Three days later.
The storm warning had come true. Outside, wind and rain lashed the windows, and the tree branches thrashed hard.
In the bedroom, I quietly packed my documents and a few clothes into my backpack.
Then a violent, dragging pain tore through my belly.
Something warm gushed out of me.
I looked down and saw a wide, glaring stain of red spreading across my dress.
Clutching my stomach, cold sweat pouring off me, I dragged myself into the living room.
Jason was standing there with his car keys, pulling on his coat, ready to leave.
"Jason..."
"Take me to the hospital. The baby... I don't think I can save it."
My voice came out weak as I grabbed the hem of his coat.
His brows knit tight. He glanced at the blood on my dress, and his hand closed harder around the keys.
But he didn't move.
"Janice, Kayla got trapped at an audition out in the suburbs. There's a mudslide risk out there any minute. She's out there alone, crying her eyes out. I have to go get her."
I stared at him, not believing it, and the words came out almost a scream.
"This is your own flesh and blood!"
Right then, Kayla's video call came through.
On the screen, she was soaked through and sobbing.
"Jason, the wind is so strong, I'm so scared. Am I going to die out here..."
Jason looked at the screen, his eyes full of panic.
He pried my clinging hand off him by force.
"It's just some spotting. Call 911 and you'll be fine. Kayla could actually die out there."
And with that, ignoring my cry of pain, he rushed out the door.
The door slammed shut.
I dropped to the floor. Through the window, I watched his car vanish down the road.
The pain in my belly was tearing me apart, but it was nothing next to the pain in my chest.
I forced through it and called 911 myself.
The ambulance fought its way through the downpour to reach me.
The paramedics lifted me onto the stretcher, working on me while they asked, "Where's your husband? A situation this dangerous, and no family here?"
I pulled a bleak little smile.
"He's dead."
At the ER, the doctor examined me fast.
His face was grave. "The fetal heartbeat is faint. You waited far too long to get here, and the severe emotional shock triggered heavy bleeding."
"We have to do the induction procedure right now to save your life."
I lay on the cold operating table, staring up at the harsh light overhead.
I didn't cry. I didn't make a scene.
I just calmly took the pen and signed my name on the consent form.
Just before they pushed in the anesthetic, my phone buzzed on the pillow beside me.
A message from Jason.
"Got Kayla. The rain's too heavy and the roads are closed, so we're going to stay at a hotel tonight. Does your stomach still hurt? I'll order you some delivery."
I looked at the screen and felt nothing but how absurd it all was.
I pulled the engagement diamond off my ring finger and dropped it into the metal tray beside me.
"Nurse, could you throw this away for me? Thank you."
Then I opened the message and sent him my last reply.
"Don't bother coming back. Your baby is gone, and so are we. It's completely over."
Sent. Then blocked.
The anesthetic took hold, and I closed my eyes and sank into endless dark.
When the surgery was over, weak as I was, I checked myself out under cover of night.
With the backpack I'd packed long before, I boarded a night train for somewhere far away.
And vanished completely from his world.
