He Sent Me a Blanket but Hugged His Intern in Bed Chapter 06

He Sent Me a Blanket but Hugged His Intern in Bed Chapter 06

By the time Spencer reached the hospital, my bed was empty.

A nurse was stripping the sheets.

He lunged at her, grabbing her arm, his eyes bloodshot.

“Where’s the patient from this bed? Natalie Grant!”

The nurse pulled back, startled.

“Who are you? She checked out this morning-she had the baby transferred.”

“Transferred where?”

“That’s confidential. She specifically said not to give any information to anyone claiming to be her

husband.”

Spencer went rigid.

He pulled out his phone and called my number again and again.

Each time, a cold automated voice answered, “The number you have dialed is no longer in service.”

Finally, it sank in.

I wasn’t playing games.

I had walked out of his life for good-taking his son with me.

One month later.

Ashford. A drizzly winter morning.

I pushed a stroller along the path at Ashford Central Green, my son sleeping peacefully inside. He was still small for his age, but his eyes were bright and his lungs were strong.

My new colleagues at headquarters had welcomed me warmly. Work was steady. Life was good.

No more getting up at midnight to pour lukewarm water.

No more staring at thirty inches of empty mattress.

No more watching another woman wear his coat and wrap herself in my blanket.

Back in Fairhaven, Spencer’s world had fallen apart.

He had canceled every project, pulled every string, and used every resource trying to find me–but I had

vanished without a trace.

Late one night, drunk and stumbling, he returned to a dark, freezing apartment.

He called out automatically, “Natalie, get me some water.”

Silence.

He shuffled to the water dispenser, filled a glass, and took a sip.

It was ice-cold.

He hurled the glass against the wall.

Shards flew everywhere.

The doorbell rang.

Amber stood outside in a thin dress, holding a thermos of soup.

“Mr. Cole… I heard your stomach has been bothering you. I made you some chicken soup.

She was shivering, her eyes wide and innocent.

But Spencer only looked at her.

And for the first time, he saw nothing familiar in her face.

He remembered the ER.

If she hadn’t made him stay for that pointless bandage-if she hadn’t tugged his sleeve and said she felt faint-he would have been at Natalie’s side.

“Who let you in?”

His voice was icy.

Amber’s lip trembled.

“I’m just worried about you-

“Get out.”

He didn’t even glance at the thermos.

“And don’t ever come back.”

He slammed the door in her face, then slid down the wall and sat on the floor, alone in the dark.

He finally understood that without Natalie, his world was nothing but rubble.

The control and logic he had always been proud of collapsed the moment she walked out.