Chapter 2 - The Boy Who Loved Two Fathers
Alexa was halfway to Mercy General when she realized her hands were shaking.
She pulled into a gas station, parked beneath the fluorescent lights, and called Julian's younger sister again.
Renee's phone went straight to voicemail.
"Renee, it's Alexa. Julian collapsed at work. He's at Mercy General. Please call me as soon as you hear this."
She ended the call.
Then she opened her messages.
Terrence hadn't written anything.
For a moment, she considered calling him.
But what could she say that she hadn't already said?
Three years earlier, when she married Terrence, Alexa believed the hardest part of blending their family would be convincing Noah that loving a stepfather wasn't a betrayal of his biological father.
She had been wrong.
Noah had accepted Terrence more easily than either adult expected.
It started with small things.
Terrence learned exactly how Noah liked his pancakes, with strawberries cut into quarters.
He spent an entire Saturday repairing the boy's secondhand bicycle.
When Noah struggled with multiplication, Terrence made flashcards and practiced with him every evening.
Julian, meanwhile, had been trying to rebuild his own relationship with Noah after a difficult divorce.
He hadn't always succeeded.
There were missed soccer games. Canceled weekends. Promises complicated by unpredictable warehouse shifts.
Alexa knew what those disappointments had done to her son.
She also knew Julian had begun making a genuine effort.
Three months earlier, he had requested a different shift so he could attend more school events.
He called Noah every Tuesday and Thursday.
And last Saturday, when Noah scored his first goal of the season, Julian had been standing beside the field cheering almost as loudly as Terrence.
For one brief afternoon, both men had looked happy simply because Noah was happy.
Alexa had thought things were getting better.
At Mercy General, she hurried through the automatic doors and approached the emergency department reception desk.
"My name is Alexa Carter. I'm here about Julian Price."
The nurse checked the information on her screen.
"Are you his wife?"
"Ex-wife. His employer contacted me because I'm still listed as his emergency contact."
The nurse nodded.
"He's receiving treatment. The medical team is monitoring his heart rhythm. He's stable at the moment, but they're still evaluating what caused him to lose consciousness."
Alexa exhaled for what felt like the first time in an hour.
"Can I see him?"
"He's resting. We need to confirm what information he wants shared once he's fully alert. You're welcome to wait."
Alexa sat beneath the harsh waiting-room lights.
Around her, the hospital continued its quiet nighttime business.
A janitor pushed a mop across the hallway.
A vending machine hummed.
Somewhere beyond the double doors, a monitor sounded three short electronic notes.
Alexa stared at the clock.
1:24 a.m.
She thought about Noah.
Before her divorce from Julian, Noah had been only four. He didn't remember the arguments that ended their marriage.
He remembered something else.
Waiting beside the living-room window on Friday afternoons, watching for his father's car.
Once, when Julian had been late picking him up, Noah asked a question that Alexa had never forgotten.
"Did Daddy forget I'm his?"
She had spent years ensuring that Noah never confused an adult's failures with his own worth.
Now Terrence had placed the same fear inside him.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from Terrence.
Noah is back in bed.
Nothing else.
Alexa typed:
Thank you. Please tell him I'll call in the morning. I'm not abandoning either of you.
She waited.
No reply.
Nearly twenty minutes later, Renee finally called.
"Oh my God, Alexa. I just got your messages."
"He's stable right now. They're checking his heart."
"I'm driving there."
"Take your time and drive safely."
Renee's voice broke.
"He told me he's been feeling dizzy lately."
Alexa sat upright.
"What?"
"Two weeks ago, he said his heart kept racing at work. I told him to see somebody. He said he couldn't afford to miss another shift."
Alexa closed her eyes.
Julian had mentioned being tired.
He had said his new work schedule was exhausting.
But he hadn't told her anything about his heart.
After the call, a nurse approached.
"Mr. Price is awake. He's agreed that we can update you."
Alexa stood immediately.
The nurse explained that Julian's initial tests had shown an abnormal heart rhythm. Doctors wanted to monitor him and perform further tests before deciding whether it was safe for him to leave.
"The episode may not have been a simple fainting spell," she said.
Alexa glanced toward the treatment-area doors.
May you like
For the first time that night, she understood that the danger might not end when Julian woke up.
And she couldn't stop thinking about how close Noah had come to hearing terrible news before anyone even knew his father was in trouble.
