Eventually, Henry falls asleep. Michael strokes his head for a few minutes, watching him sleep, then comes over and slumps into a seat beside me.
“How are you going?” I ask tentatively.
He rakes a hand through his hair, his face solemn. “That was the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me.”
“Yeah, it can be pretty scary.” I try to remember my first bee sting, when my parents didn’t know what was going on, but I was too young and the memory is all fuzzy and distorted.
Michael twists in his seat towards me. “Alex, thank you. If you hadn’t been there, I don’t know what…”
I don’t say anything. I can’t bear to think of what could have happened.
He looks down at his hands. I see him swallow as tears well in his eyes, and I reach for his hand.
“Hey,” I say, threading my fingers through his. “It’s okay. He’s okay now.”
He nods, sniffing and squaring his shoulders, squeezing my hand. I feel him relax a little, and we sit there together, not saying anything. Not needing to say anything. After a while I can feel his gaze on me, and my eyes wander to his.
“Thanks for being here,” he says. He lifts my hand to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss to the back of it, and my heart swells with emotion.
“Of course,” I murmur. I wouldn’t be anywhere else but here with him and Henry right now.
Henry makes a sound from the bed and Michael leaps to his feet, running to his side. I smile to myself as Henry simply rolls over and goes back to sleep, and Michael droops with relief. I can’t believe this guy thinks he’s a bad dad. Not in a million years.
I rest back against my seat, closing my eyes. I’m just about to doze off, but the door to the room swings open with a loud bang and I jump. Blinking, I watch as a tall, slim woman with long mahogany hair strides across the room and over to the bed.
“Henry, mydarling,” she cries theatrically. She turns to Michael beside the bed. “What did youdoto my baby?”
He starts explaining, but I can’t follow his words. Because at Michael’s side, stands Mel. Mel, worried about Michael’s son, Henry.
Herson, Henry.
Theirson.
There’s an icy trickle of dread down my spine as I gape at the two of them together, shell-shocked. This cannot be happening.
“How could you do this?” Mel spits at Michael. Her usually friendly voice is laced with venom and I glance at the door beside me, feeling a sudden, desperate urge to not be here. Mel has her back to me, and I send up a silent prayer that I can escape unseen as I carefully lift myself out of the chair.
Michael shakes his head in disbelief. “I’ve been asking for those allergy test results for weeks.”
“Oh, so this ismyfault?”
“No, but—”
“I can’tbelieveyou let this happen,” Mel hisses, lowering herself into the chair at Henry’s bedside.
I’m inching back towards the door now, groping along the wall for the handle. I have to get out of here. This is too surreal.
“Iknewyou couldn’t be trusted.” Mel glares at Michael with such hatred I half expect him to burst into flames. “You’re so—”
I grasp the handle and the door opens with a loud click. Shit.
Mel’s gaze swivels to me, and as she narrows her eyes, I feel my blood run cold. “Why areyouhere, exactly?”
I give her a weak smile before glancing at Michael uncertainly. He takes a step closer, slipping his arm around me and tucking me into his side.
“Alex is my girlfriend. She saved Henry’s life. She had her EpiPen, and that’s what saved him.” He turns to me, remembering his manners. “Sorry, Alex. This is my ex-wife, Melanie.”
“Yes,” Mel says coldly. “We know each other.”
