CHAPTER FOUR
Jessica
On the morning Alex Kane received the Ashford Medal, his wife woke with the certainty that something was wrong.
A wrongness she couldn’t name. Jessica lay motionless in bed and listened to Alex moving around the dressing room.
Her head throbbed behind her eyes.Sophia moved once, then again, reassuringly strong.
Jessica placed both hands over her belly. “Okay,” she whispered.
Alex appeared in the doorway wearing black trousers and an unbuttoned white shirt. He looked annoyingly handsome for seven in the morning.
“You’re awake.”
“I’ve been awake.”
He crossed the room immediately. “How long?”
“An hour.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You have a long day.”
Alex sat beside her. His attention moved over her face. “What’s wrong?”.
Jessica swallowed. “I don’t feel right.”
His brow tightened. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Nausea?”
“Yes.”
“Headache?”
“Yes.”
“Vision?”
“Not right now.”
“Sophia moving?”
“She is.”
Alex reached for his phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling Jackson.”
“I have an appointment at ten.”
“Then we call now.”
Jessica stared at him. Relief washed through her so quickly it nearly made her cry.
“Jessi.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.”
He called the office.
Within minutes, a nurse told Jessica to keep the scheduled appointment unless symptoms became dramatically worse beforehand.
Alex remained beside her after the call. “I’m coming with you.”
She looked toward the garment bag hanging near the wardrobe. “Your rehearsal is at eleven.”
“Graham can handle rehearsal.”
“And the press lunch?”
“I don’t care.”
“You do.”
“I care about you more.”
Jessica’s eyes burned.
Alex touched her face.
“Hey.”
“I’m emotional.”
“You’re pregnant.”
“You’re brave saying that to my face.”
He smiled. Then his phone rang. He glanced at the screen. Graham.
“Answer it.”
“No.”
“Alex.”
He silenced it.
Jessica laughed softly.
Alex leaned forward and kissed her. “Tonight,” he said, “we celebrate.”
“Your award.”
“Our award.”
“I didn't restore the Belmont.”
“You kept me alive while I did.”
“That is an exaggeration.”
“Barely.”
He kissed her again.
Jessica watched him walk away. For the first time in weeks, the knot in her chest loosened. Maybe she had been unfair. Maybe the pressure really had been temporary. Maybe after tonight they would find their way back.
At nine fifteen, Graham called Alex. At nine twenty, Alex told Jessica there was a problem with the audiovisual system for the ceremony. At nine twenty-five, he was standing in the foyer with his jacket over one arm and guilt written across his face.
Jessica wanted to scream. Instead she picked up her handbag. “Go.”
“I’ll meet you at Jackson’s.”
“You’ll be at the hotel.”
“I said I would come.”
“And if you come, you’ll spend the appointment watching your phone.”
“That isn’t true.”
She looked at him.
Alex exhaled.
“Go fix it.”
“I can be there by ten.”
“Alex.”
“What?”
“You have worked fifteen years for tonight.”
His expression changed. “You worked for it too.”
“Then let me give you permission to enjoy it.”
“I don’t need permission.”
“Apparently you do.”
He stepped closer. “Call me the second you leave Jackson.”
“I will.”
“If she says hospital, I’m coming.”
The sentence would replay in her mind later. At that moment, Jessica smiled.
“Okay.”
Alex kissed her. His palm curved around her stomach. Sophia kicked. “Behave for your mother.”
“She has never listened to you.”
“I’m still head of the household.”
Jessica laughed. “Go before I tell your daughter you said that.”
He kissed her one last time.
Then he left.
Dr. Jackson entered the examination room ten minutes after the nurse took Jessica’s blood pressure.
She didn't sit down. “Jessica, I want you to go to the hospital.”
The room narrowed.
“What?”
“Your blood pressure is significantly elevated. With your headache, nausea, swelling and the visual symptoms you’ve been having, I want you monitored.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
Jessica stared at her. “Is Sophia okay?”
“Her heart rate is reassuring.”
“But?”
“But I want more information before I tell you to go home.”
Jessica’s mouth went dry. “Am I having the baby?”
“I’m not saying that.”
“Could I?”
Dr. Jackson’s face softened. “I know you’re frightened.”
Jessica looked away. She suddenly wanted Alex so badly it hurt.
“I drove.”
“I don’t want you driving yourself.”
“I can call my husband.”
“Good.”
Dr. Jackson crouched slightly so their eyes were level.
“You’re going across the street. I’ll notify the hospital that you’re coming. They will repeat labs and monitoring. We take this step because we are being careful.”
Jessica nodded. “Okay.”
“Call Alex.”
“I will.”
Dr. Jackson squeezed her hand. “And Jessica?”
“Yes?”
“You did the right thing telling me you felt wrong.”
Jessica blinked back tears. “Thank you.”
Alex answered immediately. “Hey.”
The Belmont was loud behind him. Music. Voices. The echo of a large ballroom.
“Where are you?”
“At the hotel. They’re finishing sound check. How’d it go?”
Jessica pressed one hand against the wall outside the doctor’s office.
“She’s sending me to the hospital.”
Silence.“What happened?”
“My pressure is really high.”
“How high?”
“I don’t know, Alex.”
“What did Jackson say exactly?”
“She wants me admitted for monitoring.”
“Admitted?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she say Sophia is in distress?”
“No.”
“Are you bleeding?”
“No.”
“Pain?”
“No.”
Jessica closed her eyes. “Alex, please.”
“I’m trying to understand.”
“I know.”
“When are they expecting you?”
“Now.”
He was quiet again. Jessica could hear someone near him saying his name. He covered the phone briefly. When he returned, his voice was lower. “The ceremony starts in forty-five minutes.”
Jessica’s throat tightened.
“Jackson said monitoring?”
“Yes.”
“Not delivery?”
“She doesn’t know.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means she doesn’t know.”
“Jessi, I need you to tell me what she actually said.”
“I am telling you.”
“I’m not trying to upset you.”
“I’m already upset.”
“Okay. Okay.”
Jessica pressed her fingertips against her forehead. “Can you please come?”
The words were quiet. Direct. No room for misunderstanding. On the other end of the call, Alex exhaled.
“Jessi, I can’t keep abandoning everything every time you’re frightened.”
Jessica stopped breathing. The hallway disappeared. For one impossible second, she wondered if she had heard him correctly.
Alex continued almost immediately. “That came out wrong.”
Jessica stared at the floor.“Did it?”
“Yes. Christ. That wasn't what I meant.”
“What did you mean?”
“That I am forty-five minutes from going onstage. If Jackson said you or Sophia were in immediate danger, I’d leave right now.”
“She’s sending me to the hospital.”
“For monitoring.”
“Yes.”
“Which means they’re watching you.”
Jessica’s eyes filled. “Alex.”
“I will come as soon as the ceremony is over.”
She listened to his voice. The same tone he used when telling contractors a foundation would hold. The same tone he used when explaining why she should not worry.The same tone he had been using for weeks whenever she was afraid.
Something inside Jessica became very quiet. “You don’t have to.”
“What?”
“You don’t have to come.”
“Jessi, don’t do that.”
“I’m not doing anything.”
“I said I’m coming.”
“After the ceremony.”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
He exhaled again. “Please don’t be angry.”
“I’m not.”
That was almost true. Anger required energy. Jessica felt empty.
“I love you,” Alex said.
The words hung between them. Jessica looked toward the glass doors at the end of the corridor. Beyond them, Natalie was hurrying across the parking area, handbag bouncing against her side, fear already visible on her face. Jessica had texted her while waiting for Alex to answer.
Natalie hadn’t asked how serious it was. She just said she was coming.
“Take your time,” Jessica said.
Then she ended the call.
Natalie reached her less than a minute later. “What did Jackson say?”
“She wants me monitored.”
“Then let’s go.”
Natalie took her bag. No debate. No questions about whether Jessica really needed company. Jessica looked at her sister.
Natalie’s face changed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Where’s Alex?”
Jessica looked away.
“He has the ceremony.”
Natalie’s lips parted.
“He’s coming after.”
A dangerous silence.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“I was about to say let’s get you to the hospital.”
“Liar.”
“Absolutely. But I’m saving the rest.”
Despite everything, Jessica laughed once.Then the headache pulsed sharply enough that she winced.
Natalie’s humor vanished.
“Come on.”
The hospital room was brighter than Jessica expected. She had imagined emergencies as dark places. Dim corridors. Urgent voices. Instead there were fluorescent lights, pale walls, calm nurses, machines that beeped with maddening regularity. Sophia’s heartbeat filled the room from the monitor.
Jessica focused on the sound while nurses drew blood, checked her pressure repeatedly, asked about symptoms, medications, allergies and previous pregnancies. Natalie sat beside the bed.
Alex texted twice.
How are you?
Then:
Please answer.
Jessica turned the phone face down.
“Want me to respond?” Natalie asked.
“No. not until I have answers for all of his questions.”
“I could throw it out the window?”
“There isn’t a window that opens.”
“I’m a principal. I know how to improvise.”
Jessica smiled weakly. A nurse adjusted the cuff again. The blood-pressure reading appeared. Her expression remained professional, but Jessica had become too observant not to notice the slight pause.
“Still high?”
“Yes.”
“How high?”
The nurse told her. Natalie sat straighter. Jessica looked at the monitor displaying Sophia’s heartbeat.
“What happens now?”
“The doctor will talk with you.”
That frightened her more than anything else had.
The door opened. Another doctor entered with Dr. Jackson beside her. One glance at Dr. Jackson’s face told her this was no longer monitoring. The other doctor introduced herself. Jessica barely heard the name.
They explained that her blood pressure remained severely elevated. They had concerns about her laboratory results and symptoms. They were treating her and monitoring Sophia closely. The words came carefully. Measured. Calm enough to be terrifying.
“What are you saying?” Jessica asked.
Dr. Jackson moved closer.
“We are concerned that continuing the pregnancy may become more dangerous than delivering Sophia.”
Natalie reached for Jessica’s hand.
“But she’s thirty-one weeks.” Jessica said frightened.
“I know.”
“She’s too early.”
“She is early.”
Jessica shook her head.“No.”
“Jessica.”
“No, we’re supposed to have more time.”Her voice cracked.
She looked toward the phone on the bedside table. Alex. For one second, habit took over. Call Alex. Then another memory replaced it.
I can’t keep abandoning everything every time you’re frightened.
Jessica looked at Natalie instead.
Her sister moved closer.
“I’m here.”
Jessica broke. Natalie held her while she cried. The doctors gave them several minutes before continuing the conversation. No one told Jessica not to be frightened. No one acted as if fear itself were the problem.
Things moved quickly after that. Too quickly. Medication. Consent forms. A nurse helping her remove jewelry. Natalie gathering Jessica’s hair away from her face. Sophia’s heartbeat changed enough that the room suddenly filled with people.
Dr. Jackson appeared beside Jessica. “We need to move.”
Terror crashed through her. “Now?”
“Yes.”
“Is she okay?”
“We are going to take care of both of you.”
“Can Natalie come?”
“We’ll tell you as soon as we know what’s possible.”
Jessica reached for her sister.
Natalie grabbed her hand.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
They began moving the bed. Ceiling tiles passed above Jessica one after another.
White.
White.
White.
She turned her head. Natalie walked beside her as long as she was allowed.
“Tell Alex,” Jessica whispered.
The doors opened. A nurse asked Natalie to stop. Jessica’s fingers slipped from her sister’s. The last thing she saw before the doors closed was Natalie already reaching for her phone.
When Jessica woke properly, the room was dim. Her body felt like it belonged to someone else, heavy and unreachable beneath the sheets. A deep, relentless pain pressed low across her abdomen. She forced her eyes open. Natalie sat beside the bed, shoulders slumped, her face pale with exhaustion.
“Hey.”
Jessica swallowed. Her throat hurt. “Sophia.”
“She’s here.”
Jessica’s chest tightened. “Is she alive?”
Natalie’s face crumpled. “Yes. Yes, Jessi. She’s alive.”
Air rushed from Jessica’s lungs.
“She’s tiny. She’s in the NICU. They’re helping her breathe, but they said she’s doing what they expect for how early she is.”
“Did you see her?”
“Yes.”
“Alex?”
Natalie looked away for half a second. That was enough.
Jessica stared at the ceiling. “Did he make it?”
Natalie’s brow pinched. For several seconds she said nothing.Then she reached for Jessica’s hand. “No.”
The answer barely registered. Jessica closed her eyes.
Somewhere across Manhattan, Alex Kane had stood beneath a restored ceiling and accepted the greatest honor of his career.
Their daughter had been born without him.
And Jessica finally understood something she had spent weeks refusing to see: she hadn't stopped needing her husband. She had simply learned that asking for him didn’t mean he would come.