Let Life Surprise You

16. Chaos

It has been twenty-four hours since Chloe received the blood transfusion, and there have been no signs of acute reactions. She was awake last night, just to groan and lazily sweep the room with her green eyes before her gaze stopped at my face. I rushed to sit next to her and held her hand, the one which wasn't wrapped in gypsum. Not long after that, her eyelids began to drop again. She had a mild fever after midnight, but the nurse said it was a common reaction and it would resolve by itself, and it did.

Chloe is doing much better today. She's longer awake, more responsive, and begins to take her fluid orally. Even though the time goes excruciatingly slow at the moment, I won't dare to push my luck. Her steady progress is all I ask for, and it becomes my strength to go through the day.

Sitting on Chloe's balcony, mom and I spend our late afternoon drinking tea while keeping an eye on Chloe and Diana conversing inside the hospital room. My daughter's plump lips curl up into a weak smile now and then as her eyes beam at her cousin's blabber.

"Have you heard from her father?" asks Mom, half whispering so that the kids can't hear us through the slightly open door. Ever since she met Chloe's biological father, I can tell that she's been dying to learn more about him. It's a good thing that my mom is way less impulsive than I am.

"No." I shake my head. "I promised I would let him know when there was a drastic change in her condition."

"Well, she's awake and the transfusion went well. Isn't it drastic enough?"

"What I mean by drastic is if her condition is dropping, or when she's discharged from the hospital. You know what I mean." I chew my bottom lip, starting to doubt my own answer. "I mean, he's a busy man, I don't need to report to him every hour."

"Hmm. I think he would appreciate it nonetheless. She's his daughter after all."

"I just told him about his daughter yesterday, Mom. I don't think he has the 'I am the daddy' mentality yet. Also, if he really is curious about Chl... her progress, he could have called me and asked, but he didn't." Glancing at the kids who are now savoring every page of the latest pre-teenage magazine, I grab the bottled water from the small table that separates us. I take a few sips from it. "I believe he just needs time to process it. He got bombarded by wild facts that will change his life forever. I'm going to let him deal with it at his own pace. He knows where to find us when he's ready."

"He didn't seem to have trouble accepting the fact that he was her dad." Mom lowers her tone, almost whispering.

"I wouldn't say that. He had a hard time taking this but he was good at hiding it. It's a skill required in his job: poker face."

"He was pretty concerned about you two yesterday. He even came to the cafeteria to make sure you had something to eat." A faint smirk grows in the corner of her lips.

I scoff, knowing where Mom is getting at. Gosh, how can this man charm people around him so effortlessly? "No, you're wrong there. He has a girlfriend, kinda." As I say it, the image of the red-haired woman pops up in my head, followed by jealousy creeping in.

No, I can't have feelings for him because he's Chloe's dad. Messing around with a random hot guy is a thing, but not if it risks my job, and more to it, if it affects Chloe. Between Ashton and I, it will be strictly about co-parenting, if he wants to be in Chloe's life. I can't add more drama to it.

"Oh? I wonder how his girlfriend will take this."

I shrug. "I don't know, and I don't care."

Mom keeps her gaze on me for a few more seconds and I hate it when she does that. It feels like she can see right through me. I'm just so naked and defenseless under her scrutinizing eyes.