Chapter 4

4: 4

Somewhere in the haze, I half saw someone drop to their knees at my bedside.

Her face was wet with tears, her voice shaking hard.

"Davi, you have a baby of your own now... can't you leave mine alone? He's all I have..."

I wanted to say I didn't want her baby, but my eyelids were heavy as lead, and my mouth wouldn't open no matter how I tried.

She just stayed there on her knees, clutching the baby, and I don't know how long it went on before a nurse came in to change my dressing, startled, and hurried over to help her up.

The moment she touched her, she realized:

The woman was burning like a coal fresh from the fire, and the baby's cheeks in her arms were flushed red too.

By the time Justin got the news, night had already fallen.

He stormed into the room, voice pressed down low, but not low enough to hide the fury underneath.

"Davina, I know you hate me for finding someone else to carry our child. But I did that because I care about you. Don't you know what would happen if you got pregnant?"

"No matter how you feel, you can't take it out on a baby! He's innocent!"

"You're a mother now yourself. How could you be so vicious?"

He paused, and his voice went colder.

"Since you can't keep your head, the medication stops for two days. We'll talk again when you've calmed down."

And with that he didn't give me a single chance to explain. He slammed the door and left.

That night, my heart gave out.

My chest clamped tight all at once, as if an unseen hand had gripped my heart and was wringing it back and forth.

The monitor started shrieking, red light flashing on and off across the wall.

A nurse rushed in and scrambled to prep for the emergency, then froze mid-motion the next second.

"Ms. Henson, there's no money left in your account, and no new medication was ordered..."

I called out. Once, twice, over and over... no one ever picked up.

I curled on the bed, bowing my body against the pain, the dark closing in over my eyes in waves.

I don't know how long it was before, dimly, I heard Justin's voice.

"Davi, don't scare me!"

"I was wrong. I just, I just wanted to teach you a lesson... wake up, please, look at me!"

The door closed behind me, shutting Justin's voice out.

He knelt at the door of the operating room, his whole body sunk to the floor, forehead pressed to the cold ground, saying it over and over.

"Davi, I was wrong... I only wanted to scare you a little, I never meant to hurt you!"

"I, I wanted a child of ours so badly. I couldn't bear to let you take the risk. Finding someone else was wrong, but the only one I love is you..."

"Davi, can you hear me? I'm begging you, you have to get better, give me a chance to make it right..."

At last, the surgical light went out.

The doctor came out, pulled off his mask, and gave a small shake of his head.

Justin looked as though his spine had been ripped out of him. He scrambled up, staggered, and shoved through the operating room door.