After Refusing to Drive My Laboring Wife, I Went Viral

Midnight. My buddies had asked me out for a late-night meal.

I was heading for the door when my wife, ten months along, suddenly clutched her belly and begged me.

Honey, my water broke. Can you drive me to the hospital?

I took out my phone and pulled up my payment code.

Gas money. Two hundred.

Her face crumpled.

"You know I I don't have any money."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Then take out a payday loan."

Her eyes went red.

"Last checkup I already borrowed on a payday loan. I couldn't pay it back, my credit's blacklisted now. I can't borrow anymore."

"I'll owe you the money. Please, just take me to the hospital first."

I shook my head.

"No money, no ride."

And with that, I walked out of the apartment without looking back.

Half an hour later I got to the diner where I'd agreed to meet Godfrey Perry.

Inside, Godfrey was already drinking with our other buddy, Arnold James.

Godfrey looked a little surprised when he saw me.

"Well, look who actually showed."

"Arnold and I were just betting you wouldn't come. Monica's basically at her due date. Figured you'd have to be by her side around the clock."

I sat down, smiling.

"Nothing gets in the way of a meal with my boys."

Arnold poured me a glass of ice-cold beer without thinking.

"You out this late, and Monica didn't say anything?"

I drained it in one go. A cold, clean rush spread through my chest.

"She did. Told me to take her to the hospital first."

Godfrey and Arnold both froze.

"The hospital?"

"What's wrong?"

I picked up a peanut, chewing as I said it, casual as anything.

"Nothing much. Her water broke."

Godfrey's chopsticks stopped. He thought he'd misheard.

"Say that again?"

"Whose water broke?"

"Monica's."

Arnold's eyes went wide. He stared at me like he couldn't believe it.

"Irvin Dickerson, are you out of your mind?"

"Your wife's water broke and you're not taking her to the hospital, you're out here having a late-night meal with us?!"

I picked up a second peanut.

"Like I said, she gives me the gas money, I drive her. She's got no money, what am I supposed to do about that."

Godfrey's eyes nearly fell out of his head.

"You'd charge your own wife gas money to drive her to have your baby?"

I nodded, dead serious.

"The car burns fuel."

"Two hundred's nothing, and I'm still taking the risk she gets the seat dirty. That's plenty generous of me."

Arnold frowned and glanced at my car.

"Your wife's about to give birth and you're worried about your car?"

"Get back there right now and take her to the hospital."

Godfrey pressed me too, anxious now.

"Yeah, giving birth is no small thing. Hemorrhage, cord prolapse, any one of them can kill her. Do not pick tonight to lose your mind."

I gave a faint smile.

"I'm perfectly clear-headed."

Godfrey and Arnold traded a look. Seeing not a trace of urgency in me, Godfrey couldn't make sense of it.

"Irvin, I've been meaning to ask. Are you and Monica fighting about something?"

I shook my head. "No."

He frowned.

"Then why are you treating her like this?"

"She's the woman you chased for eight years before you finally married her."

"You used to dote on her so much. She'd cough once and you'd want to stay by her side twenty-four hours a day."

"Now her water's broken and you just walk out? Is that any way to act?"

The hand holding my chopsticks paused for a moment.

Something in my chest went tight.

I said nothing. I quietly poured myself another glass, downed it in one, and forced down the ache rising in me.

When I didn't answer, Arnold spoke up too, curious.

"Irvin, the three of us grew up together. Godfrey and I saw exactly how much you loved Monica Henson."

"When you two got married, you cried so hard you were a mess, swearing you'd love her right."

"How, two years in, did you turn into this?"

Arnold paused, then ventured a guess.

"Don't tell me Monica did something behind your back, something that wronged you?"

I shook my head, and said it plainly.

"No."

"She's always been good to me."

Monica Henson was the finest woman I had ever met in this world.

Beautiful. Gentle. Clever. Kind.

One look, and I was gone.

After we married, no matter how late I worked, she'd wait up with a light on and a table of food, every single time.

When I ran a fever, she stayed up all night, wiping me down over and over with a damp towel to cool me.

When my business failed and I was buried in debt, she handed over every cent of her savings and said with a smile,

"It's okay. I'll carry it with you."

Every holiday, she had gifts ready for my parents ahead of time, more thoughtful about them than I was, and I'm their own son.

Those scenes flickered through my mind one after another, and the weight in my chest grew heavier.

Godfrey wanted to keep pushing, but my phone suddenly rang.

It was my mom.

The moment I answered, her anxious voice came through:

"Irvin, where are you right now?"

"Get to the maternity hospital, quick, Monica just gave birth!"

I gave a flat "Oh," and said, unhurried,

"I'm out having a late meal. I can't get away."

Then my dad's furious shout burst out beside her:

"A late-night snack matters more than your wife and child?"

"Get over here right now!"

I sighed and said, helplessly,

"When she's discharged and home, I'll see her and the baby then."

"No point making a special trip."

That only made my dad angrier.

"You worthless piece of trash!"

"Monica's here half-dead giving you a son, and you won't even come to the hospital?"

"I'm telling you, if you don't show your face today, I'm cutting you off as my son!"

With that, he slammed the phone down.

The second Godfrey and Arnold heard, they were on their feet.

"Come on, come on, forget the food, get to the hospital, we're going with you."

Before I could refuse, the two of them hauled me up out of my seat, one on each side, and shoved me into the car.

I'd been drinking, so Godfrey drove, racing us across the city, and we reached the maternity hospital fast.

The moment I walked into Monica's room, I saw my parents and my in-laws gathered around her bed.

Beside the bed was a bassinet, and inside lay a tiny baby.

The instant I saw the child, I froze.

His face was almost exactly like mine as a boy.

While I stood there staring at the baby, Monica's mother came up to me, her eyes red.

"Irvin, what did any of us ever do to wrong you? Why would you torture Monica like this?"

I looked at my mother-in-law's stricken face.

Then at Monica on the bed, pale and drained.

I asked, not understanding,

"Mom, how exactly did I torture Monica?"

She stared at me like I was out of my mind.

"When Monica's water broke, you left her there alone and went out for a late meal, and you still have the nerve to ask how you tortured her?"

"Irvin, do you have any conscience at all?"

The whole thing seemed baffling to me.

"Mom, Monica didn't have the money for the fare, that's the only reason I left."

"How is that my fault?"

Hearing that, my father-in-law rushed over, grabbed me by the collar, and roared,

"You've got the nerve to bring up cab fare?"

"Irvin, that's your own flesh and blood my daughter was carrying!"

"You're Monica's husband, the baby's father, and this is how you take care of them?"

I felt worn down.

"Dad, that's not fair to say."

"Monica and I agreed long ago, household costs are split down the middle. She didn't have the money for the fare herself, so I can't just cover it out of pocket, can I?"

I thought I'd explained it clearly enough, but he only got angrier.

"You split everything with your pregnant wife?"

"Irvin, back when you were chasing Monica, pestering her every way you could, why didn't you mention splitting things then?"

"When your business failed and you were drowning in debt and Monica handed you every cent she'd saved, why didn't you mention splitting things then?"

"Now that Monica can't work through the pregnancy and money's needed everywhere, now you split everything with her, are you even human?"

My mother-in-law looked at me too, her face wrenched with pain.

"When you married Monica, what did you promise us?"

"You said you'd love her right for the rest of your life, that you'd cherish her with everything you had. And now look."

"Over a bit of cab fare, you nearly cost Monica her life and the baby's both!"

"Do you have any idea what Monica has been through these past months?"

Of course I knew.

Early in the pregnancy, Monica had terrible morning sickness. She threw up everything she ate, couldn't work, and had no choice but to quit her job.

By then she'd already handed over every cent of her savings to help me pay off my debts. Nothing left.

After she quit she had no income. She was nauseous and miserable, and wanted something sour to settle her stomach, so she asked me for twenty bucks. I said no.

In the end she dragged her weak body downstairs herself, to the convenience store at the front of the complex, and used the last of her loose change to buy a bottle of sour plum juice.

In the middle of the pregnancy her legs swelled badly and even walking was hard. She'd heard that soaking her feet in salt water would bring the swelling down, so she asked me to pick up a bag of salt on my way home from work.

But she hadn't transferred me the money for the salt ahead of time, and by our arrangement I had no obligation to spend a cent for free.

So I turned right around and went out drinking with the guys.

That night she waited for me all the way through, and in the end never got her bag of salt.

Every prenatal checkup during the pregnancy, she had no money for it, so she borrowed from every lending platform she could.

In the end she couldn't repay, got blocked by all of them, and was hounded for the debt day after day.

Every one of these things, I kept in my heart, one by one.

"I know it wasn't easy for her."

"But splitting everything was agreed on in advance. You can't pin that on me."

My mother-in-law shook all over with rage.

"Agreed on?"

"Irvin, setting up a split-the-bills deal while your own wife is pregnant and can't work, is that something a human being does?!"

I said helplessly, "But she agreed to it herself, in her own words."

Crack!

My father couldn't take it anymore. He slapped me hard across the face.

"You worthless piece of garbage!"

"Monica agreed back then because she trusted you, because she loved you, because she thought you'd know where the line was."

"Who could have guessed you were this cold-hearted, that you'd gamble your own wife and child's lives on a verbal agreement!"

The slap came out of nowhere and my vision went black.

I held my cheek and stared blankly at my father.

He was beside himself, and his eyes, fixed on me, were so red they looked like they were dripping blood.

The whole ward went dead silent.

The next second I heard Monica's weak, worried voice.

"Dad, don't hit Irvin."

"I don't blame him."

I turned to look, and saw Monica straining to prop herself up. She had come over to stand in front of me.

She looked toward my parents and hers, and said feebly,

"Dad, Mom, stop yelling at Irvin."

"It's my fault. I agreed to splitting everything. I'm the one who's useless, I couldn't earn the money..."

"Monica!"

My mother-in-law stamped her foot, aching for her.

"After everything, you're still speaking up for him?"

"Open your eyes and take a good look at how he treats you."

"Your water broke and he ignored it. You carried this child ten months and he nickel-and-dimed you the whole way. Just how long are you going to keep wronging yourself for an animal like this?!"

My father-in-law pointed at me too, furious.

"Irvin, I'm laying it out right here, right now."

"The moment Monica gets her strength back, we're filing for divorce."

"We're taking the child. From this day on, don't you ever dream of seeing Monica or her son again."

Without thinking, I looked toward the crib.

The little guy had woken up at some point, his dark eyes wide open, gazing up at me in a daze.

Looking at that little face that was the spitting image of mine, something deep inside me softened for a moment.

Just then the nurse came out holding a set of forms and spoke up.

"Family, please note, the mother's follow-up anti-inflammatory medication, postpartum recovery program, along with the newborn's formula and checkup fees all need to be paid as soon as possible."

I frowned, and snapped right back to my senses.

"Divorce is fine, but the cost of this hospital stay and the delivery, and the ambulance she called tonight, all of that needs to be settled clearly. Don't go hanging it on me."

The words emptied the room of sound.

Everyone stared at me like I'd said something monstrous, something no decent person would ever say.

Several seconds passed before my mother found her voice, and it shook when she spoke.

"Irvin, what is wrong with you?"

"Monica just clawed her way back from death. You haven't said one kind word to her, you haven't held the baby once, and all you can think about is tallying up medical bills?"

"Would you really rather divorce her and give up your wife and child than part with a single cent?"

I looked at my mother and answered evenly.

"Mom, it's not that I won't pay. It's that we agreed to split everything down the middle."

"Whoever runs up a cost covers it themselves."

"I can't just play the sucker and eat it all because she gave me a kid."

My father-in-law's eyes went red. He lunged forward and seized me by the collar.

"Irvin, you animal!"

"I'll beat you to death today, I swear it!"

He drew back his fist to swing at me.

Godfrey moved fast, stepping in to pry him off and defuse it.

Then he turned to me, urgent.

"Irvin, look where we are. How can you still be spouting this kind of poison?"

"Nobody cares about your accounting rules right now. This is not the time. Apologize to Monica."

Arnold was looking at me too, baffled.

"We've known you over twenty years. You are not some money-grubbing man, we know that much."

"What's really going on with you? Why have you turned so cold all of a sudden?"

I smoothed my collar and spoke without hurry.

"The divorce was her family's idea. If we're separating, then every expense should be settled clean, so there's nothing to squabble over later."

Every word out of my mouth was about money. My mother-in-law looked at Monica with unbearable grief and broke into sobs.

"My poor, foolish girl. You risked your life to give him a child, and in the end he can't even let a medical bill go uncounted."

"A man like that, what is there left worth holding on to?"

Monica's already fragile body swayed in that moment as if it would give out.

She looked at me, face drained white, the whole of her breaking apart with grief.

She was silent for a long time before the words came, choked.

"Irvin, at first I thought your sudden split-the-bills thing was just some passing madness."

"So no matter how you treated me, I bore it."

"I kept telling myself that once the baby came, once you saw our child, you'd come back to your senses."

"I thought this baby being born could take us back to how we were."

"Now I only want to ask you one thing. In your heart, are the baby and I really worth nothing at all?"

I looked at that face full of ruined hope, and I was silent for two seconds.

In the end I only said one thing.

"The rules can't be broken."

Five words, and they shattered the last light in Monica's eyes.

She let out a bitter laugh.

"I understand now."

I couldn't be bothered to argue with them any longer.

"I have things to do. I'll go first."

"If you need me for the divorce paperwork, you can reach me anytime."

With that, I turned and walked out of the room.

But I'd barely taken two steps when a huge crash came from behind me.

And right after it, screams tore through the air.

"Monica jumped!"