Where the Streets Have No Name
Chapter 69
A pain-filled wheezing sound filled the room.
Ella had tired out her little lungs crying for who knew how long. But in that instant, her whimper of distress brought immeasurable relief to Edward.
Ella was alive.
He didn't know why he couldn't hear her cries until now, nor did he care at the moment. She was alive, albeit in pain, and that was all that mattered to him.
Clutching the baby monitor in his hand he took in a long needed breath of oxygen. He had to find Ella; see her with his own eyes.
He literally collided with Carmen on his way out of the kitchen. The noise from the baby monitor had to have alerted her.
To her credit, she had the good sense to look ashamed.
"I... I just thought maybe... It's not what you..." She stammered out the words that didn't quite form an explanation. Not that Edward was in any state of mind to give her a fair hearing.
Piercing her with a deadly glare, he shoved past her toward the staircase and bounded up the stairs two at a time until he reached Ella's nursery.
The door which was usually left ajar was closed shut. That partly explained why he couldn't hear Ella from the kitchen. Edward noticed that further effort had been expended to make the nursery soundproof; a bunch of towels were stuffed underneath the door which prevented even the feeble sound of cry from escaping too far.
As he stood outside the nursery, he could hear the faint sound of Ella's whimper. Kicking away the towels, Edward opened the door and rushed inside the room. Ella was lying in her crib, wheezing out short, pitiful breaths of exhaustion.
"It's okay, it's okay, Princess. Daddy's here. Sshhh," Edward said as he cradled Ella against his chest.
Sensing a sympathetic presence, Ella began to wail with renewed vigor, making her objections to being left alone for so long known with a piercing, keening shriek.
Carmen, who had followed Edward from downstairs, took a step back as if she had been struck, visibly distressed by Ella's cries.
"Edward-" she started tentatively.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Edward cut her short, for once not caring that his tone might upset Carmen or scare Ella even more.
Carmen lowered her head. She had been caught with the smoking gun that screamed of neglect and abuse toward her child. She realized that in one sweeping move, she had lost the substantial leverage she held over Edward.
"I needed to talk to you... but she cries all the time. I was going to check on her soon, I swear -" she tried again sheepishly, trying to get her voice heard over Ella's screams.
"Not now, Carmen!" he hissed through his teeth, interrupting her again. "I can't even look at you right now. I need to make sure my daughter is unharmed and well. So, just leave."
He had never spoken to his wife this such ferocity or harshness before, but right at that moment he couldn't bring himself to care about her fragile psyche.
"Get out!" he thundered when Carmen still hadn't made an attempt to leave the room, startling her with the venom in his voice.
The bitter reality finally dawned on Carmen.
Edward truly wanted her gone.
With heavy feet and tears streaming down her face, Carmen left Ella's nursery, and her crumbling life behind.
Thank you Lulabelle98, HeidiJoVT, and Dinx.