Chapter Seventy-Four
Jessica
Suddenly everything made sense.
No wonder he wanted to marry me. He thought I was just a dumb girl, whose eyes he could easily pull the wool over with no problem.
Lainey put her hand on my arm. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you.”
I flinched, and she pulled away.
I felt like such an idiot.
Everybody knew what my husband did—even Jade. Everybody but me.
They all probably had a good laugh every time I had to go home. I could only imagine how they must have talked about what a fool I am.
I thought about all the bullshit Alan had spewed about having more kids and adopting Ruthie. And how he’d lied to my face about having to cut our honeymoon short so he could go to Vermont.
Vermont.
And even though I’d known he was lying to me, I hadn’t trusted my gut enough to call him out.
Dr. Weaver came into the room holding Ruthie, and I could already tell she was feeling better. He seemed surprised to see Lainey and Adam in the room, but it was obvious he knew them because he acknowledged them by name.
“Lainey. Adam. How are you doing?”
Lainey answered, “Hi, Justin. We’re okay. How’s our girl?”
I wanted to correct her. Ruthie was my girl—not theirs, but Dr. Weaver directed his response toward me so he obviously knew that.
“The IV fluids have really helped,” he explained as he handed her to me. “Her fever’s already down.”
A sense of relief flooded my system. My baby is going to be okay.
And that’s what mattered. Everything else—a lying husband, lying “friends”… those things I’d survive. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t dealt with before.
“Do you know what caused it?”
“Nothing bacterial, so that’s good news. Have you had her out in public?”
I grimaced. “Yeah, we flew to Boston on August fourth and came back on Wednesday.”
“She might have picked up a virus on the plane or in the airport. The timing checks out.”
“I tried to be so careful—I disinfected everything she came in contact with.”
Dr. Weaver patted my shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up. Unless you keep her in a bubble, these things are gonna happen. I want to keep her overnight, just so we can keep her on an IV and monitor her to make sure her fever doesn’t spike again.”
I took a deep breath in. “Okay.”
“Somebody from pediatrics will be down soon to get her.” He took a step toward the curtain, then gestured to my attire. “Once she’s situated, you can go home and get changed if you want. The nurses on the peds floor will take good care of her.”
I laughed when I looked down at the pajamas I was still in. “Well, I’ve been here this long…”
He laughed too, and with a wave was gone.
Lainey piped up. “We can stay with her while you go home.”
“No. I’m sure it’s family only. You guys don’t need to stay,” I said coldly, hoping my meaning that I didn’t consider them our family was conveyed. “I’ll wait for my parents to get here.”
Lainey opened her mouth, like she was going to protest, then seemed to decide against it and murmured, “Oh, okay.”
She and Adam shuffled toward the curtain, and she paused. “Text us if you need anything.”
“I’ll be fine.”
She sadly nodded her head once then left.
Jade gave me an awkward smile and asked, “Do you have any questions about what happens next?”
Yeah, I have a million questions, but not about my daughter.
“No.”
She nodded once like her sister just had. “You know where to find me if you think of anything.”
“I do, thank you.”
Ugh. Why am I thanking her?
Because no matter how hard I tried, I’d always be a good girl.