Chapter 4
The taxi stopped outside Central City Hospital.
I practically tumbled out of the car and bolted into the emergency room.
The heavy smell of disinfectant washed over me, thick with the anxiety of patients and their families, making my stomach churn.
I grabbed a nurse, my voice shaking.
"Excuse me, where is the emergency patient who came in with high blood pressure? Her name is Margaret Mason," I asked, barely holding myself together.
The nurse checked and pointed me in the right direction.
"Third floor, cardiology, room 307. Her family's already there," she said.
I thanked her and rushed to the elevator.
The family waiting for her was Lionel.
Inside the elevator, I stared at my pale reflection, took a deep breath, and forced myself to calm down.
Nothing could happen to my mother.
Nothing.
She was the only family I had left.
I ran to room 307. The door was slightly open, and I could hear Lionel's voice, low and tense.
I pushed the door open.
Lionel stood by the bed with his back to me. My mother lay there with her eyes closed and an oxygen mask over her face, her skin gray. The heart monitor beeped beside her.
"Lionel," I said softly.
He turned around, and when he saw me, his face held exhaustion, sympathy, and a trace of blame.
"Sophia, you're here," he said with a sigh.
"How's my mom?" I rushed to her side, wanting to touch her hand but scared I'd wake her.
"The doctor said her blood pressure was too high and it caused a small brain bleed. They got her here in time, so she's stable, but she needs watching," he said.
I let out a shaky breath, tears almost spilling.
"How did this happen? She was fine," I whispered.
Lionel glanced at me and looked like he wanted to say something.
He walked me out into the hallway.
"Sophia, what's really going on between you and James?" he asked.
I felt a pang in my chest.
"Did he tell you?" I asked.
"He didn't say anything. He came by an hour ago," Lionel said, and his voice dropped.
"He paid the hospital bill and hired the best aides. He told me the two of you had a fight and asked me to tell you to stop being stubborn.
"He told your mother that work has been busy, and that once she's better he'll bring her to stay with you."
James was always this thorough, and he always played the part all the way through.
To everyone else, he was the perfect husband and the perfect son.
And I was the ungrateful woman making scenes.
"It wasn't a fight," I said, one word at a time. "He wants a divorce. He's given everything to someone else, and he wants me out with nothing."
Lionel's frown deepened.
He said, "Sophia, I know you have a temper. James is young and successful, and there's always going to be talk.
"A wife has to put up with some things. Why let it get this far? Your mother collapsed because she heard about all of it."
The cold went through me from head to foot.
Put up with it?
My home was taken, everything I had was taken, my mother was in a hospital bed over it, and my best friend had turned on me.
Now, the last family I had was telling me to swallow it.
Then my mother's weak voice came from the room.
"Lionel..."
Lionel went in, and I followed.
My mother opened her eyes, still unfocused. When she saw me, something flickered in them.
"Sophia, " she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Mom." I rushed over and took her hand. "Mom, how do you feel?"
Her hand was cold, but she tried to squeeze mine back.
"You," she said between breaths, looking at me. "Apologize to James."
I was stunned, frozen in place.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"Mom, what are you saying?" I asked.
"James is a good man." A tear ran down her cheek. "Our family is the one that let him down. Stop fighting him. Go home and make it work."
A good man.
She had called James a good man.
I looked at my mother, the woman I had believed would take my side no matter what.
There was no concern in her eyes, only pleading and fear.
She was scared.
She was afraid James would really leave me, and afraid the man who could pay these bills would walk away.
I slowly let go of her hand.
My heart went out like a light.
I had never been her pride.
James had been.
I stood up, unable to say a word.
Lionel pulled me aside, took a few folded bills out of his pocket, and pushed them into my hand.
"Sophia, find somewhere to stay for now. I'll handle things here, and there are aides, and James has already made arrangements. Don't come back for a while, so you don't upset your mother again," he said.
He pressed the money into my palm, and the bills felt like they were burning my skin.
He was sending me away.
The last family I had was pushing me out, and he was doing it politely.
I looked at him and suddenly laughed.
I didn't take the money. I just turned and walked away.
Behind me were Lionel's helpless sigh and the flat beeping of the monitor.
I didn't look back.
From that day on, I, Sophia Quinn, had no home.