Page 12 of A Castle in the Sky: Fern & Connor
Fern's fingers clutched her bag. "She'll need to be put to sleep?"
"Just for a few minutes," he said. "It may be for the best."
She nodded, numb. "Can I think about it? Can I let you know in half an hour?"
"Of course." He gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll come back shortly."
He went back in to say goodbye to Coral, to which she gave him a tentative smile. Then he had a quick word with the social worker.
After he left, the door clicked softly behind him. Fern stayed where she was, holding her daughter close, breathing in the faint scent of baby shampoo and hospital disinfectant, trying not to let the tears come again. It could have been so much worse. She could have burned more of her body… her face, her torso. She could have died!
Her phone began to vibrate on the windowsill, an unknown number flashing across the screen.
She almost didn't answer.
"Hello, Fern. It's Matilda," purred a familiar sultry voice through the phone.
She was about to hang up when Matilda purred, "Don't you want to know who Jacob's father is? Bet Connor didn't tell you his dirty little secret."
Fern's hand closed around the phone like a vice. She could feel her nails press painfully into the plastic as her heartbeat thundered. The corridor hummed with distant voices and the soft wheeze of hospital ventilation, but all that receded until there was only that small, searing voice in her ear.
"Listen, you slimy little bitch," she minced, controlling the impulse to throw her phone at the wall, as if her fury would drown out the words that were going to blow up her world. Her thumb hovered over the screen, but she kept it steady, fingers trembling.
"I'm hanging up," Fern said, the words brittle. Her finger on the button froze as Matilda's tone changed, dropping to insidious poison.
On the other end, Matilda's voice slid out cheerful. "Oh, you don’t want to do that," Matty said. "Don't you want to know why Connor's mum hates you? Why we all hate you?"
Fern knew she should have stopped listening minutes ago. She could hear herself breathe—too loud, too fast—and the world narrowed to a pinpoint of panic behind her eyes.
"Connor is Jacob's father," Matilda said calmly, as if she were making a playdate. "He'd tell you otherwise, but that's the truth. He wanted me to have an abortion, but I refused. So, he left me here like the coward he is."
The corridor lurched. Fern's knees gave out and she slid to the floor. For a second, the world tilted, and she saw nothing but numbers: Jacob ten, almost eleven—the math colliding with the possibility of two teenagers and a careless, young choice.Seventeen.The seed of a secret hauled up and hurled into her life like a grenade.
Matilda kept going, relentless. "But I love him. Even after what he has done, I love him and he loves me," she said, the words tight with defiance. "And now he regrets it, stuck with a woman he doesn't love and a dumb brat. If you hadn't gotten pregnant… well. He told me you thought about an abortion. Imagine if you'd done that. You are a clever girl; you would have had that glorious career you always wanted, and he would have run back to me. Instead, you benefited because he didn't want to abandon you the way he had abandoned me."
The voice in Fern's ear changed from triumphant to vicious. "So, if you have any decency, you'll give him back to me."
Moments passed in a standoff as Fern collected her scattered thoughts.
"Matilda," she said finally, every syllable encased in ice. "Listen to me very carefully. You clearly don't understand the consequences of what you've done to my child. It requires a little more brainpower than it takes to spread your legs for the general public and to walk around in transparent lingerie like there is a clothing shortage in this country."
There was a hiccup of surprise on the other end. "You little—"
"Shut up." Fern's quiet cut the sound off, her hand tightening around her phone. "I've made a formal complaint to safeguarding and the police. This isn't gossip or finger-pointing on the playground, darling; this is assault by neglect. I will pursue every avenue to make sure that anyone who put Coral in harm's way answers for it. I am going to rain fire on your skinny arse, bitch."
Silence stretched, and Fern looked around to ensure there were no kids around, learning new words. Matilda's voice, when it came, sounded smaller. "You wouldn't—"
"Oh, you'd be surprised." The steel in Fern's voice gave even Matilda a pause. Anger subsided to give way to cold practicality. "I'm not interested in your lies, Matilda. And as for Jacob, he deserves better than you and Connor put together. If you think you can use your snake skills to slither your way into taking anything from me, then you're very, very wrong."
There was an ugly, rattling laugh and it was coming from Fern.
"You can keep him," Fern said. "You are worth only my sloppy seconds. However, based on your past performance, it won’t be long before he runs for the hills again."
“Why you… ”
Fern continued evenly, "Don't expect to get away with this. Social services has a hard-on for you now. Why don’t you try to put out thefire in your own home before trying to set one in mine? And if you call me again to spread lies or threaten my family, then I will ensure those calls are part of the record."
"Who do you think you are—" Matilda began, but Fern cut her off.
