Page 93 of Shameless

The doctor takes it. “We always double check the blood group of a donor, just to be on the safe side. But I’m afraid,” she says, handing me back the card. “That you don’t share the same blood type as Jenna. You’re AB positive and your daughter is O negative. Is Jenna’s mother here?”

The doctor looks at Lula and, not for the first time, I wish things had gone a different way three years ago.

The words tumble out of my mouth, before I can even think about their implications. “Jasmine needed blood when she gave birth and I don’t know if I remember correctly, but she was O positive.”

The doctor frowns. “Right. We’ll need to see if another family member can donate to Jenna. Unless you know her biological father?”

“What do you mean? I’m Jenna’s father.”

Something passes in the doctor’s eyes. She looks alarmed, like a cornered animal. “I didn’t mean?—”

I don’t understand. “What did you mean?”

Tom claps my shoulder. “Are you sure Jasmine is O positive? Maybe they have your blood type wrong?”

I shake my head, confused. “No, it’s impossible. I lost my donor card last year and the next time I came to donate, they retested and it’s definitely AB positive.”

The compassion in Tom’s voice is the hardest thing to stomach. “Then Jenna can’t be your biological child. Parents with AB positive and O can only have a child with A or B blood type.”

I open my mouth to object. “That’s impossible, I?—”

The doctor backs Tom. “Yeah, I’m afraid that’s correct. I’ll see what we have in our blood bank.”

Tom lets go of my shoulder and comes forward. “I’m O negative. I can help Jenna.”

I watch as Tom follows the doctor and I vaguely register Stefan saying something to me, but my ears are ringing.

There must be a mistake. Some kind of misunderstanding, it’s the only explanation. “I need a minute.” I say to no one in particular. “I need to call Jaz.”

Jasmine’s voice comes from behind me. “I’m here. The doctor is right. Jenna isn’t yours.”

I turn so quickly, I almost make myself dizzy. Jasmine isn’t looking at me. “What did you just say?”

“I was pregnant when we met. I had just found out.”

I open and close my mouth, too stunned to say anything and Jasmine continues.

“I was in big trouble. I had been sleeping with a few guys, I wasn’t sure who was Jenna’s father. The only thing I knew is that none of them would be interested in having a baby. Not with me, at least. I didn’t want to struggle financially as a single mom, so the only solution was to find someone who would take care of me and Jenna.”

There’s almost no emotion in my ex-wife’s voice but all I feel is emotion.

Fury, hurt, disappointment, fear, denial. It’s such a whirlwind that my hands are shaking. “So you used me.”

Jasmine’s tone is tough, matter of fact. “I did what I had to do. I liked you, Jules. A lot. You aren’t just loaded, you’re hot and you were fun in bed at least at the beginning. I thought I hit the jackpot.”

I don’t know what to say. I feel gross, stupid, numb and raw at the same time, if that’s even possible. “Is that why you fucked the next door neighbor? Funny way to show you hit the jackpot.”

“You don’t get to make me the villain in this story, Jules.” Jasmine bites out. “At the beginning you were into me, or at least I thought you were. Then I realized you were thinking about her when you were with me.” She points to Lula.

“Leave Lula out of this, Jaz.” I threaten.

“You wanted the truth? I’m giving it to you. At first I thought we could have made things work, especially because you were so good with Jenna. But there were three people in our marriage. You were pining for Lula and there was no room for me in your heart. That started affecting our relationship in bed too. All you wanted was to be with Jenna, it was as if I didn’t even exist. What was I supposed to do? I took care of my needs elsewhere.”

Un-fucking-believable.

“You can’t seriously be jealous of our daughter.”

“My daughter.”She corrects me. “And why can’t I be mad at her? She ruined my life. She’s a burden. A responsibility that keeps me from doing what I want and costs a ton of money. All she did was ruin my figure. Even now if it wasn’t for her, I would have been set with all the money you agreed to give me.”

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