Too Late for a Second Choice

Just as I was about to leave the hospital with Cyrus, a sharp-eyed nurse caught sight of me.

"Where are you going, miss? Your child's forehead is bleeding! We need to take care of it quickly!"

Since he was willing to lead the way to a doctor, I wouldn't need to seek my son's treatment elsewhere.

The doctor whom the nurse led us to used alcohol to disinfect Cyrus' wound. Cyrus' face was pale from the pain, but he still pushed through the pain and did not shed a single tear.

"Daddy said that he likes brave children, so I can't cry!" he declared. "If he comes over later and sees me crying, he'll be unhappy."

My son was using Niall's words to motivate himself, but in the next hospital room over, the father, whom he assumed did not like fussy children, was doing his best to pacify a little girl.

The doctor looked speechlessly at me.

"What exactly happened?" he asked. "If such a large wound isn't stitched up quickly, it'll leave a scar."

"We got into an accident. Please take a look at my son! He'll be fine, right?" I asked anxiously.

"Where's the child's father?" asked the doctor instead of answering. "Why isn't he here instead of making his wife run around like this?

"Your son will have to be hospitalized for the night. How are you going to handle things alone?"

As he spoke, the doctor's hands worked continuously to stitch up and disinfect Cyrus' forehead.

"It's alright, Mommy," Cyrus reassured me. "I'm really strong, and it doesn't hurt at all!"

The tears that I had been holding back started flowing down my cheeks. "It's alright. I can handle this alone," I responded.

At that, the same doctor glanced up at me. "You'll have to keep watch over him for the entire night! As long as he doesn't break out into a fever, he'll be fine by tomorrow."

Cyrus took the medicine that the doctor prescribed and promptly fell asleep.

"Daddy, why don't you like me?"

I looked at Cyrus, who was calling out for Niall in his sleep and felt my heart clench violently.

Niall was not even worthy of being your father!

He had promised Cyrus that he would send him to kindergarten today and let Cyrus' classmates know that he also had a father.

Thanks to that, Cyrus had been too excited to sleep last night.

However, when morning came around, Niall had left the house without looking back the moment he received a call from Chelsea.

"It's raining outside, so it's inconvenient for Chelsea to send her child to school," he had explained. "I'll leave you to figure out arrangements for our son."

He had personally made a promise to his son, but he had forgotten about it in the blink of an eye.

No matter how much I pleaded and how disappointed Cyrus was, Niall had left without a backward glance.