Chapter 5

"You've had two days to think," Adrian said. "Thankfully, Celeste and the baby are fine. Apologize, and we can put this behind us."

I stood in the doorway, my bag against my hip.

"You saw my message."

"Maya, don't start."

Celeste pressed a tissue to her eyes. "I know you didn't mean it. Pregnancy makes you emotional. Even if I'd lost the baby, I wouldn't have blamed you."

A neighbor's door opened, then another. Celeste made no effort to lower her voice. Someone mentioned how long it had taken me to get pregnant. Someone else said jealousy could make people do terrible things.

"Go back inside," Adrian told them. "It's a family matter."

He waited until their doors closed, then put a hand against mine when I tried to shut it.

"You wouldn't want our baby growing up without a father, would you?"

I looked at his hand braced against the door. He had chosen those words knowing what Celeste had told me—or believing she hadn't told me yet. Either possibility made me want him away from me.

Mom came down the hall on her crutch.

"Get your hand off that door," she said. "The police saw what happened. She threw herself down those stairs. Don't come here demanding my daughter apologize for it."

She stepped in front of me. Leo slipped past Adrian and lunged at her.

"Leave my mommy alone! You stole my daddy!"

His hands struck her before she could brace herself. With only one leg to support her, she fell backward. Her head hit the edge of the entryway console.

For a moment, she didn't move.

Then I saw the blood.

"Mom?"

I dropped my bag and knelt beside her. Leo was crying now, clutching Celeste's clothes.

"Mommy said Maya's the homewrecker. She ruined our family."

I pressed my hands against Mom's wound. "Call 911. Adrian, call an ambulance."

He took a step toward us.

Celeste caught his arm. "Adrian, my stomach. It hurts. Something's wrong with the baby."

He stopped.

"Look at her," I begged. "She's bleeding. Please."

Mom's eyes weren't focusing on me. I kept saying her name, trying to get her to answer. Adrian looked between us and Celeste, then turned away.

"Your mom bumped her head. Celeste's baby is more important right now."

I reached for my phone where it had fallen beside my bag. He picked it up first.

"Give it to me."

"You've caused enough trouble. I'm taking her to the hospital. Stay here and think about what you've done."

"Adrian, I need to call for help."

He ushered Celeste and Leo into the hall, shut the door, and locked it behind him.

I heard his footsteps moving away.

For a few seconds, I kept expecting him to come back. He was a doctor. He had seen the blood. He knew I had no phone.

"Help!" I shouted toward the hallway. "Somebody call an ambulance!"

No one answered through the closed doors. Mom's phone was in the bag she had left in the car. I pulled a towel from the nearby bathroom and held it against her head, then reached up to try the front door. It wouldn't open. I couldn't keep leaving her to fight with it.

A hard pain gripped my abdomen. I bent over, waiting for it to ease, but it came again. Something was wrong. I knew it, and there was no one inside the apartment who could help either of us.

The living-room window faced the shared courtyard. I dragged a chair toward it, stopping once with my forehead against the chair back. Then I struck the glass until it broke.

"Please! Call 911!"

A man below looked up. I shouted again, and this time he reached for his phone.

The noise brought the neighbors back into the hall. I heard someone pounding on the front door while I stumbled back to Mom. I knelt beside her and took her hand. My own pain made it difficult to stay upright.

When the paramedics finally got inside, I tried to tell them what had happened. All I could manage was, "Save my mom."

Then I lost consciousness.