PART 7

At 4:11 in the morning, Allison finally fell asleep.

I watched her breathing.

Then I noticed something.

Her phone was on the floor.

The screen lit up.

A message from Teresa appeared.

Did he tell you about the appointment?

I frowned.

Appointment?

Before I could think about it, another message appeared.

You cannot keep this from him forever.

I looked toward Allison.

She was still asleep.

A third message appeared.

The doctor said the bleeding is not normal.

My heart stopped.

I picked up my phone.

Then I looked at Allison.

She opened her eyes.

She had seen me holding her phone.

“What did you read?”

I didn’t answer.

Her face changed.

“Daniel.”

“What bleeding?”

She sat up too quickly and immediately grabbed her stomach.

“What bleeding?”

She stared at me.

Then she whispered the words that changed everything.

“I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d panic.”

I stood.

“What is happening to you?”

She looked toward the hallway where Mateo was sleeping.

“I’ve been bleeding since yesterday.”

My mouth went dry.

“How bad?”

She didn’t answer.

“Allison, how bad?”

She pulled the blanket aside.

There was a dark stain on the couch beneath her.

My entire body went cold.

She looked at me.

And for the first time since Mateo was born, I saw fear on her face.

Not anger.

Not exhaustion.

Fear.

“I think something is wrong.”

I grabbed my keys.

“We’re going to the hospital.”

She shook her head.

“Daniel—”

“No.”

I picked up Mateo’s car seat.

“You don’t get to protect me from this.”

She stared at me.

I looked at her and finally understood what she had been trying to tell me all night.

She didn’t need a husband who knew what to say.

She needed one who noticed when something was wrong.

So I opened the front door.

And this time, I didn’t ask her what she needed.

I carried the bags.

I carried the baby.

And when Allison struggled to stand, I reached for her without being asked.

But as we stepped into the cold darkness outside, I had no idea that the hospital visit ahead of us would reveal something even worse than a complication from childbirth.

Something Allison had been hiding from me for months.

Something that had nothing to do with Mateo.

And everything to do with why she had been so afraid to come home.

CONTINUE FOR NEXT PART….