honest with him about that," she whispered back, guiding Mohinder further down the hall and even further away from Molly's room. "You told him once you found out that there was a possibility that it wasn't his, didn't you?"
He nodded slowly. It was still difficult to wrap his head around how they had left everything. One minute he was telling Matt that he was pregnant, the next he was being sent back to India for what Matt insisted was his own good, but Mohinder couldn't shake the feeling that he was simply being pushed away. He had hurt Matt deeply and he couldn't just expect the man to wake up the next day and just be fine with everything. Yet in spite of everything Matt had promised to be there and had said that he was willing to be a parent to this child.
Still Mohinder simply could dismiss the feeling that all this would change once the baby was born and a simple blood test showed that Matt was not the father. It could all change, Mohinder thought sadly, not having the heart to speak the words out loud.
"Here, take this," his mother said, handing him the square of paper she had been carrying. "It's Dr. Patel's business card."
Mohinder frowned, taking the offered card and turning it over in his hand. "Did you call him?" he asked, studying the phone number and address wearily.
"No. I want you to talk to him yourself," she told him. "After all, this is your baby. This is going to be the first of many doctor appointments."
"If I don't get sent straight to an asylum immediately after this one," he said bitterly.
"Don't think that way! Dr. Patel was a good friend of your father's. He knows all about his research and theories. If you just explain the situation-"
"He'll be sure to lock me up all the faster."
His mother frowned, swatting his arm in disapproval. "Stop that! If you keep thinking this way you will never work up the nerve to call him."
"I'm going to call him mother! I promise," Mohinder said, although he truly did not feel up to making the appointment.
It was hard to imagine anyone being able to believe his ridiculous claim, but the idea of someone believing him was somehow just as frightening. What if Dr. Patel wanted to study him, write up a report about his incredibly rare case? He could very well end up becoming a human guinea pig, a giant spectacle to be poked and prodded. The very thought was enough to make him feel sick inside.
I'm being overly paranoid, he thought wearily. Even if Dr. Patel was intrigued by his case, he knew that the surgeon was more trustworthy than his addled mind was giving him credit for. No doubt his experiences back in America still had him shaken, but he had to remind himself that there was no Company here, let alone a government hell bent on rounding up citizens and locking them up.
The feel of his mother's gentle hand resting on his arm pulled Mohinder out of his troubled musings and brought his mind back to the present. "Promise me you will make an appointment at by the end of this week."
Mohinder smiled, brushing her fingers with his own. "I promise."
Next Chapter
Author: starrdust411
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: Matt/Mohinder
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Back in India, Mohinder tries to get his life back together. (Word Count: 3,087)
Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes.
Warnings: Slash, Mpreg, Angst, AU
Chapter 1| Chapter 2| Chapter 3| Chapter 4
Chapter 5
They went into the kitchen and talked until the sun came up. The kitchen had shifted from a gloomy blue gray to a warm golden hue in no time at all, yet the struggle to think of just what to say made Mohinder feel as if they had been sitting across from each other discussing this for days. His throat felt tight, dry as he stared down at the smooth table top, his eyes focused on his hands as he waited for a response from the woman. Every now and again Mohinder would turn and throw a glance over his shoulder to make sure that Molly didn't wander in and interrupt them. It was hard enough explaining everything to his mother; he wasn't ready to have this same conversation with her as well.
His mother had been quiet for far too long. She merely sat in muted silence at the kitchen table, clutching her now cold cup of tea in her hands. She had asked him questions at first, interrupting him every so often with a puzzled "how" or "why", but her silence now made him jump to the very worst conclusions.
"Who is the father?" she asked after what felt like an eternity of deafening silence.
"Matt Parkman," he said automatically, before adding a sheepish, "I think."
The woman blinked, raising her head to give him a confused look. "You think?" she repeated.
His face flushed as he glanced down the hall towards the bedrooms. There was still no sign of Molly, but he reminded himself that it was still early and they were talking quite softly. There was no reason for her to be awake at this hour.
"It's complicated," Mohinder whispered, keeping his eyes lowered and trained on his hands jittering nervously against the table. "But there's a possibility that it might be someone else."
"Oh Mohinder," she breathed. He cringed at that too familiar tone. It was the tone of voice she always used whenever she was disappointed in him. It was a rare occurrence, but it still had the right effect. "Who is he, this other man?"
"That I cannot tell you," he answered knowing that he was only adding to his shame. Yet the idea of telling her made him feel sick inside. "I'm still far too ashamed of it to even admit it to myself."
His mother nodded slowly before slipping into another long, thoughtful silence. The kitchen suddenly felt too quiet and too empty. It was as if a vast cavern had opened up between them.
"I'm so sorry about all of this," he whispered regretfully, refusing to meet her gaze. "I've become such an awful person lately. You must be so ashamed of me."
He stiffened slightly as his mother's small hand went to rest on top of his. "I could never be ashamed of you," she whispered, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm just... worried. Experimenting on yourself? What would possess you to do such a thing?"
Mohinder shook shamefully his head as he remembered the night that he had injected himself with the formula. It wasn't scientific curiosity that had driven him to jam the needle into his vein; it was the desire to be special, the yearning to no longer be a victim. Sylar's attack had been too fresh in his mind. The terror in Molly's eyes and the inability to do anything had been so painfully frustrating. It was maddening that even while the serial killer was powerless he had been able to gain the upper hand on him.
Looking back on it now, his actions seemed painfully foolish. Even though there had been no way of foreseeing the horrendous results that the broken formula would inflict upon him, it was still a terrible idea to inject himself with something without studying it first. He was still too embarrassed over the whole thing to even bring himself to talk about it.
Fortunately his mother seemed to sense his discomfort and changed the subject. "Have you been to a doctor?" she asked.
"No," he admitted. "How can I? If I were to walk into a hospital and tell them that I was..." He stopped, frowning wearily as the words stuck to his throat. It was still impossibly hard to name his condition. He briefly wondered if it would ever get any easier for him to say that he was with child. "They'd lock me up in a padded cell for sure."
"I realize that Mohinder, but you must do something," his mother said. "After all, this baby still needs medical attention. You need to get an ultra sound to see how far along you are, when you are due, and make sure that the child is healthy."
"I know," he sighed, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm. "But how?"
His mother frowned, considering their options carefully. "Do you remember Dr. Patel?" she asked suddenly.
"The surgeon?"
She nodded. "He and your father were good friends back in university. Perhaps he could help us with your situation."
He chuckled weakly. "Mother, I don't exactly need to have surgery right now."
"Of course. I know that," she chided. "But he is someone that we can trust. Someone that we know will be discreet and help to keep our secret."
Mohinder was silent as he thought about his mother's suggestion. She was right. Dr. Patel may be their best option at the moment, but the idea of telling yet another person that he was carrying a child made his skin drain of color. The geneticist had barely been able to bring himself to tell Matt, to tell his own mother, about his condition, how on earth was he supposed to tell a man he barely knew?
His mother's grip on his hand drew him out of his dark musings and back to the matter before them. "Mohinder, I know that you're embarrassed about all of this, but if you are pregnant then the baby you are carrying is my grandchild. And as a grandmother I need to know for certain that this baby is healthy."
Mohinder nodded, his free hand sliding off the table to rest on his stomach. He didn't know anything about this baby. He didn't know how old it was, how it was developing, or even if there were any possible deformities, and because of all that he felt sick inside whenever his thoughts turned to this child. He needed to take that worry away. He absolutely needed to know that this child was alright so that he could stop panicking and prepare his heart to love his baby.
"You're right mother," he said finally. "The baby's health is the most important thing and as the father it's my duty to make sure that everything is right."
She smiled, patting his hand reassuringly. "I'm so glad you agree," she said. "Now what do you plan to tell Molly?"
Mohinder groaned as his head hit the table with an audible thud. "Do we have to tell Molly right now?" he groused. "Can't we just wait until the baby comes and have it tell her?"
"Mohinder!"
He gave a strained laugh as he sat up straight, rubbing his forehead wearily. "I'm kidding of course," he muttered. "But... I'm not ready to have this conversation with her. She's only a child after all. How could she understand a situation like this?"
"She's more mature than you give her credit for," his mother insisted. "This world has already forced her to grow up so quickly. Talk to her and she will surprise you." He nodded just as his mother leaned in, her grip tightening on his hand. "Of course, perhaps you should leave out the part about Matt Parkman possibly not being the father."
"Yes, of course. But perhaps I should wait until after I go to the doctor."
His mother frowned, shaking her head vigorously at his suggestion. "No. She is a part of this family and has a right to know exactly what's going on. I want you to tell her right away, after breakfast."
He sighed, knowing that there was no way in escaping this. "Of course. You're right mother."
-+-+-+-
Molly's reaction to his announcement wasn't that different from his mother's; at first there were a few interjected questions, before a long thoughtful silence settled between the two. They sat side by side on Molly's bed (her room had once been his as a child, but Molly had completely transformed the space into her own private hideaway) as Mohinder waited for her to react. The expression on her face was completely unreadable as she gripped the edge of her sheets tightly in her trembling hands.
"Are you alright, Molly?" Mohinder asked gently. He didn't want to force her into reacting before her emotions had been properly sorted out, but the geneticist was eager to find out exactly how she felt. He feared that she would jump to all the wrong conclusions and wanted to do his best to divert her from that path as soon as possible.
"You and Matt are having a baby," she whispered. Her voice was small and weak as he caught the unmistakable glimmer of tears welling up in her eyes. "A real baby between the two of you. That's... that's huge."
"Molly," he began soothingly as the girl began wiping her eyes to erase the evidence of her obvious distress. "I want you to know that just because Matt and I are having a baby it doesn't mean we'll love you any less. You'll always be our little girl."
"Yeah, until you have your own real little girl," she said bitterly. "Or boy."
Mohinder frowned, his gut twisting miserably at her words. He hadn't expected Molly react this way and it made him feel absolutely sick inside to think that the child would even imagine that they would want to replace her. Yet at the same time, Mohinder supposed he should have seen it coming. Molly had been an only child her entire life and suddenly being presented with the idea of sharing her newly adopted parents with a baby was no doubt a frightening concept.
He sighed as he wrapped his arms around the girl and pulled her onto his lap. "Molly, I'm not going to lie to you," he told her carefully, "things are going to be different when the baby comes." He paused, reconsidering his words. "Things are most likely going to be different before the baby comes. I'm going to change. I'm going to get bigger, moodier, and I'll have less energy. And Matt and I are probably going to have to pay more attention to the baby, only because it'll be small and defenseless. But Molly, I promise you that one thing that will never change is how we feel about you." Silent tears continued to pour from Molly's eyes, streaking her pale cheeks, but Mohinder wiped them away with the pad of his thumb. "We'll always love you Molly."
She whimpered as she wrapped her thin arms around Mohinder and buried her face into his chest. "I just... I don't want things to change," she cried. "I hate when things change."
"I know sweetheart," he whispered, clutching her small frame tightly against him. "I know that a lot of times change can be hard and... scary." He swallowed against those words. It was hard to blame the girl for being so hesitant at the prospect of change. Nearly all the major changes in her young life had not only been dramatic, they'd been filled with bloodshed and tears. "But it's not always bad. After all, you're going to be a big sister soon and this baby is going to need you, too. Don't you think that it'll be fun to have someone to teach and protect and love?"
"I guess," Molly sniffed. Her words were still wavering, but Mohinder could tell that the tears had stopped. "Does... does that mean I have to change diapers?"
Mohinder laughed as he gave the top of her head a quick kiss. "We'll talk about that later."
-+-+-+-
Mohinder grimaced as he spat out the rest of his water into the sink. These constant fits of nausea were really starting to get to him. The taste of bile seemed to be permanently attached to his tongue and the only thing he seemed to be able to stomach was water and plain crackers. He groaned, turning the water on and splashing a few handfuls against his face. The cold water sent a shiver down his spine and served as a refreshing shock. He proceeded to towel his face dry before stepping out into the hall.
Almost as soon as he left the bathroom Mohinder found his mother approaching him with a small square of paper in her hands.
"How did Molly take the news?" she asked when she was by his side. He could tell by worry in her tone that she had wanted to talk to him about it for a while.
"As well as you would expect, I suppose," Mohinder shrugged.
He couldn't say whether or not he had handled the situation well. Looking back, he supposed should have put a bit more thought into what he was going to say instead of just blurting it out, but it was done now and he did feel a bit better knowing that he didn't have to walk around with the burden of this secret on his shoulders.
On the other hand, he was worried about poor Molly. It must have come as a great shock hearing that you would soon have a younger brother or sister after spending years without any siblings and months believing that such a possibility was unthinkable.
"I don't think she's happy about it, being a big sister that is," he sighed. "She's always been the only one, the only child, and having to share Matt and me with a baby is going to be hard." He smiled ruefully. "She thinks that we're going to forget all about her once the baby is born."
"She's just feeling a bit jealous, but it's natural," his mother assured him. "Give her some time and she'll come around to the idea."
Mohinder nodded slowly, suddenly wondering if his parents had had a similar conversation with Shanti before he had been born. Had his own sister reacted in the same way to the news of a new baby? He frowned, dismissing the stray thought. Now was not the time to dwell on that subject.
"I hope you're right. I already feel guilty enough as it is."
"You have no reason to feel guilty," his mother told him. "This pregnancy was unplanned. You didn't even know that having a baby was a possibility."
"That still doesn't change the fact that it's happening and that..." He stopped himself, realizing that his tone was a bit too hostile, too loud. "It doesn't change the fact that I cheated on Matt," he whispered, unable to hide the disgust he still felt for himself whenever he admitted to that fact. "And this baby may not be his."
"But you were honest with him about that," she whispered back, guiding Mohinder further down the hall and even further away from Molly's room. "You told him once you found out that there was a possibility that it wasn't his, didn't you?"
He nodded slowly. It was still difficult to wrap his head around how they had left everything. One minute he was telling Matt that he was pregnant, the next he was being sent back to India for what Matt insisted was his own good, but Mohinder couldn't shake the feeling that he was simply being pushed away. He had hurt Matt deeply and he couldn't just expect the man to wake up the next day and just be fine with everything. Yet in spite of everything Matt had promised to be there and had said that he was willing to be a parent to this child.
Still Mohinder simply could dismiss the feeling that all this would change once the baby was born and a simple blood test showed that Matt was not the father. It could all change, Mohinder thought sadly, not having the heart to speak the words out loud.
"Here, take this," his mother said, handing him the square of paper she had been carrying. "It's Dr. Patel's business card."
Mohinder frowned, taking the offered card and turning it over in his hand. "Did you call him?" he asked, studying the phone number and address wearily.
"No. I want you to talk to him yourself," she told him. "After all, this is your baby. This is going to be the first of many doctor appointments."
"If I don't get sent straight to an asylum immediately after this one," he said bitterly.
"Don't think that way! Dr. Patel was a good friend of your father's. He knows all about his research and theories. If you just explain the situation-"
"He'll be sure to lock me up all the faster."
His mother frowned, swatting his arm in disapproval. "Stop that! If you keep thinking this way you will never work up the nerve to call him."
"I'm going to call him mother! I promise," Mohinder said, although he truly did not feel up to making the appointment.
It was hard to imagine anyone being able to believe his ridiculous claim, but the idea of someone believing him was somehow just as frightening. What if Dr. Patel wanted to study him, write up a report about his incredibly rare case? He could very well end up becoming a human guinea pig, a giant spectacle to be poked and prodded. The very thought was enough to make him feel sick inside.
I'm being overly paranoid, he thought wearily. Even if Dr. Patel was intrigued by his case, he knew that the surgeon was more trustworthy than his addled mind was giving him credit for. No doubt his experiences back in America still had him shaken, but he had to remind himself that there was no Company here, let alone a government hell bent on rounding up citizens and locking them up.
The feel of his mother's gentle hand resting on his arm pulled Mohinder out of his troubled musings and brought his mind back to the present. "Promise me you will make an appointment at by the end of this week."
Mohinder smiled, brushing her fingers with his own. "I promise."
Next Chapter