Dr. Quinlan stepped into the middle of the madness and held her hands up. “Everyone, please follow me. The lobby is not a suitable place for this discussion.”
She led us to the employee kitchen and planted herself squarely in the center of the room, acting as a buffer between me, Rachel the nurse, and Tamara the sonographer on one side, and Max and Madison on the other.
“I’m sorry,” Madison smiled sweetly. “I don’t understand. Max, sweetie, do you mean that Savannah didn’t tell you we’re having a boy? That’s so cruel.” She put her hand on his chest, affecting sympathy and concern.
“Savannah didn’t know,” Max said quietly.
Madison’s mouth opened slightly, forming a neat little O. “But, honey, I told you—she texted me. I figured she’d texted you, too!” She opened her petite Louis Vuitton handbag and took out her phone. A few taps, and she handed it to Max. He glanced at the phone and then looked over at me.
It felt like an eternity passed between us with that one look. Was he already starting to doubt me again? Was he ever going to see through to the real Madison and the very real games she was playing?
“Max, look at me right now—do you really think I sent that text?” I demanded, hearing the desperate edge in my tone. “You know what’s been going on between Madison and me. Why the hell would I send her a message about our child and not you?”
He turned back to Madison. Her smile slipped.
“Max, this is silly. Let’s focus on the positive—we’re having a boy!” She clapped her hands together. “You’re going to have a son!”
Dr. Quinlan crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at Madison. “Miss, I have to ask—how did you come by this information?”
“Why do I keep having to repeat myself?” she asked hotly, her hands on her hips. “Like I said, Savannah herself sent me a text.”
“There are no notes in our files indicating that she asked to know the gender,” the doctor replied.
“Well, I don’t know what to say.” Irritation crept into Madison’s voice. “It’s not our job to figure out your staffing issues. And if Savannah doesn’t remember texting me, well—I’ve been trying to warn you all about her drinking.” She turned to Max again. “Max, honey, if everything’s okay with the baby, let’s go home.”
I stared at Max, trying to communicate with him nonverbally.Max, it’s time to wake up. Please.But his eyes skittered away.
I’d had enough. “I’m leaving.” I stalked out of the kitchen.
As I reached the lobby, the door’s bell was chiming yet again. This time, Ellie walked in and immediately rushed toward me.
“Savannah, are you okay? They just called me, since I’m one of your emergency contacts.” She looked up as Max, Madison, the doctor, and her staff walked up behind me. “Is everything okay?”
“I need a ride home, if you don’t mind,” I said, grateful to see her.
“Okay … are you ready to go now?”
“Absolutely.”
As I left, I threw Max a loaded look. I’d once had such high hopes for the co-parents we could have been. But the closer we got to our baby being born, the more disappointed in him I was.I thought he would have my back—I’m the mother of his child. But it’s obvious that’s never going to be the case.
CHAPTER15
IT WAS HARDto focus on work that week. All I could think about was meeting with the lawyer. I couldn’t deal with Madison any longer. As much as I’d wanted to keep things friendly with Max and his girlfriend, if he couldn’t wake up and face what was really going on, then friendly was about to go right out the window.
It was sad. Naturally I wanted my child—myson—to have a relationship with his father. But if his father wasn’t going to support me in the face of such abuse … well, maybe it didn’t matter as much as I thought it did. It made me wonder what kind of manmyfather was. If he’d stayed, would life have been better? Or could it have been worse? Was it possibly agoodthing that he’d left us?
An email on Wednesday reminded me that it was time to schedule my next checkup with Dr. Quinlan. It was crazy, how fast time was flying. It some ways it felt like I had just taken that pregnancy test in the grocery store bathroom, and learned that my casual hookup and I were going to have a baby. In other ways, it felt like an eternity had passed—an eternity of hope and wonder, but also stress and heartache.
I responded to the email with a few possible dates and times that worked for me, then packed up my bag to walk home. Iwondered if Dr. Quinlan would have any news for me about how the gender of my baby had gotten out.
A few minutes later, I was standing at a crosswalk waiting for the light to change when something on the other side of the street caught my eye—or rather, someone, wearing the same all-black outfit and sunglasses, hood up despite the dry September heat. She was leaning against a light pole with one hand in her pocket and her other hand holding her phone up. Was she taking pictures of me again? Anger pumped furiously through my veins, tingling in my limbs.I am so tired of this! It’s time to figure out who this woman is.
This time, instead of foolishly trying to chase her down, I decided to pretend I hadn’t noticed her, and let her follow me. I made it all the way to my building. Despite my belly making it difficult, I put a foot up on the front steps and pretended to be tying my shoe while sneaking glances over my shoulder. My shadow had paused right across the street and was now leaning up against an old newspaper vending box.
What would she do if I just … stayed here? How long would she linger across the street, watching me?Let’s find out, I decided. I sat down on the steps, put my bag down next to me, and rested my elbows on my legs, as though I was waiting for someone. I tried not to make it too obvious that I was watching her as she watched me back, hiding my eyes behind my own sunglasses.
The woman put her phone away for a while. Then she checked her watch and looked up and down the street. Finally, she took her phone out again and raised it to her ear to make a call.
