Rain had been falling since the afternoon, soaking the yard of the small house where Rania and Arman had built their life together. Rania sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the examination results the doctor had given her a few hours earlier, while one hand occasionally brushed over her stomach, which still showed no visible change. She was three months pregnant, and for the first time, she truly understood that their lives would soon change.
“Arman must be happy,” Rania murmured with a small smile.
She still remembered her husband’s face when he first heard the news about the pregnancy. Arman had even laughed in disbelief before pulling her into a tight embrace and saying that he would be the best father to their child.
From that day on, they began making countless little plans for a simple future that nonetheless felt so perfect to them both.
Rania looked at their wedding photo on the small table beside the bed. In the picture, Arman was beaming as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, while she looked nervous because she wasn’t used to being the center of attention.
Rania smiled as she remembered how Arman always said that one day they would have a bigger house and a small yard where their child could play.
“If our child is a girl, what should we name her?” Rania had once asked.
Arman had thought for quite a while before answering with a serious expression, as if it were a very important question. In the end, they agreed on a name they had discussed several times, even though they had never actually confirmed whether their baby would be a boy or a girl. That name continued to come up in their conversations, becoming part of a dream they had not even had the chance to realize.
Rania smiled at the memory.
Her hand returned to her stomach, gently stroking it. She couldn’t feel any movement from inside yet, but knowing that a tiny life was growing there warmed her heart. For a while, Rania imagined Arman holding their child, teaching the baby to walk, and perhaps becoming the most overprotective father once their child grew older.
Her daydream was interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing in the front room.
Rania furrowed her brow. Arman had said he would be home before dark because he didn’t have any extra work today, so she hadn’t expected anyone to call at this hour. She slowly rose from the bed and walked toward the front room, the small smile still lingering on her face.
“Arman?” she called when she saw the phone continuing to ring.
But the name on the screen did not belong to her husband.
Rania answered the phone.
“Hello?”
There was no answer for several seconds.
Rania frowned. “Hello? Who is this?”
At last, a man’s voice came from the other end. His tone was heavy and cautious, as though he was searching for a way to deliver something difficult to say. Rania began to sense that something was wrong when the man mentioned Arman’s full name.
“Mrs. Rania?”
“Yes, this is she.”
“Are you Mr. Arman Pratama’s wife?”
The smile slowly disappeared from Rania’s face.
“Yes. What happened to my husband?”
There was no immediate answer.
Several seconds stretched far longer than they should have. Rania stood motionless in the middle of the living room while the sound of the rain outside suddenly seemed much clearer.
“Ma’am, I’m calling from the hospital.”
Rania’s heart began to pound faster.
“The hospital?”
“Yes, ma’am. Your husband was in an accident.”
The phone nearly slipped from Rania’s hand.
“What?”
She didn’t know what else to say. The word accident kept spinning through her mind, refusing to make sense, while she tried to understand why someone from the hospital had to call her.
“How is my husband?”
The man on the other end fell silent for a moment.
“Ma’am, you should come to the hospital right away.”
Rania’s breath caught.
“He’s still conscious, right?”
There was no answer.
“Sir, answer me.”
Rania’s voice began to tremble.
“My husband is still conscious, right?”
Once again, all she heard was silence. Then the man asked Rania to come immediately, without offering any further explanation about Arman’s condition.
Rania ended the call with trembling hands.
She stood there for several moments without moving. Her mind seemed to have lost the ability to think, while her body felt too weak to obey its commands. The only thing she managed to do was grab the bag and jacket lying near the door.
Before leaving, her gaze fell on their wedding photo.
Arman smiled from inside the frame.
“Don’t let anything happen to you,” she whispered.
Rania then left for the hospital.
The trip, which usually felt short, suddenly seemed to have no end. All the way there, Rania clasped her hands together, trying to steady her increasingly uneven breathing. She tried calling Arman’s phone again and again, but not a single call was answered.
“Pick up, Man,” she whispered.
She tried once more.
Still no answer.
Rania lowered her head and held back the tears filling her eyes. She kept telling herself that everything would be fine, that Arman had only been in a minor accident and would laugh in a little while when he saw the panic on her face.
She had to believe that.
Because if she didn’t, Rania had no idea what she could hold on to.
When she finally arrived at the hospital, Rania got out and hurried inside. An employee immediately directed her toward the area where Arman was being treated, but the closer she came, the heavier her steps felt.
A doctor approached her.
“Mrs. Rania?”
Rania nodded quickly.
“I’m his wife.”
The doctor looked at her for a moment before taking a deep breath.
“Please be strong.”
Those words made all of Rania’s certainty collapse.
“How is my husband?”
The doctor did not answer right away.
Rania gripped the edge of her jacket tightly.
“Doctor, please tell me. How is my husband?”
The doctor finally said that the medical staff had done everything they could.
But they had been unable to save Arman.
Rania’s world seemed to stop.
There was no sound of rain.
No sound of footsteps.
No sound of people passing through the hospital.
All that remained was one sentence echoing through her mind.
Arman was gone.
Rania slowly shook her head.
“No.”
Her tears fell uncontrollably.
“No. That’s impossible.”
She took a step backward, then shook her head again. Her hand instinctively moved to her stomach, as if making sure there was still something she could protect.
“He just said he was coming home.”
Her voice was barely audible.
“He said he was coming home tonight.”
No one could give her an answer that would make anything better.
Rania covered her face with both hands. Her shoulders trembled, but she tried with all her strength to hold back her sobs.
In the midst of such overwhelming grief, one thing suddenly came to mind.
Her child.
The child who had not even had the chance to know their father’s face.
Rania slowly lowered her hands and looked down at her stomach.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” she whispered.
The tears began to flow again.
“It looks like from now on... we’ll only have each other.”
For the first time since learning she was pregnant, Rania felt afraid when she thought about the future.
She no longer had a husband.
She didn’t know what her life would be like.
She didn’t know how she would raise a child on her own.
But that night, in the cold hospital hallway, Rania made a decision that would change her entire life.
She might have lost Arman.
She might lose many things after that night.
But there was one thing she would never let go of.
The child growing inside her.
Rania gently stroked her stomach.
“From now on, Mom will take care of you.”
Her voice trembled, but for the first time that night, it sounded firm.
“No matter what it takes.”
Outside the hospital, the rain continued to fall.
And that night marked the beginning of a long journey for a mother who would one day be willing to give her entire life for the only child she had.