I pride myself on my ability to organize a schedule for Aspen. I did all this to help Emma because I knew she was the type who lived on schedules. Yet, even after all I did, it didn’t help Emma’s life. And as I place Aspen down for the night, the phone rings and wakes her, causing me to curse the person on the other end.

However, it does my heart good that the second I pick Aspen up, she calms to my touch. Answering the phone, irritated as hell, I hear a voice on the other end I don’t recognize. “Dr. Hunter?”

“Yes,” I say.

“This is Dr. Chow, your wife’s physician at Northwoods Treatments.”

My heart stops. At a quarter after eight, this can’t be a routine call or good news. “Yes, Dr. Chow, is my wife okay?”

“To my understanding, she is. I was just called a while ago. I hate to inform you, but Emma checked herself out of the facility today.”

“What? How is that possible?” I ask, thinking we had all the legalities covered.

“Actually, you never had her legally committed. She came on her own accord. So, unfortunately, she’s within her legal parameter. I can’t tell you much other than she’s seeking help elsewhere.”

“Where?” I ask, fighting my desire to reach through the phone and strangle this woman. She’s talking about legalities when less than two weeks ago, my wife almost killed herself.

“I can’t say but she’d been asking for a specific place that one of the other residents told her about, and just an hour ago, we received a request for her records.”

“You want to talk to me about legalities when just a couple of weeks ago, she was almost successful in a suicide, and you just let her go? I think you need to worry about your own legalities when I sue your ass.” I take the phone and throw it against the wall, shattering it into a million pieces. My once calm baby is now frightened from the volume of my voice and the loud crash against the wall.

I immediately call Nick from my cell since our home phone is busted. I must tell him this in person and hope by the time he gets over here, I’ll be able to track her down using the charges in our banking account. Any travel arrangements would show up on our online banking. When I log on to our accounts, there are no changes in our checking, but my mouth falls open when I see a withdrawal of forty thousand dollars from our savings account. She drained three-fourths of our savings, but now I know she was calculated in her actions, which hurts more. After calling the bank, I have nothing to go on since the new money had been transferred into an account that I’m not linked to.

The second Nick arrives from the SOS I sent to him, I sit on the couch with tears rolling down my face and a distraught six-month-old on my lap. Nick walks in with Justine, and being the pro she is as a mother and grandma, she takes Aspen to the nursery to rock her.

Nick sits down next to me, worry etching his face, but he doesn’t pressure me. He only pulls me into a hug. This man has single-handedly changed the course of my life. He trusted me with his little girl in a way he doesn’t trust anyone, and my life has never been the same. Really, until six months ago, I’ve never been happier.

I have let him down. His little girl is out there now, and we have no idea where. How could I be so stupid to think Emma would stick to this plan? I let her down, too.

“Nick, I’m so sorry. Ems, she left the facility. She checked herself out. I didn’t push for a committal, and for that reason, she was able to leave.”

He stands immediately and begins pacing back and forth. This is the Nick I know when he’s in crisis, as we both are.

“Finances? We can track her through that.”

I only shake my head. “She took forty grand out of our savings. She wants to be off the grid for a while and doesn’t want to be found.”

With the home phone now disabled, I hear a text come through my cell from a number I don’t recognize. Picking it up, trembling, I read it silently.

Unknown Number: Tyler, I’m sorry. It’s Ems. I’m not the person you married, and you should not feel obligated. You and the baby are better off without me for now. I’m taking control of my own treatment. I’ll be in touch soon. Tell my dad I’m so sorry.

Four lines, that’s all I get. She thinks we are better off without her. I need her! I have been cruel to her if she thinks I’m better off in this life without my other half. Handing the phone to Nick, I find my head in my hands as I break down.