Chapter 1 - Six Unanswered Calls
Twelve hours earlier, Madison woke with a sharp pain spreading across her lower back.
She sat up slowly and glanced at the clock beside the bed. It was 5:42 in the morning.
Ethan’s side of the bed was empty.
On the chair near the window hung the cream dress Madison had planned to wear to Linda’s sixtieth birthday celebration. She had told Ethan she probably should not attend. Her doctor had warned that labor could begin at any time.
Ethan had not been pleased.
“My mother has been planning this party for a year,” he had said. “You can sit at a table for two hours.”
“I’m nine months pregnant.”
“You’re not sick, Madison.”
The memory returned as another pain tightened through her body.
Madison reached for her phone and called Ethan.
No answer.
She sent a message.
I think the baby is coming. Please call me.
Five minutes passed.
She called again.
Then again.
By the fourth call, she was breathing through contractions while holding the edge of the kitchen counter.
Ethan’s mother had rented the ballroom of a private hotel. Nearly two hundred guests had been invited. There would be live music, champagne, a seven-tier cake, and a surprise gift Ethan had promised would make Linda cry.
Madison had asked how they could afford it.
Ethan told her not to worry.
At 6:31, Madison made her sixth call.
The call went directly to voicemail.
She stared at Ethan’s name on the screen until it blurred through her tears.
Then she called her doctor.
Dr. Patel answered immediately.
“Madison, how far apart are the contractions?”
“Less than five minutes.”
“Do not drive. I’m sending help.”
Madison placed one hand on her stomach.
“All right,” she whispered. “It’s just you and me now.”
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The ambulance arrived seven minutes later.
As the front door closed behind her, Ethan’s untouched coffee still sat on the table.
