Chapter 15
The streetlights stretched on, bathing the ground in a cold, ghostly white glow.
Sophie looked at me and asked, "Are you alright? Can you keep going?"
"Can you keep going?" she asked.
"Yeah," I replied.
She looked at me, her gaze gentling.
"You're stronger than you think," she said.
I shook my head.
"I'm not strong," I said. "I don't have any way out."
When we got back to my mom's place, the living room lights were still on.
My mom was sitting on the couch, holding Isobel, and she hadn't slept a wink.
Isobel was so tired her eyes kept drooping shut, but she was still holding onto my mom's sleeve.
When she saw me, she made a soft sound and reached out for me.
I scooped her up into my arms.
Her little face nestled against my chest, and she calmed down right away.
In that moment, the tough armor I'd built up inside finally cracked a little.
I nearly burst into tears.
My mom asked, "Did you get everything sorted out?"
I nodded.
"Both the hospital and the police made a record," I said.
My mom had just started to relax when the doorbell suddenly rang.
It was after one in the morning.
The sound sliced through the silence like a knife.
My mom jumped to her feet, startled.
Sophie was still there, and she quickly signaled for us to stay quiet.
Taylor's voice came from outside.
"Coraline, open the door," he called out.
I held Isobel close, not moving an inch.
He knocked twice more.
"I know you're in there," he said. "Freddie's in the ER. I'm not here to argue. Just let me see Isobel for a moment."
My mom grumbled, "Damn it," under her breath.
Sophie pulled out her phone, ready to call the police.
Suddenly, another voice came from outside.
It was Eloise. "Mrs. Sargent, let's have a proper conversation.
"The child is sick and needs help; no family could ever be so cold-hearted."
My mom couldn't take it anymore.
She marched over to the door.
"You need to leave right now," she said. "If you don't, I'm calling the cops."
Eloise said, "Go ahead, call the cops."
"Even the cops have to be reasonable.
"Taylor's her real dad—how can you stop him from seeing his own kid?"
Taylor's voice was barely above a whisper.
"Coraline, Freddie's platelets are dropping fast," he said. "The doctors say we can't wait any longer."
I closed my eyes.
He finally stopped pretending.
He turned his son's illness into a weapon to batter down my door.
From behind the door, I called out to Taylor, "Go save your son."
"Go save him," I said. "But don't drag Isobel into this."
There was a brief silence outside.
Taylor said, "It's just a screening. We're not asking for anything more."
I said, "Did you already run the test on the teether?"
Everything outside went dead silent.
A few seconds later, I heard Eloise gasp, loud and sharp.
"Wait, you know about that too?" she blurted.
I hugged Isobel even tighter.
"Yes," I said. "And I know you've set up a donor test for tomorrow, using her as a half-sibling match."
Her voice suddenly went shrill, full of desperation. "That's the only way to save him."
"Isobel's life isn't yours to spend," I said.
Suddenly, there was a heavy thud from outside.
It sounded like Taylor had punched the wall.
He said, "Is that what you want, Coraline? You want me to hate you?"
I looked down at Isobel in my arms.
She was scared awake, her eyes all watery as she stared up at me.
I gently patted her back.
"Go ahead and hate me," I said. "Just stay away from her."
The next moment, I heard the sound of a key turning in the lock from outside.