Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 72401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Marie was three months old, and although much more sturdy than she had been when they’d gotten her two months ago, she was still extremely small.
I didn’t even have a dog. How was I supposed to know how to take care of a kid?
“Rue, you’re a nurse. I’m sure you can figure it out. You wipe ass for a living anyway. You’ll be fine,” Cody explained patiently.
I looked at the little girl in my arms and grimaced. “Okay, but only until tomorrow. You only need twenty four hours to get the antibiotics in your system.”
Cody smiled slightly before waving as he exited the house with Dooley hot on his heels.
Poor Dooley had it even worse than Cody.
He couldn’t even talk, which was bad since he was a public speaker.
He was a motivational speaker and advocate for teens, as well as a youth probation officer.
“Thank you,” Cody said as he started heading for the door. “Call if you need anything.”
I watched them go, anxiety starting to take over.
I looked down at the little girl in my arms, and nearly wept.
It astounded me with the amount of trust Cody and Dooley had in me. To trust me to take care of the most important thing in their life was staggering.
***
Rue
I stared at the crying baby, unsure what to do.
“Why are you crying?” I whimpered with her.
I was flustered.
The baby had started crying within an hour of being dropped off, and now, three hours later, was still whimpering.
She’d been fed, changed, bathed, and now I was just holding her.
Cody had been no help, either.
“I forgot to tell you, sometimes she just gets colicky,” Cody said mournfully, and then proceeded that statement by throwing up.
I hung up on that undesirable sound.
I wasn’t into puking at work, and I wasn’t into it at home, either.
I was about to change her diaper for the seventh time in just as many hours when a knock sounded from the front door.
I walked to it cautiously, looked out the peephole, and then sighed.
My heart started fluttering, and my belly turned into a mass of emotions that ranged from happy, to distraught, right back to ecstatic.
He was just what I needed.
Punching in the numbers on the keypad, I unarmed the door, unlocked it, and opened it.
“Hey,” I said hesitantly. “What are you doing here?”
Cleo’s eyes immediately fastened on the baby, and his brows furrowed.
Then a look of horror, and sudden realization hit him.
“What have you done?” He whispered.
Confused, I looked down at the little girl and then back to him before asking, “What do you mean, what have I done?”
“I listened to all the messages you left me. Each and every one. If you’d have just said, I would’ve called back. I would’ve never left,” he growled.
“What’re you talking about?” I snapped. “Seriously, you’re freaking me the fuck out.”
I was flustered, and now I was angry.
What was he going on about?
“You kept my own freakin’ kid from me!” He bellowed.
The mild mannered man I’d never seen raise his voice, even once, yelled at me.
Yelled at me.
“What kid?” I asked.
“That kid!” he bellowed, pointing to a fascinated Marie.
I set Marie down in her playpen, thankful she’d stopped crying for the moment, and turned to the daft man.
“Are you drunk? On drugs?” I asked walking up to him and putting my hand on his forehead.
He backed off from my touch.
I told myself that it didn’t hurt that he flinched at my touch, but I was lying.
“Tell me,” he hissed.
***
Cleo
It all made sense.
A lot of sick sense.
I’d been disappointed when she’d stopped calling me.
I’d kept every single voicemail she’d ever left me, and when I started to get low, I’d listen to them just to hear her voice.
I’d thought that I’d been the one to give up on the relationship, but apparently she had to.
We had a kid together.
A kid that looked exactly like my sister’s kids did.
My stomach was roiling at the thought of Rue keeping that from me. Then I berated myself.
I’d had just as much a part of it as she did, if not more.
“Cleo...I don’t have any kids. That kid is Cody’s baby,” she yelled back.
“Cody’s baby?” I asked, confused.
Hadn’t I heard from Silas that Cody was gay?
She raised her eyebrows up. “Yeah, they went to Egypt just a few months ago and adopted her.”
That stopped me in my tracks.
Then I felt immensely stupid. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come over this morning. I had a bad night, and I just jumped to conclusions. I just wanted to see you.”
She blinked, surprised at my apology.
“It’s okay,” she said softly. “But maybe you should go home. Come back some time when you’re thinking clearly.”
“I...I don’t want to go home,” I admitted.
“Why?” She asked. “What happened?”
I sat down on the edge of her couch and let my head fall into my hands. “I had two patients die last night. Two separate accidents, but no less severe than the other. One was a two year old who’d touched a live wire that had fallen in her backyard. The other was a young girl who suffered third degree burns in a motor vehicle accident.”
Both cases were still just as fresh in my brain as they were four and a half hours ago when they’d happened one after the other.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Cleo,” she said softly. “But, that still doesn’t help me answer why you’re here at all. You left me, remember? Why now? Why, when I just got my life back in order? Do you know how long it’s been since I cried through the night? Two goddamn weeks. Then one freaking look at you, and it’s all right there again. I can feel everything. It’s tearing me apart,” she whispered with tears filling her voice.
Her head fell, hiding her face so I didn’t see the tears.
I swallowed thickly.
“I didn’t want to die and leave you alone,” I rasped.
She finally looked up, giving me her tear stained blue eyes.
“I would’ve followed you anywhere. Done anything for you. All you had to do was tell me what to do. I would’ve waited. I would’ve been able to live my life knowing you’d be coming back to me…if you were able,” she cried.