Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
I look down at my cell as Lucy watches me with skeptical eyes.
“You call him,” I tell her.
She does, straight away with no hesitation, as if he’s on speed dial. Actually, he probably is, but he doesn’t answer.
“See, he must be busy,” she says, picking up her mirror and continuing with her makeup application.
“Will the baby be okay?”
“I don’t know. Gosh, Thea… will you just call him already? Atlas needs to be here for this.” She applies lip gloss and turns her glaring eyes directly on me.
I press call, and he answers straight away. “Atlas.”
“I hated my name until I hear you speak it. Now I quite like it. Or maybe it’s just whatever comes from those gorgeous lips of yours—”
“He talks to you like that?” Lucy’s voice cuts in loud and clear.
Maybe I shouldn’t have put him on speaker.
“You’re with Lucy?” he asks. “Theadora,” he says my name and makes me realize he does care. Atlas knows how Lucy treats me. “Why are you there?”
“She’s had the baby,” I tell him.
“Okay,” is all he replies.
I look up at Lucy who’s staring at me with wide eyes when she whispers, “Tell him to come.”
“Do you want me to come?” he asks.
I turn away from Lucy, taking Atlas off the speakerphone to chat with him privately. “Do you not want to?” I ask him a little confused by his answer.
“No. I helped her because of Benji. I did what I had to do. She has his money. There is no other reason I should continue to be involved in her or her child’s life. So, Theadora, do you want me to come?”
His words confuse me. My hand clutches the cell as I turn around to face Lucy. She’s watching me with a mixture of hope and extreme anxiety playing on repeat in her eyes.
“No,” I reply, then watch her face drop. “Okay, no, maybe you should. It shouldn’t matter what I think.”
“No, you don’t want me to come. So, I won’t.”
I nod, but he can’t see me.
Lucy’s still watching me, waiting for what, I don’t know.
“Goodnight, Theadora.” Atlas hangs up.
Lucy throws her hands in the air. “So… when is he coming?”
“He’s not,” I tell her.
Her eyes narrow. “You told him not to, didn’t you? You want him all to yourself, you selfish bitch.”
A nurse steps into the room and looks from me to Lucy. “Do you want to see your baby now?”
“No. Get out,” Lucy says to the nurse.
The nurse’s eyebrows pinch together so much they form a single line, and when she turns and walks out, I spin away following her.
“I would like to see him, please?” I ask.
She looks me over. “Are you family?”
“Sister,” I tell her.
The nurse nods. “He’s in special care, so you will need to wash your hands and wear a gown, and that man can’t follow you in there.” I nod and follow her, instructing the security guard to wait. When we reach the special care unit, I follow her instructions before entering the room while the security guard stands outside. She steps over to where he’s lying in a crib. He’s so little, so very tiny. “You can reach in and touch him,” she tells me with a smile.
“He’s so little.”
“He is,” she says, checking his monitors and vital signs.
“Will he be okay?”
“He’s a fighter, that’s for sure. And so far, everything is looking good. Well, as good as can be expected for a premature birth. The doctor will be in later if you wish to stay and chat with him.”
“I’ll be here.”
The nurse smiles and walks away while I stay, his little hand firmly holding onto my pinky finger. He’s so vulnerable, so innocent. How could you not love something this helpless? I love him already, and I’ve only just met him.
I stay in there for hours with him, and when I finally do move it’s only because visiting hours are over and the nurse tells me I can come back tomorrow.
On my way out of the hospital, I check on Lucy. She appears to be asleep. So, I quietly walk over, but when I get close her eyes open.
“He’s beautiful,” I tell her. “Do you have a name yet?”
“Is Atlas coming?” she asks again.
“Lucy, your son! What do you plan to name him?” I ask, ignoring her last question.
Her eyes turn fiery as she watches me. “If Atlas doesn’t want me, I don’t want the baby. I kept the baby for him.”
“He would have never asked you to do such a thing.” I don’t know Atlas all that well, but I know him much better than she does.
“Of course, he didn’t. But he wants the baby, I just know it.”
“I think you should see someone, Lucy. Your fixations are making you unhinged,” I tell her.
“You don’t know shit,” she spews her vile words at me. “You can have him. I don’t want him.”