Chloe steps up with a bored concern and I shake my head at her. “Don’t even think about it,” I say.
Chloe’s mouth falls open. “What if he’s dangling from the butterfly room?”
Leave it to Chloe to out the butterfly room.
I take Barron’s hand and he leads me down the hall, and soon enough Gage is by my side.
“He’s probably trying to climb into his crib,” I say. “He gets stuck on the top and will freeze for an eternity,” I say as we hurry up the stairs.
Gage huffs a dull laugh. “Another reason we’re getting rid of the cribs.”
“I will get rid of them. I don’t need your help with anything,” I say as we crest the top of the stairs. In an odd way it all feels so normal to be going through these motions with him. So many nights we climbed those stairs to get to bed. My waist craves for him to take ahold of me the way he was prone to do. My lips miss his kisses. But those are a thing of the past, just like us.
We head into the bedroom and there’s no sign of Nathan on the crib rails. No sign of him on the bed. Both Gage and I start chiming his name in unison until Barron calls out from the closet.
On the floor lies Nathan, facedown, his hand in a bag of white powder. The wolfsbane Melissa gave me the night of the dance.
“Oh my God.” I fall on my knees and the walls give a dizzying spin.
The next thing I know, Logan is on him, his cheek to Nathan’s nose. My baby’s face is turning blue.
“Chloe, call 911!” he barks as he gives Nathan mouth to mouth and pumps his chest.
Gage is shouting as his body hovers over Nathan’s. I can’t catch my breath as I struggle to send up a stream of spastic prayers to God Himself.
The howl of the ambulance saws through the air, and Logan picks up Nathan and races downstairs.
I hop to my feet, my entire body numb with shock as Gage snatches the bag off the floor.
“Give that to me.” I try to snatch it back and he holds it over his head.
“What is this shit?” he riots so loud my eardrums beg to burst.
“It’s not mine. It was given to me. It’s poison.” I can hardly get the words out as I struggle to make my way past him, but Chloe steps in.
“It was for me, wasn’t it?” Her hand creeps up her throat and a breath escapes my mouth as I try to take a step to the door.
Gage snatches me up by the shoulders, his fingers digging in hard as he gives me a few aggressive shakes.
“You brought poison into this house? Into the room you share with my children?” he thunders right in my face, his rage washing over me in waves.
I lift my knee over his body and push him the hell away from me.
“You brought the poison into our life, Gage,” I say as I race outside.
I snatch Marshall up by the hand and lead him to the gurney where my sweet baby lies motionless. I can’t see through the tears as I beg Marshall to make everything okay.
“Heal my baby, Marshall. I will never ask for a thing. Just do this for me. Heal Nathan for me, I beg of you.” I look up to the black sky and howl for my mother, but all I get in response is a prickling of rain.
Marshall lays his hand over Nathan’s forehead and openly prays for him, but Nathan isn’t responding, the oxygen mask over his little face breaks my heart as the EMTs thrust him into the open mouth of the ambulance. I hop in, as do Gage and Logan, and the door seals shut.
“Call Demetri,” I say and I fall next to Nathan. I’ll take help from the devil himself.
And I weep over my sweet son all the way to the hospital.
The white box known as Paragon Hospital is a place I have a love-hate relationship with. For one, I cannot stand hospitals—Tad had me incarcerated on the psych unit once—a horrible memory. But this is the place where I birthed my beautiful babies—the best memory. And I pray it’s the place that makes my sweet angel Nathan whole and healthy again.
They whisk him in through the emergency room entrance and the three of us dash right along, but they don’t grant us access to the room they take him to. Instead, we’re left in the hall like a trio of abandoned orphans.
