Uncharted Territory

Corey

I awoke the next morning to the sound of my phone ringing with an incoming call. I rolled over to grab it from the nightstand next to my bed, groaning as the light shined into my eyes. It was a call from Amber, at 4:30 in the morning. "What?" I am a morning person, just not when it's people that I'm not particularly fond of calling and waking me up thirty minutes before I'm supposed to be up for the day.

"Don't get all snippy with me, it's your son I've been up with all night. He's sick, can you take him to the doctor today?" I sat up, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to clear the fog from my brain.

"Uh... hang on a sec." I pulled the phone away from my ear, putting it on speaker phone so I could access my calendar. I checked over the days schedule, meetings were scattered throughout the early morning hours, but after two I was open. I still had a few more sick hours I could take, so it wouldn't be too big of a deal for me to take Shane in for a mid-afternoon appointment. "Yeah, I should be able to pick him up at about 2:30. Does that work with your schedule?" I heard a long, breathy sigh on the other end of the phone.

"I mean I guess, but he's been up literally all night and I've gotten no sleep, plus I have a shift to work tonight." 

"I'm sorry Amber, but I have meetings I can't miss scheduled until two. I'm doing the best I can. If he's that sick maybe you should take him so he doesn't have to wait as long?" The other end of the phone was dead silent, and I knew I was about to get an earful. 

"Seriously Corey? Shane has been throwing up all night, and he won't eat or drink anything. He needs to go in now. Honestly I'd prefer if he went to the ER. You know I can't take him because I pass out at the smell of doctors offices. Besides, the ladies who do the billing always give me really weird looks when I'm trying to use your insurance card because last names don't line up."

"Yeah, well that one wasn't my fault. Besides, you were able to go to all of your doctors appointments when you were pregnant without any issues, this was something that popped up after Shane was born. Amber, I really can't take him in this morning. If he's that bad you need to take him and go. If you need to you can call me when you are filling out insurance stuff and I'll talk to whoever I need to to confirm that Shane really is covered." I could hear Shane starting to fuss in the background, and I wanted nothing more than to rush to him and do whatever I could to make him feel better.

"I wonder what the court will think when I show them this entire recorded conversation we've just had. My lawyer was so right when he said we're going to win this custody battle because you put yourself and your job above your son, and everyone else for that matter."

"You of all people know that isn't true!" I was already up and out of bed, digging through the dresser to find clothes. "I'll be over in ten minutes to get him, have him in his car seat and ready to go by then." With that I hung up the phone. It pissed me off so bad that she new exactly what to say to manipulate me into doing whatever she wanted me to do. As I was pulling on my uniform I wanted nothing more than to punch a wall. Instead, I took a couple deep breaths while lacing up my boots, knowing I had to be calm and collected by the time I reached Amber's apartment to pick up Shane. I brushed my teeth while pouring milk into a cup full of cheerios to eat in the truck. I texted my sergeant to call me when he was up for the day as I rushed out the door, and practically sprinted to my truck. It was a chilly December morning, but there was no snow on the ground yet, meaning I would have a very easy drive over to Amber's.

I parked outside of her apartment door, leaving the truck on so that it would be nice and warm by the time I got Shane in. I knew Amber wouldn't have him even somewhat ready in the exactly ten minutes since I hung up the phone with her. I knocked on the door, hearing Amber's voice calling me inside. I opened the door to a completely dark house, and absolutely no noise, not even a fussy baby, and Amber and Shane were not in the living room. "Amber?" I called out softly, not wanting to wake the neighbors through the paper thin walls. Just then, Amber emerged from Shane's room holding a finger to her lips.