Melissa grimaced and tried to dismiss the thought. She had promised Brian she would do this. She just wanted to get it over with. Yet the quiet in the room felt eerie and unsettling. Why did this feel so wrong?

Get up. There’s still time.

Melissa froze. The words had been spoken clearly but were not audible. The doctor still had not spoken a word to her as he positioned himself for the procedure.

Her eyes widened. She stared at the white-tiled ceiling, still waiting for the doctor to start. Then the words came again, this time with more urgency.

Get up! There’s still time.

Melissa turned her head to the right as if trying to find the person speaking to her. Then she saw him.

There, in a blurry reflection on the side of the silver cabinet, she saw herself on the table. She could see the doctor’s reflection too. But she also saw someone standing beside her. A young man, maybe twenty, with short brown hair. Yet no one else was in the room.

Melissa felt the doctor touch her leg as he began the procedure, but she jerked her feet out of the stirrups and sat up.

“Stop. I can’t do this!”

The doctor paused, looking her in the eyes for the first time. Then he looked down and sighed in frustration.

Without a word, he stood, ripped his gloves off, threw them in the trash, and walked out the door.

Melissa sat still a moment, trying to calm herself. The only sound she heard was her own heart pounding.

God, was that You speaking to me? Who was that young man in the reflection?

She stood and took her clothes from the hanger by the door and quickly dressed, then walked out. As she headed down the hall, she passed another young girl sitting outside a different procedure room. She was pale and slumped over, still wearing her medical gown. Melissa turned her gaze toward the waiting room door.

Brian tried not to imagine what was happening beyond the walls of the waiting room. He rubbed his hands and tried not to hear the voices of the people outside. They pleaded with each person who walked in.

“Stop!”

“You don’t have to do this to your baby.”

“People will help you!”

He glanced at the clock. How long would she be in there? He’d sensed on the drive up that she was having a hard time with the decision. But this was the best choice. Just a few more minutes and it would all be over.

The door opened and Melissa walked out and put a gown in a hamper by the door. She slung her purse over her shoulder and quickly walked past the reception desk. He stood and followed her outside but didn’t catch up to her until she was at the car.

“You didn’t have to do it!” someone yelled.

“God can forgive you!”