The days passed slowly, marked by a new routine that Nahia and Amaya were trying to make their own. Since their arrival, everything seemed peaceful on the surface, like a quiet lake hiding invisible currents.
Every morning, Nahia helped her aunt Giulietta in the little neighborhood shop, a warm place, almost out of time. Wooden shelves overflowed with postcards, straw hats, reusable water bottles, and handmade objects. A gentle atmosphere floated within those walls, reassuring, almost maternal.
Under Giulietta's patient gaze, Nahia learned the simple gestures of commerce: welcoming clients with a sincere smile, handling cash, reorganizing shelves. This everyday life, precious in its simplicity, soothed her.
Meanwhile, Amaya had started fashion design classes in a renowned school. Each morning, she left with her sketches, fabrics, and dreams filling her mind. In the evening, she returned with shining eyes, sharing with Nahia the latest trends, the techniques she had learned, and the compliments from her teachers.
But behind this seemingly perfect routine, Nahia felt an imbalance. She was constantly tired, prone to nausea and dizziness, which she blamed on homesickness or the stress of change. She never spoke of it, hiding her discomfort behind a well-practiced smile.
Giulietta and Amaya, however, were not fooled. They noticed the unusual silences, the drawn features, the fleeting absences. Worried, they urged her to see a doctor. But Nahia always brushed aside their concerns:
— "It's nothing. Just a little fatigue. It'll pass."
Until that morning.
Nahia had just finished getting ready. Adjusting her dress in front of the mirror, she took a deep breath before opening her bedroom door. But as soon as she set foot on the first step of the staircase, a brutal dizziness seized her.
Everything spun.
Her body lurched. Fell. Rolled.
A scream tore through the silence, sharp and filled with terror.
— "Nahia!"
Amaya rushed forward, panic in her chest. She fell to her knees, her trembling hands cradling her sister's pale, motionless face.
— "Nahia… no… Wake up… please…"
Giulietta, livid, was already calling for help. Her voice betrayed a visceral fear.
Then everything followed at once: the ambulance, the sirens, the stretcher-bearers… Nahia, unconscious, taken away at full speed.
---
The hospital waiting room was drowned in a heavy silence.
Amaya, curled up against Giulietta, wept quietly. Her aunt, outwardly stronger, stroked her back gently. But her eyes, fixed on the closed door, betrayed her.
— "Calmati, Amaya… Lei è in buone mani."
(Calm down, Amaya… She is in good hands.)
Seconds stretched on, slow and oppressive, suffocating under the weight of doubt and fear.
A doctor finally approached.
— "Siete voi che accompagnate la paziente Nahia?"
(Are you the ones accompanying patient Nahia?)
Giulietta immediately nodded. Amaya, her eyes clouded with tears, whispered:
— "Ask him… please… I don't understand everything…"
Clearing her throat, Giulietta asked:
— "Cosa succede a Nahia?"
(What's happening with Nahia?)
The doctor studied them, then asked a strange question:
— "Dove è suo marito o il suo ragazzo?"
(Where is her husband or boyfriend?)
Giulietta straightened suddenly, outraged:
— "Siamo la sua famiglia! Ditemi subito come sta mia nipote!"
(We are her family! Tell me immediately how my niece is doing!)
The doctor, surprised but calm, finally answered:
— "Le sue condizioni sono stabili. Non è in pericolo. Ma…"
(Her condition is stable. She is not in danger. But…)
— "Ma cosa?! Non girateci intorno, parlate chiaro!"
(But what?! Don't go around in circles, speak clearly!)
He took a deep breath, then delivered the truth:
— "Nahia è incinta di cinque settimane."
(Nahia is five weeks pregnant.)
Amaya froze, her breath suspended, unable to believe what she had just heard.
— "Pregnant?" repeated Giulietta, stunned.
— "She never hides anything from me…" Amaya cried. "Why didn't she tell me?"
— "Maybe she didn't know," murmured Giulietta. "Five weeks is very early…"
The doctor added in a softer tone:
— "È stata presa in tempo. Le sue condizioni sono stabili. Ma dovrà restare sotto osservazione."
(She was treated in time. Her condition is stable. But she will have to remain under observation.)
A little later, a nurse arrived:
— "Potete entrare. Si è appena svegliata."
(You can go in. She just woke up.)
---
The room was bathed in the white light of dawn. Nahia lay pale, her eyelids heavy. She opened her eyes slightly as Amaya approached, her throat tight.
— "You scared me so much… I thought I'd lost you…"
— "Amaya… What happened?" Nahia murmured, disoriented.
— "You fainted. You're in the hospital," Giulietta answered, sitting beside her. "But you're safe now."
Nahia's gaze wavered.
— "What's wrong with me?…"
Giulietta took a deep breath.
— "The doctor told us you're pregnant… five weeks."
Nahia's eyes widened, her voice breaking in a trembling breath:
— "No… that's not possible… he's wrong…"
— "He seemed sure," said Amaya.
Nahia looked away, fleeing their expectant eyes, her fingers clutching the cold fabric of the sheet.
— "I didn't know… I swear… I thought it was just fatigue…"
Giulietta took her hand.
— "Now isn't the time to think of the rest. What matters is that you're alive. We're here."
Amaya leaned toward her and hugged her tightly.
— "I'm here, Nahia… and I'll never let you down."
A soft silence settled over the room. Only the faint beeping of the heart monitor echoed, as if to remind them that despite everything… life continued.
Nahia stared at the ceiling, her thoughts a storm. Pregnant. The word spun in her head, heavier than ever. She wasn't ready. Nothing in her life was.
But within that inner chaos, Amaya and Giulietta's hands, warm and reassuring, reminded her she wasn't alone.
— "No matter what you decide," Amaya whispered, pressing her forehead to hers, "I'm with you. Until the end."
Giulietta slowly nodded.
— "This trial, we'll face it together."
And in that suspended moment, between fear and uncertainty, one thing was certain: their bond was indestructible.
A single tear slipped down her cheek, tracing a cold river across her skin.
She didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but for the first time in a long while… she felt surrounded.
Loved.
And maybe, just maybe… a little stronger.