I lie next to her on the bed, careful not to tug on any of the wires. I place my palm on her still soft belly, over the spot where a tiny heartbeat resides, and a wave of fierce protectiveness surges through me. I’d go to the ends of the earth to keep them safe and whole.
And mine.
“Thank you for being here,” she murmurs, stroking my hair languidly.
She’s comforting me when I should be the one doing the comforting, but I accept it in spite of myself.
“There’s no place I’d rather be.”
I take Angie’s hand in mine, studying her serene expression as she naps in her hospital bed, and my hatred for Tyler strengthens exponentially. We’ve been here for hours, and I’ve had plenty of time to let my anger fester.
How he could so carelessly cast them aside after three years together will never make sense. I’ve thought about it a lot over the last six weeks, and no amount of mental gymnastics can justify his silence. That’s his baby, and he has yet to acknowledge it.
I can’t let this slide.
Me: We need to talk.
Tyler: Where?
Me: Oak Ridge Memorial. Meet me in the lobby.
Tyler: Thumbs up emoji.
I swipe out of the text thread and tap on my mama’s contact. Her office is a block up the road, and knowing her, she’ll drop everything to be here. She picks up on the second ring. “Hello?”
“Hey. Are you still at the office?”
“I was just about to head home. What do you need?”
“Would you mind coming up to the hospital to sit with Angie? I have something I need to take care of, and I don’t want to leave her alone.”
I hear the sound of her keys jingling across the line, followed by a door slamming. “Is everything okay? The baby?”
“They’re both fine. I’ll explain when you get here.”
Mama arrives only minutes later. I explain the situation, and she takes my place at Angie’s side without hesitation.
I arrive in the lobby in time to see Tyler walking in through the massive sliding doors. It takes every ounce of willpower I have not to punch him in the face. It would be more than justified; he deserves that and so much more.
“What am I doing here?”
“Do you know she’s pregnant?” I ask.
His tongue runs along the inside of his cheek. “Yeah. And?”
“That’s your fucking kid. You don’t care?”
He huffs out an indignant breath. “Could be yours for all I know.”
His apathy grates on my very last nerve. A real man would take responsibility, or at the very least acknowledge his role and step aside, not leave the woman he claimed to love in a state of uncertainty. “It’s not. I fucking wish it were so I wouldn’t have to be here talking toyouright now. Did you even think to ask why we’re meeting at the goddamn hospital?”
“She okay?”
“I don’t think you deserve the answer. You could’ve lost your baby today, Ty. Where the fuck have you been?”
He crosses his arms over his chest, taking a defiant stance. “Living my life. And that doesn’t have shit to do withyouorher.”
My fists clench at my sides, ready to pummel him at the first opportunity. “You owe her an explanation. At the very least, tell her you don’t want anything to do with the baby so she can stop wondering. I’m stepping up for both of them. We don’t need you, but she needs closure.”
