Pregnant, Crashed, My Split-Bill Husband Forced Self-Pay Before Ambulance

There'd been a crash.

I was three months pregnant, pinned inside the wreck, one wrong move away from losing us both.

I begged my husband, who didn't have a scratch on him, to call an ambulance.

Instead he took his time pulling out pen and paper and set them down in front of me.

Sign something first.

"The accident happened because you were being difficult and distracted me. Every loss is on you."

Warm blood slid down my thigh, and panic tore through me.

"Grayson, this is your child"

He didn't flinch.

"Repairs, emergency fees, and any and all costs after that, you cover them personally."

"You don't sign, I don't make the call."

I couldn't gamble on it. I signed my name, my hand shaking.

There was no ink pad, so I pressed my thumbprint in my own blood.

Grayson nodded, satisfied, folded the paper carefully, and tucked it into his wallet.

He was just about to call for help when the ringtone he kept only for his childhood sweetheart went off.

"Grayson, my dog's in labor, she's stuck, she can't get the puppies out."

"I'm so scared. Can you come help me?"

Grayson answered at once.

"Don't be scared, I'm calling the best animal hospital right now."

"Don't worry about the money, I've got all of it. Just wait for me like a good girl."

Then he left me there alone and walked away without looking back.

I pressed my hand to the cold curve of my belly, and the world blurred.

Maybe it was for the best. With the baby gone, there'd be nothing left tying us together.

In the end it was a kind stranger passing by who called the ambulance.

They wheeled me into the emergency room, a nurse's voice drifting somewhere above me.

"Twelve weeks pregnant, hemorrhagic shock, no fetal heartbeat."

"Prep for a D and C. Where's the family?"

Someone gave my arm a gentle nudge.

"Ma'am, I need a number for your family."

My heart clenched so hard I couldn't breathe.

Without thinking, I recited Grayson's number.

The nurse dialed and put it on speaker.

"Is this the family of Aria Sullivan? She was in a car accident, she's hemorrhaging, the baby can't be saved."

"We need a family member to come sign the surgical consent."

The line went quiet for two seconds, then a scoff came through.

"Not this again. Aria, how childish can you get?"

His voice was all irritation.

"I just came to help deliver Sophie Edwards's dog's litter, and you're swearing on our baby over it?"

"Getting jealous of a dog. Have you no shame?"

Faintly, I could hear Sophie in the background.

"Grayson, Mochi won't eat."

He answered her, then turned back to the phone.

"Sophie's cat just gave birth, she's weak, I can't get away."

"Keep all the bills. We'll split it fifty-fifty later. Don't worry, I won't shortchange you."

The call cut off.

"No need. There's nothing left to split, ever again."

I murmured it at the dark screen.

The nurse stood beside me, pity on her face.

"Ms. Sullivan, is there anyone else we can call?"

I shook my head, forced myself upright, and signed my own name with a shaking hand.

When I woke again, the room was empty.

My hand went to my belly on its own. The child I'd waited eight years for was gone from me forever.

On social media, Sophie had posted one thing after another.

A luxury pet delivery room. Grayson feeding a puppy goat's milk formula from a syringe.

The last post was an itemized bill.

Emergency delivery, postpartum care, a private nanny. Thirty-eight hundred dollars total.

In the payer's signature line: Grayson Delgado.

Below it, her reply to a friend's comment:

"Grayson paid for all of it. He said we couldn't let Mochi suffer. You have no idea what it means to have Mochi's daddy right there beside her."

I couldn't help the bitter smile.

I carried his child, and he wanted to split every last thing with me down the middle.

Sophie's dog gives birth, and he pays the money, does the work, and tends to it himself.

So it turned out he wasn't stingy after all. I just wasn't worth his money.

The next moment, Grayson called.

I thought maybe his conscience had caught up with him, that he wanted to know about me and the baby.

Instead, the second it connected, out came the cold interrogation.

"Aria, what's the matter with you?"

"This morning's parking was fifteen dollars. Your share is seven fifty. Why haven't you sent it over yet?"

Listening to him, all I felt was how absurd it was, how cruel.

"We'll settle the gas at the end of the month, but parking's split, seven fifty. Send it now so you don't forget again later."

There was still an IV needle taped into the back of my hand, the cold fluid seeping into me drop by drop.

I'd lost my baby and I was lying in a hospital bed, not sure whether I'd live.

And he was still keeping score over a seven-fifty split bill.

"It's only seven fifty. You're not going to stiff me, are you?"

I opened my phone and quickly sent him the seven-fifty transfer.

He accepted it in a heartbeat and wrote back, "From now on do it yourself. Don't make me ask three, four times."

I scrolled through our whole chat history, nothing but tallies and fifty-fifty splits, back and forth.

Eight years of carefully tending this marriage, and it had turned out utterly pointless.

Let that last seven fifty be the final payment I made on it.

The day I was discharged, I took a cab home alone.

I pushed the door open, and the nursery I'd put together so carefully had become a pet room.

The crib I'd spent three days assembling by hand, the little socks and little clothes I'd folded into neat stacks all of it was gone.

Grayson and Sophie had their heads bent close together, drying off a puppy.

"Who gave you permission to touch my nursery?"

That nursery had taken me three months of hard work to set up.

Half of it Grayson had said was unnecessary, so I'd paid for it all myself.

Sophie spoke first.

"The dog just gave birth, she's weak. Grayson said your nursery was sitting empty for now, so we borrowed it to help her recover."

Grayson stood, his tone matter-of-fact. "It's just sitting there going to waste. Might as well let Sophie use it."

Anger churned up in me. "Did anyone ask me? And where are the baby things that were in that room?"

Sophie looked all innocent. "Grayson said you wouldn't be needing them for a while, so I threw them out to help."

"Aria, you're not going to be that petty about it, are you?"

Grayson planted himself in front of her.

"Aria, that's enough. You're barely through the door and you're already putting everyone on trial."

"Sophie was kind enough to help clean up, and this is the face you give her?"

My child's things. Never used once, and they'd thrown them out without asking me.

"Fine, use the room. But we settle it by the rules."

"The baby supplies I bought earlier were all brand new. You moved and ruined them without permission, so you'll reimburse me full price."

"And there's a fee for occupying the room. Charged by the day."

Grayson's face darkened.

"Aria, can you not nickel-and-dime everything?"

"The place is empty anyway. Sophie's only borrowing it for a while, and you're going to charge her rent?"

I held his hypocritical face in my stare, and a mocking curl tugged at my lips.

"You're the one who always wanted rules with me. Fifty-fifty, everything equal."

"Eight years of marriage. Rent split fifty-fifty, utilities fifty-fifty, groceries fifty-fifty."

"Even when I had morning sickness and couldn't eat, the leftovers got counted as my waste."

"You're the one who taught me the rules. What's wrong with me following them now?"

I'd left him with nothing to say, and it turned to humiliated rage.

"That's not the same thing. Sophie is like a little sister to me."

"She's got no one to lean on in this city. What's wrong with me looking after her a little?"

"You're my wife, you're the woman she calls her sister-in-law. You should be more gracious, more understanding."

Listening to him, all I felt was how absurd it was.

"My prenatal checkups had to be split fifty-fifty, but her dog gives birth and you drop seven grand and change without blinking."

"Grayson, your double standard is honestly disgusting."

Sophie's eyes reddened, and she dropped her head, wounded.

"Aria, it's all my fault, please don't fight."

"I shouldn't have troubled Grayson, shouldn't have taken over your room, but Mochi and her babies are living things too"

Then she scooped up Mochi and ran out.

Grayson turned on me, his voice sharp.

"Aria, that's enough. When did you turn into such a mercenary, impossible person?"

"Sophie sat with Mochi through the birth. She's barely rested these past few days. Can't you have a little sympathy?"

I wanted to say I'd just lost a baby, that my body was weaker than hers. I wanted to say the dog hair set off my breathing, that I was allergic. I wanted to ask why he never had any sympathy for me.

But the words came to the edge of my mouth, and I swallowed them back down.

With a man who doesn't love you, everything you say is just making trouble.

The door slammed shut with a bang. Grayson had gone after Sophie.

From school uniforms to a wedding dress, eight years, I'd honored his so-called fifty-fifty and equality.

When he ran a fever, I sat up with him three nights straight. That didn't count as money.

When morning sickness left me unable to eat, he asked whether the leftover food could be counted as my personal waste.

I pulled a ledger out of the drawer, every day's spending recorded line by line.

Small as a twenty-cent plastic bag, large as rent, utilities, the mortgage.

I had eight of these ledgers.

I turned to the last page, picked up a pen, and added a line.

"Miscarriage hospital bill, $8,600, borne by Aria alone."

And our eight years of marriage ended right there.

The next morning, Grayson came home carrying a plastic takeout container.

A thick, fishy smell drifted over, and my stomach lurched.

"This place makes a good seafood chowder. Sophie couldn't finish it, she doesn't eat much."

"I figured it was a waste to throw out, so I brought it back for you to try."

"Seafood chowder isn't cheap. By rights you should pay Sophie for half of it."

"But she's always been kind and generous, so let's just call it the rent for the pet room."

I couldn't hold back a cold laugh and pushed that half-bowl of leftover chowder back toward him.

"Grayson, how much does it cost to rent a one-bedroom on the market?"

He blanked for a second, then caught my meaning and flushed with anger.

"Aria, it's the thought that counts. When did you get so obsessed with money?"

"Isn't this what you taught me?"

When I had acute appendicitis and was bedridden for two weeks recovering.

He calculated the extra water, power, and gas I used, said I'd run the AC too much at home.

"Is there any point dragging up old accounts like this? Are we even going to live like a couple?"

I lifted my eyes, my gaze calm and still.

"The crib, fifty-eight hundred. The thermostatic sterilizer, thirty-six hundred. The pure cotton bedding, twelve hundred."

"Clothes and toys, two thousand. The room renovation, ten thousand. Twenty-two thousand six hundred in total. You pay it in full."

Grayson stared at me, full of disappointment.

"Aria, you get colder and more heartless by the day. The old you was gentle and sensible. You never kept score."

"When I didn't keep score, you wanted every last thing counted clean. Now I go by your rules, and suddenly I'm cold and heartless?"

"Grayson, why do your principles only ever apply to me?"

He had nothing to say. He pulled out a stack of bills and flung them scattering over me.

"Fine, I'll give you this bit of money. But remember, you're the one who forced us apart."

"When the baby's born, he'll be ashamed to have a mother who nickel-and-dimes everything."

Something in my chest ached.

Even now, he still didn't believe the baby was gone.

I thought of the memorial tablet I'd set up at the temple for the child who was never born, and I softened my tone.

"Grayson, are you free tomorrow? I need to take you somewhere."

He was still riled up, and his face puffed with resentment.

"Is my time worth nothing?"

"You want me to go with you, fine. Pay me by the hour."

I pushed down the bitterness and the resentment inside me.

"All right. Whatever your hourly rate is, I'll pay it."

"Fifteen hundred an hour."

I picked up my phone and transferred him forty-five hundred. "Tomorrow I'll take up three hours of your time. Here's the payment up front."

Buying the baby one last chance to see its father.

The words had barely left my mouth when his phone rang.

"Grayson, Mochi's got a bit of diarrhea, I'm so scared."

Grayson couldn't be bothered to argue with me anymore. He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.

"I need to go check on Sophie's dog. This can wait till later."

I stubbornly caught his sleeve.

"You just promised me. Nine tomorrow morning, you're with me."

"Grayson, it's the last time."

It was the last time I would ever beg him like this, small and pleading.

Begging him to do a father's duty just once, to say a proper goodbye to the baby.

Grayson knit his brows, his whole face impatient.

"Can you stop making a scene? What if something happens to Mochi?"

"Can't that little mess of yours wait a bit?"

He shoved my hand away, his voice cold and final.

"Aria, I don't have time for your dramatics."

With that, he pushed the door open and strode off.

I stood there, everything inside me gone dead and quiet.

I turned and gathered my things, then set the signed divorce agreement on the desk in his study.

After tomorrow, we'd go our separate ways, free of each other.

The next day was the seventh-day memorial for my baby.

I put on a black dress and waited quietly for Grayson.

I wanted the two of us to see our child off ourselves, one last time.

The agreed hour came and went. Grayson never showed.

A dozen calls, and no one picked up.

He'd taken the forty-five hundred in hourly pay.

But the three hours we'd agreed on, he forgot.

I got in the car and drove straight to Sophie's place.

Grayson rented it for her. Thirteen hundred a month, and he never once brought up splitting anything fifty-fifty.

The room was loud with noise. Sophie saw me first.

"Well, look who it is. What brings Aria all the way here?"

"Mochi had three sons, safe and sound. Grayson said we absolutely had to celebrate."

Grayson stood in the middle of the crowd, holding Mochi, positively glowing.

He saw me and froze for a beat, then raised an eyebrow.

"Since you're here, join the fun. Don't forget to chip in a gift for Mochi."

"Oh, right. Whatever you eat and drink is billed separately. Just pay Sophie directly."

I stood in the doorway, cold all over.

Today was the seventh day since my baby died.

And the baby's own father was here, throwing a birthday party for a dog.

Someone nearby snickered.

I stood where I was, a punchline.

"I'm not here for the party."

"You promised me. Three hours this morning. You'd come with me."

Something flickered in Grayson's eyes.

"It's just that I can't get away. Mochi only just gave birth, and Sophie can't manage it all on her own."

"I'm not breaking my word on purpose. Why don't you wait outside a bit? I'll go with you once I'm done here."

Fine. I'd wait.

Wait for this last time.

Wait for him to say a proper goodbye to our child.

I turned and went to wait in the stairwell. I don't know how long it was before Sophie came out carrying a glass of red wine.

"Aria, you're actually waiting?"

"You don't really think Grayson loves you, do you?"

"Let me spell it out. You're a stand-in. I left, and he grabbed the first replacement he could find. That was you."

"The one in his heart has always been me."

When I didn't react, her eyes rolled and she leaned close to my ear.

"You know why he insisted on splitting everything with you?"

"Because he promised me. He'd never spend a cent keeping another woman."

Something in my chest lurched. Eight years of marriage. The equality and respect I thought I had were nothing but a promise he'd made to another woman.

Sophie watched the color drain from my face, and her mouth curled into something vicious.

"Oh, and the car crash last time? That wasn't an accident either."

"Grayson lost a bet with me. I told him to give you a real scare."

"I figured he'd back out, since you were carrying his child. Turns out he didn't hesitate for a second."

My ears rang. The blood rushed to my head all at once.

So the crash wasn't an accident. He did it on purpose.

With his own hands, he'd killed our child.

I couldn't stop shaking.

"Aren't the two of you afraid of what's coming to you?"

Sophie laughed out loud. "Afraid of what? Even if there's a reckoning, Grayson will protect me."

"Don't believe me? Want to test it?"

The words had barely left her mouth when she smashed the wine glass against the floor and slapped herself hard across the face.

Then she dropped to a crouch, cradling her cheek, and started crying pitifully.

"Aria, I know you resent Grayson for taking care of me."

"But you can't hurt Mochi's babies. They were only born a few days ago..."

Still sobbing, she threw herself into Grayson's arms.

"Grayson, my puppies are gone..."

Grayson looked at the three newborn pups lying motionless in the dog bed, and he looked ready to tear me apart limb from limb.

"Aria, how could you be so vicious!"

"Puppies never did anything to anyone. How could you bring yourself to do it?"

"It wasn't me."

"If not you, then who? These pups go for a hundred grand at market rate. You're paying!"

Sophie sobbed against his chest until she could barely breathe.

"Grayson, I don't want money. Those were three little lives. Life is priceless."

"I want her to wear mourning for my puppies and keep vigil three days and three nights to atone."

Grayson didn't find a thing wrong with it.

"Aria, you're the one in the wrong. Sophie's asking for nothing unreasonable."

"Keep vigil for the dogs three days, apologize, and we'll call it even."

My stomach heaved, and I brought up a mouthful of blood before I could stop it.

"Aria, what's wrong with you?"

Sophie sniffled. "Is she... is she faking sick so she can weasel out of it?"

Grayson stayed where he was, brows knit, glaring at me in displeasure.

I pulled the corners of my mouth into a smile.

"Three precious dog lives. Mourning clothes, vigil for three days. How could that ever be enough!"

"Grayson, would it settle the debt if I paid her with my child's life?"

I flung the miscarriage certificate hard into his face.

Grayson stared blankly at the words on it, the color bleeding out of his face bit by bit.

"A-Aria..."

"What did you do to my baby?"