Chapter 4

The doctor sighed, "It's very high. The child is just too weak."

I stood by the door and heard Hadley ask, "What if we don't do the surgery?"

"Hadley!" I rushed in.

The doctor cleared his throat awkwardly. "If we go with conservative treatment, she might never wake up."

I grabbed Hadley's arm. "We have to do the surgery."

He pulled his hand away. "The doctor said the risks are huge."

"If we don't do the surgery, Callie will die!" I shouted.

Hadley suddenly stood up. "Can you stop being so emotional? I'm trying to think rationally!"

The doctor kept his head down, pretending to write in the chart. I took a deep breath. "Rational? Like when you thought saving the dog was the logical choice?"

Hadley's face darkened with anger as he turned and left the office.

That night, I curled up on a hard bench outside the ICU and tried to sleep. In my dream, Callie kept screaming, "Mom, help me!"

I jolted awake and spotted Hadley standing by the window, staring silently at Callie. I crept over, trying not to make a sound, and caught snippets of his soft, trembling words.

He sobbed, "I am sorry, Callie, but Phyllis will understand."

It hit me like a ton of bricks. He was pouring out his heart to his unconscious daughter, but it was all about another woman.

Hadley noticed me then, awkwardly cleared his throat, and mumbled, "I'm going to grab some coffee."

After he left, I sat by the window, and memories came flooding back.

Seven years ago, I met Hadley in the university library. He looked at me with a strange intensity, and later told me he'd fallen for me at first sight.

Now, I realized it was probably because I reminded him of Phyllis, the woman in that photo I stumbled across in his wallet. However, I pretended not to notice it.

The day he proposed to me, he was drunk and said, "I've finally found you."

Back then, I thought he meant that meeting me was destiny. Now I knew that he just meant he'd finally found someone like Phyllis to fill the gap.

After Callie was born, he'd always unconsciously frown and mutter, "Her eyes aren't like hers."

Now, I finally knew who he was talking about.

At three in the morning, the nurse told me I could go in for ten minutes. I suited up in scrubs, slipped on a mask and cap, and held Callie's hand as gently as I could.

"Sweetheart, it's Mom. I'm right here." I stroked her pale cheek. "Hang in there, baby. You have to keep fighting..."

Then, out of nowhere, her fingers stirred ever so slightly.

I cried out, "Doctor, she moved!"

The night-shift doctor hurried over, checked her, then shook his head. "It's probably just a reflex, nothing conscious."

I was certain Callie could hear me.

When morning arrived, Hadley came back with a set of clean clothes and some breakfast. He handed me a plastic bag. "You should eat something."

I took the bag and saw that it was a salad that had broccoli, the one food I absolutely hated. But of course, they were Phyllis's favorite.

"I'm not hungry," I said, pushing the bag aside.

Hadley frowned. "You've lost weight."

I snapped with a cold laugh, "How touching that you even noticed I've lost weight. It's a shame you never realized I never eat broccoli."

He froze, then his expression soured with embarrassment and anger. "Can you stop being so mean?"

"Mean?" I shot back, standing up. "Our daughter's lying in the ICU, and you—"

I suddenly stopped, my eyes landing on a lipstick stain on his collar.

Hadley saw where I was looking, his face drained of color as his hand flew to the collar, tugging it nervously. "It was an accident. Just got smeared somehow."

"Where were you last night?" I demanded.

"I went home, took a shower, and went to bed," he replied.

I pulled out my phone and showed him the photo Penelope had just sent. It was taken at 2 a.m., and his car was parked right outside Lisa's apartment building.

Hadley's face went pale. "Were you following me?"

I scoffed, putting my phone away, "Like I have time for that. But someone else just couldn't turn a blind eye."

He was about to lose it when a nurse hurried over. "Mr. Cross, there's a visitor for you at the front desk."

Lisa was waiting at the front desk, dressed in a low-cut dress, with Priscilla on a leash. The dog was wearing a brand-new dress.

Lisa said in a sugary voice, her eyes fixed on me, "Hadley, I brought Priscilla in for a check-up on her paw. I thought I'd drop by to see Callie."

I stepped in front of the ICU entrance. "No way."

Hadley snapped at me, "Harmony, don't be like this."

Lisa's eyes glittered with satisfaction as she strutted over with Priscilla on the leash. Out of nowhere, Priscilla yanked herself free and made a beeline straight for Callie's room.

"Catch that dog!" I yelled at the nurse.

But Priscilla had already darted into the ICU. Suddenly, alarms blared as the staff scrambled after the panicked little Pomeranian.

By the time I burst in, Priscilla was already on Callie's hospital bed, her paws almost ripping out the IV tube.

"Get away from her!" I screamed, grabbing the dog and practically flinging it into Hadley's arms as he came running.