"Yes Xylia but do not fret, I will be fine as soon as Prince Adramelech heals." weak Atticus coughed out faintly.
As soon as prince Adramelech heals?
How long till when the prince heals and just how many divine persons in the line who caught the disease would have lost their lives before the prince heals?
Her eyes were blurry and she couldn't retain the tears she had fought to keep at bay. Xylia wanted to hold her husband tenderly as sorrow and fear of the unknown settled upon her heart.
She went to place her head on his weak body and wept profusely, not bothering to be strong for Atticus anymore. "Oh, poor Atticus!" she cried out.
As if baby blue could comprehend all that was unfolding, she let out a big cry. Xylia's saddened sobs were no match for the pitch of baby blue's cries.
"What? Is that a baby?" Shocked Atticus struggled to ask her, his body vibrating under her head.
She raised her head up, going to lift the baby. Xylia was unable to believe herself. She forgot about the baby totally as soon as her ears heard the bad news about Atticus's health.
"Is this your way of introducing yourself to your father?" she cooed it in a bid to make her cry less of her loud wailing.
It was already getting closer to midnight. All the divine persons around would probably be sleeping and she wants for no baby to wake them up and cause them to gather on her doorstep.
Atticus's voice broke her thoughts. "Who are the parents of the baby, Xylia?"
"Us. Atticus, it's ours." she sniffed in the mucus that had gotten stuck in her nostrils from crying.
As expected, Atticus was surprised to hear that from her. " What do you mean us? Who owns the baby?"
She knew she sounded absurd but she would explain to him. She shouldn't stress him further for he was too weak as it seems.
"I found her beside the garbage bin in front of the O'Connor's gat…"
What was meant to be a gasp from Atticus came out as a cough. " Xylia, are you out of your mind?"
" Easy…" she cautioned him.
With one of her hands, she secured baby blue and with the other, she filled up the mug on the bed drawer. "Here." she handed him the mug.
Atticus's hands refused to collect the mug from her. "I will not take the water until you explain to me why you carried an abandoned baby home when you should have reported it at the police station or the proper security officers." He said.
Why was he sounding so worked up and angry? They had no child and she found one. Was it selfish of her to want to keep it.
"We need this child better than anywhere the police will dump it to. You should be happy Atticus, not angry." she shook the cup in her hand which was closely placed to his face, motioning for him to stop being a negativist and take the cup from her.
After a short silence with no movement from either party, he finally collected the cup from her. I am collecting the water from you because I want to ease you from the stress of straining your hand which is already burdened from having to carry the bag of trouble you brought ho…" he added.
How a sick man was able to talk so much, she had no idea.
"It's not a bag of trouble Atticus. She is a bundle of joy." Xylia corrected her husband as she tickled the nose of baby blue who had stopped her wails.
The liquid sound of the beautiful baby laugh baby blue gave from having to be tickled surely wasn't melting only her heart, was it?
Atticus was silent. His heart was surely being melted too.
"What do we tell people in the morning? Our neighbors who knew we had no child or that you were in any way pregnant?" The silent Atticus finally raised a question.
A question she had not given any thought. When her eyes met with the baby's everything that ran through her mind was to take the baby home and make it hers.
She took in a cloud of the dense bedroom air. "When tomorrow comes, we will deal with that." she finally said after deciding she had no answers for that.
She would spend the night thinking of the solution to that.
"For now, hold the baby. I will go get your drugs. It's almost past their usage time." She held out the baby to her unwilling husband. "Take it." she finally instructed when he made no move.
"I can not."
"Why?!"
"I can not move Xylia. I don't know what happened but I can't move my body…"
She began to panic. The look on her husband's face showed he wasn't joking at all.
The bond disease was increasing in power while destroying more and more her husband's health.
"Your drugs... They— They should... They should ease the pain." she stammered. "I can drop the baby on your body. You can handle her weight right?"
The only reply she got was a nod of Atticus's head.
Impulsively, she dropped the baby on his chest and proceeded to the second room of their two-bedroom apartment to get the drugs.
At least, she found the drugs faster.
They were lying on the plastic table at the other end of the room.
When she got to the second room after getting the drugs, what she saw caused her to drop the drugs she was holding firmly to her chest.
Clatter!
The drugs sang as they met the ground.