Chapter 2

2: 2

2.

The plane ticket home was eighteen hundred dollars, and rent was two thousand.

All I needed was to find the plainest, most ordinary job there was.

Then I could get out of this life for good.

I took the bus home.

On the way, I started reworking the old resume I'd used years ago, one line at a time.

I got so absorbed I missed my stop.

Thaddeus's call came right after.

“Celine, where are you? Why aren't you home yet?”

Ann Lambert, our neighbor, cut in awkwardly to explain.

“Thaddeus, don't be so harsh. The baby's been sick for days. It hasn't been easy on Celine either.”

The baby had a fever a while back, and I'd sat up with him for days and nights without closing my eyes.

Ann was afraid I'd run myself into the ground.

So she'd offered to watch him for half a day and let me get some proper rest.

It was just that one little break.

But in Thaddeus's eyes, that made me an unfit mother.

I wanted to explain.

But listening to the baby's frantic screaming through the phone, all I could do was grit my teeth and flag down a cab home.

The second I walked in, Thaddeus shoved the baby and the bottle into my arms.

“I've got a meeting in a bit.”

“Keep him quiet. Don't let him mess up my work!”

The study door slammed shut.

The thin door held in the cool air.

From the other side, I could hear Jade's sweet little laugh.

And my chest ached like it was being stuck with needles.

The baby cried all the way into the night.

His body was burning up, back to a hundred and two.

I rushed to get Thaddeus.

What met me was a pair of irritated eyes.

“Didn't I tell you to take him somewhere else?”

“I'm swamped. Can you not bother me while I'm working?”

My voice was shaking with panic.

“The baby's got a fever again. Did you mix his formula with cold water this afternoon?”

Thaddeus's face froze.

He didn't answer, but his expression told me everything.

I had a chest full of anger, but there was no time to argue about it.

I threw a few of the baby's things into a bag.

“Drive us to the hospital. His fever's too high. I can't handle this alone.”

Thaddeus looked put out.

He'd just picked up the car keys when his phone rang.

Whatever the person on the other end said, his face went tense at once.

“Jade's caught a cold. She's home alone and feeling terrible.”

“I'm going to go check on her.”

I looked up in disbelief.

“Your son is at a hundred and two right now!”

“A fever isn't going to kill him.”

He frowned and grabbed his coat.

“Aren't you his mother? Just take him to the hospital yourself.”

“Jade doesn't have any family here. It's pathetic, being sick all alone. Can't you show a little empathy?”

The door slammed shut in front of me.

The baby jolted at the sound, his little mouth open, crying even harder.

My heart was breaking.

All I could do was hold him in one arm and push the stroller with the other, hurrying to the hospital.

The ankle I'd twisted that afternoon had swollen up.

Every step drove the pain straight through me.

The elevator wouldn't come, and then the baby suddenly threw up.

Sour milk ran down my shoulder and into my collar.

I couldn't free a hand to wipe it, so I just kissed his forehead over and over.

“Don't be scared, baby. Mommy's taking you to the hospital.”

“Mommy's here……”

Sweat soaked through my clothes.

But the baby's little face was getting redder and redder, and his crying slowly faded.

My hands shook with fear.

The nurse couldn't help frowning.

“Where's the baby's father? This one's got a serious fever, and I don't think you can manage him on your own like this.”

My throat was dry.

“He's busy.”

He was always busy.

The child next to us was crying too, but his father held him and soothed him while the mother took the slip to pay.

And when my child cried, all I could do was hold him with one arm and tear the medicine packet open with my teeth.

By the time they got the IV into him, my arm had gone numb and sore, but I didn't dare switch hands.

The doctor said he needed to be watched overnight.

Holding my sleeping baby, I went upstairs to pick up the medicine.

As I passed a VIP suite, Jade's soft, coy laughter drifted out through the half-open door.

“Thaddeus, it's just a cold. Why go to all this trouble?”

My steps stopped, and I turned to look.

The spacious room was filled with flowers and candles.

Jade sat there in Thaddeus's suit jacket, cheeks flushed and rosy, not looking the least bit unwell.

Thaddeus sat across from her, head bent, cutting her steak.

“I couldn't stop worrying about you. I want to stay right by your side.”

The candlelight flickered.

The two of them leaned closer and closer.

Right as they were about to touch, I pushed the door open.

Thaddeus shot to his feet.

Our eyes met.

There was no guilt in his, only the anger of being caught.

“Celine, what are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay home with the baby?”

I lowered my head and gave a small laugh, saying each word clearly.

“Thaddeus, let's get a divorce.”