Page 30 of The Space He Left
"You're going to be fine," I said, my voice steady. I needed to get her out the door.
Madison nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I need you to promise me something. If something goes wrong..."
"Don't talk like that," I said, cutting her off more sharply than I intended.
"Please, just listen," she pleaded. "If something happens to me, I want you to know that these past few weeks have been the happiest I've been since high school. Having you back in my life… It's meant everything."
The words, which yesterday might have filled me with a sense of purpose, now just made me feel sick. Trapped.
"You're going to be fine," I said again, my mind on Harper. "And when you wake up, this will all be over." A sudden, urgent need to check in with Harper, to see if she'd called, pulsed through me. I reached for my phone, but my pocket was empty.
My heart hammered against my ribs. When was the last time I’d even seen it? I scanned the room, my mind racing back. Not since this morning. Not since Madison had woken up at six.
"My phone," I said, patting my pockets again, the panic rising in my voice. "I can't find my phone."
Madison smiled, pulling it from her bag where a charging cable was coiled around it. "It was on the floor by the chair. I noticed the battery was dead, so I plugged it in for you." She handed it to me, her touch lingering. "You wouldn't want to miss a call from Harper."
Her eyes were wide and pleading. "Promise me you'll wait here? I need to know you'll be here when I call. It's the only way I'll have the courage to go through with this."
"I promise," I said, the lie feeling like a necessary kindness. A final one.
She kissed my cheek and picked up her bag. "I'll call you as soon as I'm awake. It could be hours, but please don't leave."
"I won't leave," I repeated, the second lie easier than the first.
I watched her disappear, looking small and vulnerable with her overnight bag. The moment the door clicked shut, the performance ended. The plan I’d made at 3 AM felt more urgent than ever. I would wait for one call - the one from the hospital confirming she was out of surgery and stable. Then I’d call the first home health agency on my list and arrange for a professional carer.
And then I was going home. To Harper.
I settled into the uncomfortable hotel chair, finally pulling up the call log on my phone. The screen was filled with notifications. Missed calls, text messages, voicemails. All from Harper, all timestamped early this morning.
My blood went cold as I started to read:
I think I'm in labor. Call me back.
The contractions are getting stronger. I need you to come home.
My water broke. I need you to come home right now.
Seven missed calls. The last one was hours ago. Hours. Harper had given up trying to reach me while I sat in this hotel room, reassuring Madison about her surgery.
I was already dialing Harper's number when my phone rang in my hand. Sam's name on the screen.
"Harper's in labor," I said immediately. "I just saw her messages. Is she okay? Are you with her?"
"Are you fucking her, Jack?" Sam's voice was harder than I'd ever heard it.
"What? That's insane! Sam, I love Harper. I'm just helping Madison because she's sick—"
"Stop lying to me!" Sam's voice exploded through the phone. "It's obvious to everyone, Jack. Everyone in town thinks you're having an affair with that viper. Even Harper."
"Harper thinks what? Nothing is going on! Madison has cancer, she needs help—"
"Then explain the Instagram posts, Jack. Explain how a woman supposedly dying of cancer is posting pictures of herself at fancy restaurants, at the gym, and shopping with you. Explain how she looks healthier than most people I know."
My mind scrambled for explanations. "Social media doesn't show everything. She's trying to stay positive during treatment—"
"Bullshit. You've been seen around out together when you were supposed to be at her medical appointments. What about you two having coffee last Tuesday? Madison was laughing, Jack. She looked radiant."
