Chapter 2

Emily seemed to have timed her voice message perfectly. "Claire, you weren't home this morning. I went over to visit James. I thought the food in the fridge was for the dog, so I tossed it out. Sorry.

"Looks like you'll have to whip up something yourself."

At the end of the voice message, I caught a hint of James's doting tone. "Satisfied now, little princess?"

The colic pain in my belly was so bad I could barely stand. I clutched my stomach and crouched down, forcing myself to call James. "James, I have a stomachache. Can you take me to the hospital? I—"

Before I could finish, a slow voice came through the phone. "Claire, James is in the bathroom.

"And if you're sick, see a doctor. Why are you calling your ex-husband?"

The call ended. I whispered, "But I'm dying."

*****

James got to the hospital the next day.

After a night of IV fluids, I was feeling better, though my face was still a little pale.

He came in with breakfast and ruffled my hair. "How are you feeling? Any better?"

I shot him a cold look. "James, I called the ambulance myself last night."

James paused mid-way while opening the oatmeal package. His voice was low and hoarse. "Emily only told me you had a stomachache after dinner.

"Your stomach always hurt before. I thought it wasn't anything serious. So I drove her home first."

He looked at me, exhaustion showing in his eyes. "Claire, Emily is young and doesn't know any better, but we shouldn't be petty like her."

All the hurt I'd been bottling up for days finally burst out.

I swiped the oatmeal out of James's hand, and the IV needle slipped from my vein. "James, you panicked even when Emily hadn't had a low blood sugar spell.

"But when it's me, you brush it off like it's nothing."

My voice cracked with tears. "You always believe you know the truth. But do you have any idea that I—"

"Claire!" James pinched the bridge of his nose and cut me off abruptly. "Can we stop fighting over this?

"You know how much my mentor did for me all those years. Why do you have to be at odds with Emily?"

As he spoke, his eyes fell on the blood welling up from my hand. He let out a long sigh. "I'll get the nurse."

I watched his back as my vision blurred.

Suddenly, I remembered when James and I first started dating. His mentor was still around, and Emily hadn't been handed over to him like some last wish.

Back then, even if my hand got a scrape, he'd freak out and fuss over me.

But after Emily was left in his care, he brushed it off when I scraped my hand and said it was nothing when my stomach hurt. Now I was dying, yet I didn't get the chance to tell him.

The door opened, and James quickly came back with a nurse.

The anger on his face had vanished, replaced by a steady gentleness as he explained my situation to the nurse.

My doctor happened to come in for his rounds. When he saw James standing next to me, he froze for a second. "Are you her husband?"

James nodded.

The doctor glanced at my swollen, red eyes, and then snapped at James, "She is really sick right now. She needs to stay calm. Do you understand?"

James was about to answer when his phone rang. The caller info showed it was Emily.

I couldn't make out what Emily was saying, but once the call ended, James draped his coat over his forearm and headed for the door. He said to the doctor, "Something important came up.

"Let's talk about Claire some other time."

The doctor tried to stop him, but in an instant, James was already far away.

I called out to the doctor. Watching James's familiar back, I forced a smile. "It's okay. I'm used to this.

"You can tell me directly. How much time do I have left?"