Maddox (Next Generation Carter Brother #5) - Lisa Helen Gray Page 0,1
tonight, so I don’t have that to fall back on.
Standing up, I exhale, then push myself to finish the journey home. I normally drive to work, however, when I do shifts that finish at eight in the morning, I opt to catch the bus or grab a taxi. There’s no way I could drive home after staying up all night to do a twelve-hour shift.
However, I left in a rush tonight because I didn’t want to leave Jasmine when she was acting out of character. In my haste to get to work on time, I left my purse at home, but even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have had the money to pay the fare to get home.
Cameron blew the last of our money on his new game for the Xbox, leaving us with nothing but pocket change.
When I get to the house, I’m surprised to see Scarlett’s car parked on the street outside. She knew I would be at work tonight, so the only reason for her being here, that I can come up with, has my heart racing. I run up the path that leads to the stairs to our flat, needing to get to Jasmine. She had a slight temperature before I left for my shift, and if she had taken a turn for the worse, Cameron would have called Scarlett if he couldn’t get hold of me.
It’s two in the morning, and I can hear her cries as I race up the stairs, my bruised feet long forgotten.
I fumble with my keys, my hands shaking, before finally managing to slide the right one into the lock. When the door sticks in its frame, I shove my shoulder into it and force it open. I hate it here, but on a tight budget, it’s all we can afford.
I grit my teeth at the smell of weed. Cameron promised me he wasn’t smoking it. I’ve questioned him a few times now, and each time he’s had an excuse. First, he blamed the smell on one of the neighbours for smoking a joint while he had the window open, and the other times he told me it was one of his mates who had one on the balcony. Intuition told me it was him, but I blocked it out, choosing to believe him again.
I take a step into the hallway but come to a heart-stopping pause when I hear a moan coming from our bedroom. My heart sinks at the unmistakeable sounds of people fucking. I can’t think about that right now, not when my daughter needs me.
I rush down the hall and push her door open, finding Jasmine curled up on her bed, her cheeks bright red and sweat trickling down her face.
Oh my God!
She looks up when I rush to her side, her expression filling with relief when she sees it’s me.
“Mummy!” she cries, clutching her stomach. “It hurts.”
“What hurts, baby?” I ask, sitting on the pink blanket next to her. Placing my hand on her forehead, I feel her temperature, shocked to find she’s burning up. Her sweet face scrunches up in pain as a whimper passes through her lips.
“My tummy.”
I feel her rigid stomach and she cries out, pushing my hands away. My heart is racing, to the point I feel like it’s going to burst. I can’t fall apart, not now. Not when she needs me the most.
“Right, Mummy is just going to tell Daddy, and then we will take you to see the doctor. Okay?”
I need to get my handbag and car keys from my room, otherwise I would have whisked her out without him knowing.
I want to break things, to scream at him for leaving our daughter to suffer like this. Out of all the sinister things he’s done over the past few years, this is the worst by far. He can lash out at me, blame me for his own failures, but he can’t neglect his child. She should be his first thought, his first concern. And he can’t even use the excuse that he didn’t realise she was sick, because he knew before I left. He should have been checking in on her.
I shouldn’t have left.
“Make me better?” she asks, her big doe eyes staring up at me.
I lean down, kissing her sweaty forehead. “Yes, baby. All better.”
I pluck her dressing gown off the end of the bed and place it, along with her slippers, next to her. Then I grab my house keys off the floor.