CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4
The clinic door opened.
Madison’s mother stepped inside, rain on her coat, her hair damp around her face. She didn’t rush. She didn’t scream. That made it worse.
“Madison,” she said softly.
Madison folded her arms.
“How did you find me?”
Her mother looked at Tyler.
He looked away.
Madison felt the answer before anyone said it.
Her mother held up a phone.
“Tyler’s mother called me.”
Tyler’s head snapped up.
“What?”
“She found the appointment confirmation on your laptop,” Madison’s mother said. “She thought Madison’s parents deserved to know before you made her walk through this alone.”
Tyler’s face hardened.
“That’s private.”
Madison’s mother looked at him with a quietness that made him shrink.
“So is my daughter’s fear. But you didn’t seem worried about that.”
The receptionist stood slowly behind the desk, not interfering, only watching with the kind of sadness adults wear when they see children pretending to be cruel because they are terrified.
Madison’s mother turned back to her.
“I’m not here to drag you out,” she said. “I’m not here to decide for you.”
Madison’s eyes burned.
“Then why are you here?”
May you like
Her mother’s voice broke just slightly.
“Because no one should make a life-changing choice while sitting beside someone who keeps calling her future more important than her heart.”
