Her Tiny Hand Chose My Freedom

I stood at the doorway, watching the taillights of Shawn's car disappear into the night.

It wasn't until Clementine pressed her tiny, warm body against me that I finally snapped out of the numbing cold. I held her tight and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. Then, I turned around and went back inside to start packing.

Clothes, documents, Clementine's baby formula and vaccination records—one by one, I erased every single trace of my presence in this house. The moment I finished booking the plane tickets, I suddenly felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

By the time Shawn came back, the sky had already brightened. He pushed open the door and froze for a second when he saw the open suitcase sitting in the middle of the living room.

"Karina, what are you kicking up a fuss about now?"

Instead of answering, I just kept folding Clementine's clothes.

He grabbed my wrist and yanked me to a stop, his voice simmering with suppressed anger.

"Nancy got into a car accident last night because of you, and now she's lying in the hospital refusing to see me. She won't even let me visit her. What more do you want from me?"

I looked up at him expressionlessly.

"Do you have to push me until I've completely lost all patience with you before you'll be satisfied? Karina, are you really asking me to cut off a friendship of over ten years with her just for you?"

A friendship of over ten years.

Suddenly, I let out a laugh.

So it turned out that Clementine and I meant less to him than his so-called friendship with Nancy.

"If she means that much to you, then why did you pursue me in the first place?"

Shawn froze.

"And haven't I already agreed to the divorce so that the two of you can be together?"

With red-rimmed eyes, I pulled my hand out of his grasp.

"I should be the one asking you what more you want from me!"

"Divorce, divorce, divorce! Is that the only word you know how to say?"

With a furious sweep of his arm, he sent the suitcase crashing to the floor.

Clementine was instantly startled and burst into wailing sobs.

I instinctively tried to run to her, only to trip over the scattered suitcase. My whole body came crashing down hard, and the back of my waist slammed against the corner of the coffee table.

A searing pain shot through me, so intense that my face drained of all color.

That year, when Nancy caused me to fall and go into premature labor, my lower back had been severely injured. Even to this day, just bending over to pick something up still sent a dull ache through me.

"Karina, what's wrong?" Shawn walked over with Clementine in his arms and asked anxiously, "Did you hurt your back? I'll take you to the hospital right now."

He bent down, about to help me up, when one of his friends, Doug Finley, suddenly called him.

"Shawn, get over here right now! Nancy's awake, and the moment she didn't see you, she started throwing a fit about going to a bar to get drunk!"

Shawn's hand froze mid-air, and in an instant, he forgot all about my back injury.

"What did you say? She's willing to see me?"

He immediately straightened up, unable to hide the sheer excitement in his voice.

"Tell her not to go anywhere. I'll be right there."

He stuffed Clementine into my arms and rushed out the door without so much as a backward glance.

The door slammed shut, and with that bang, the last shred of hope I'd been holding onto was shaken loose.

With Clementine cradled in my arms, I called for a ride and painfully made my way to the hospital, where I registered myself and got an X-ray.

As I passed the neighboring hospital room, I saw Nancy's bed crowded with people.

And Shawn, who had promised me to see less of Nancy just a few hours ago, was now down on his hands and knees, barking like a dog, just to cheer her up.

I tore my gaze away from that nauseating scene and looked back at the message Shawn had sent me just minutes before.

"Honey, I ordered some pain relief cream for you. They'll be delivered soon. Something came up with work, so I won't be coming home tonight."

In that moment, I found it all utterly laughable.