3. I- almost killed my son

Manchester lay in the hospital bed, his body aching from the incident. He had been lucky to escape with only minor injuries but his mind was consumed by the worry of his one-year-old son Nelson.

The second his eyes shot open, his heart skipped a beat, knowing that he was involved in a car accident and his son was strapped behind on a child's seat.

"Nelson?" He muttered and ignored the tubes that were connected to him, he pulled them out forcefully and made his way out of the ward, fear and worry etched all over his face.

"Sir you shouldn't be out here," a nurse tried to get his attention and hopefully get him back to the ward, but Manchester couldn't be stopped.

"Where is my son?" He asked, limping his way from one ward to the other and stealing a glance at the window

"Where is my son, Nelson?" He called out, forgetting that the baby couldn't speak and wouldn't respond.

"Nelson?"

"Sir, I am very sure that your baby is fine, he should be somewhere in the pediatric ward. If only you'd get back to you..." the nurse's voice trailed off as Manchester shot a deadly gaze at her.

"The only thing I want to do right now is to see my son, all these things don't matter to me right now." He said, staring straight into the nurse's eyes.

"Please sir, you've opened your treated wound and it's bleeding." The nurse tried to convince him, and before Manchester could open his mouth to say another word, someone spoke from far ahead.

"He's in a ward upstairs, come with me."

With his white coat and stethoscope hanging from his neck, the doctor understood how worried the father must be, and chose to break the scene.

Manchester cast one last glance at the nurse before heading up to meet the doctor. They stepped into the elevator and soon they were on the second floor.

Once inside the ward, Manchester's heart sank to the bottom as his gaze fell upon his son whose condition seemed worse than his.

"He suffered severe injuries in the accident, and we are doing everything that we can to save him."

"Nelson," He muttered, running his fingers down his unconscious child's smooth face.

"I am so sorry, just one day without mummy and I've almost killed you."

Manchester bit back his tears, and his thoughts drifted to his wife Mel, he had been trying to process all that plus losing his job, but now, the accident had thrown everything into chaos.

"Doctor, please do everything you can to save him," Manchester pleaded,

"I don't care how much it cost, just save him, please...

"It cost so much already to sustain him to this point," the doctor interjected, but his tone was quite friendly so it didn't appear as though he doubted the young father's worth.

"But I'm glad we have your permission to continue."

Deep down, Manchester knew that this was going to be an addition to the piles of bills he had yet to sort out, but he was ready to give up everything to save his child.

"Can you give me a moment, doctor?" He requests, taking Nelson's tiny hand in his palm.

"Just three minutes," the doctor replied,

"I can't have you in here for too long."

"That's enough time," Manchester nodded and with that, the doctor walked out of the ward closing the door behind him.

Now alone with his son, Manchester took a deep breath, he gently rubbed his hand while searching for his phone with the other. He always has it in his pocket, so he hoped that it wasn't damaged in the accident.

Luckily it wasn't severely damaged, just a few cracks on the screen and that was it. Remembering that she had blocked his line, Manchester dialled his mother-in-law's number, again.

"Hasn't she told you to let her be, Manchester?" His mother-in-law scolded him even before he could say hello.

"Mum please, just one minute I beg you, I just want to speak with her for one minute, it's about Nelson...

"She doesn't want to speak with you." As she was responding, Manchester could hear Mel's voice in the background asking her mother to hand over the phone to her.

His heart raced thinking that she might disconnect the call and block him on the spot, but to his greatest surprise she said,

"What is it, this time?"

Manchester kept his voice steady, but did not try to hide his emotions,

"We were driving home, and... and ran into someone at the red light. Nelson is hurt Mel, he is hurt."

"And what do you want me to do?" She asked him, her tone was indifferent as though she wasn't the mother of the child.

Manchester felt a surge of anger and frustration, how could she be so cold? Doesn't she care about their son?

"Mel, please come to the hospital, Nelson needs you, I need you, please."

Mel sighed,

"Let me guess, you are stuck on the bill and need me to pay...

"But I have never asked you to pay my bills before." Manchester cut her off.

"And that is exactly why you are still in debt, Manchester and you'd keep accumulating them." Her words tore his flesh like a two-edged sword, piercing his already wounded heart.

"Mel, please just come to the hospital, for Nelson's sake, if not for mine."

There was a pause, and for a moment Manchester thought he had lost her. But then Mel spoke up.

"You are his father, take care of him by yourself, if you lose that child then it's your loss, not mine. I have no business with you or that home any longer, I just got engaged and I've moved on with my life. Please, Manchester let it go."

"Mel, can... and she hung up!" Manchester's face fell in disappointment, he couldn't believe that he was on his own now, everything was going wrong and could it get worse? Well yes.