A Little Too Late
Chapter 3
Colonel Caleb x non mc! reader CW: Angst/ mentions of sickness/ set in the 1920s/infidelity/mentions of pregnancy/ 2.1k words
Part 1 Part 2
Your hands that were in possession of the letter, tremble, thoughts scattered everywhere. A child? Caleb has a...child? Your breathing was starting to become heavy and uneven. Who did he have a child with?
“Darling... What are you doing here?” You look up and see Caleb standing in the doorway. The color draining from his face seeing the letter in your hands. “Did you-” “Is this real?” You ask holding up the letter. Your eyes bloodshot with rage. “It's not what you think it is-” “ANSWER ME!” You yell. He took a few steps towards you but you staggered back. “Listen to me please,” he urged. “Is the child really yours? Just answer me Caleb.” Your voice trembled from rage and pain. He looked at your tearful with shame and regret and then looked away to avert his gaze. “Yes.” Hot tears streamed down your cheeks. “Why did you do this?” You sobbed and tried to break free from him as he tried to hold you. “Listen to me please.” He pleaded again. “Who is it? Who is the mother Caleb? And don't you dare hide it from me. I want the truth.” He hesitated before telling you her name. It was as if someone stabbed you in the heart and twisted the knife harder. “Her?! How could you do this to me??!! Why? Because I can't bear a child?!,” You yelled. Every word of yours pierced through him. And when you finally broke down crying, Caleb's greatest nightmare of you knowing the truth, came true.
Days flew by and your health worsened. You refused to let Caleb in let alone speak to him or even see his face. The thought of him enraged you and disgust emerged in your heart when your mind travels back to that day. Caleb couldn't tell if it was his fault that your condition worsened or was it your illness. He had been called upon and had to leave for an important mission. He wanted to put an end to this, with her. He did not want anything to do with her or the child. His child. No, it's not his, he will never acknowledge that. All that nattered to him was you, and now everything was ruined. His only wish is for you to get better, nothing else mattered to him. He doesn't care if you hated him or never want to see his face again, he wanted to see you healthy and lively. Though, he doubts you will ever be the same again. He got a glimpse of you through the narrow opening of the door to your chambers and you looked worse than he ever saw you before. And that's also why he appointed Zayne to look after you for the days he would be gone.
“I understand I'll be holding you back from your actual work, I will compensate you for that just, please... Look after her.” Zayne was well aware of the situation that had gone down a few days prior to his appointment. As much as he himself disapproved of Caleb for the moment, his priority now was his patient and friend, you. “I don't do this for compensation. She's a close friend, you both are.” Caleb could only look away from shame of facing his friend. “Zayne, whatever happened-” “I understand, let me deal with it for now.”
That was the last conversation Zayne had with Caleb before his departure. The pain in his eyes as he left without saying anything to you. He looked like a man that was going to war and was sure that he was never going to see the one he loved ever again.
Rumours about the Colonel's infidelity spread around the fleet rather quickly. But of course no one would dare bring that up now that the Colonel himself was present, not if they want to join those he discarded without a second thought. But hushed whispers about his betrayal to his wife could be heard every now and then and he wasn't all oblivious to it.
But some things didn't sit right with him or rather didn't seem to align. That night when she and Caleb were together, its true that he doesn't seem to remember anything about it and he was well aware that those were the effects of the toring chip. His memories of the morning after were vague as well. But the strange thing was that the incident happened almost five months ago and she was already 24 weeks in, six months. Something was not right. There are many in this fleet that want him ousted from his position as the Colonel and even worse, dead. Whatever this game was, he was going to get to the bottom of this. And God forbid if she was involved in one of these schemes.
“It's a sudden and severe chest pain.” When you fainted one day all of a sudden, Zayne suggested you be taken to a hospital but you were acting difficult and refused to leave. In the end he couldn't convince you as your mental health was already taking a toll on you. If Zayne had to be honest, you weren't doing so well. More so mentally than physically. “Her body temperature has risen as well, I'll give her something to lower the fever.” He walks out with the butler from your room so you don't hear their conversation. “It'd be best to send for Caleb,” he says quietly. Panic rises in the butler's face. “I-is my lady going to be alright?” “I can't say for sure. Her condition, it's..” he hesitates before continuing “Not improving. And as much as she regards Caleb with disdain, it'd be best for both if they stayed close rather than apart. Perhaps his presence might benefit us.”
Word is sent to the Colonel about his wife's condition. However, the letter wasn't received by the man himself. “The Colonel is currently away for an important meeting.” Caleb was sent to the front lines a few days prior to receiving the letter. He hesitated at first since the job description didn't really require his presence. But nonetheless had to comply. It was his trusted adjutant and assistant that received the letter but the ulterior motives of that man led him to discard the letter so that word about you never reached Caleb.
It was half past eleven. Zayne was in your chambers, giving you your required medication himself. He thought it'd be better if he saw to it personally. Your body was fragile and you'd panic if your maid and him weren't around for long. You've grown quite attached.
“Why did he do it?” you ask him quietly, tears pricking at the corner of your eyes. “Zayne..” He puts down the cup of medication he was mixing. This isn't how he expected to see you. You should've made a healthy recovery by now, everything should've been fine. “Am I going to die?” Your eyes have become void of any emotion and you stared at the ceiling. “You should get some sleep. I'll be here in the morning again,” he says softly and starts to get up from his chair. “If you need anything, I'll be right here.”
Thunder roars outside making you jump. You always hated it whenever there was a thunderstorm outside. Nights like these made you miss Caleb more. You'd curl up in his chest as he runs his hands through your hair and whenever there was a flash of lightning and the sound of thunder followed after, he would hold you tightly against him. “Still a scaredy-cat?" You turn around to the voice and see him standing. “I thought you weren't afraid of it anymore,” he says, stepping closer. You were always afraid of it, you hated it and you hated it more when it thundered like this and he wasn't beside you. “Remember when you used to hide during thunderstorms like this. At first I thought you were playing hide-and-seek with me. But then I saw you were frightened.” The dim light from outside illuminated half of his face and you could see those violet eyes. “I'm sorry for leaving you.” He caresses your face with the back of his hand. You wanted to reach out to him but couldn't, it's as if an invisible force much like his gravity was holding you back. You tried to say his name but nothing came out. “I love you.”
His eyes shot open as he gasped for breath. Caleb woke up drenched in sweat. Work had kept him under a weight the past couple of days. The thoughts of his possible infidelity haunting him. The dream. Why did he see it? It wasn't anything bad but... Were you alright? Caleb hasn't heard about anything from Zayne for the past few days. No update on your health or just you in general. Maybe you were healing well and don't want to see him. He's more than alright with that, he just wants to see you healthy again, the rest can be dealt with later. When you recover, Caleb is going to take you away from that lonely manor and start fresh somewhere else. Away from all this, where it's just the two of you again. He's going to step down from his position as Colonel once he settles things with both The Professor and her. You will never have to be alone again.
The maid ran down the stairs in a hurry. “Any word from the Master?” “I can't seem to reach him,” the butler says, panic in his voice. “The Mistress is getting worse, I don't think she's going to-” “Shush! You mustn't say such things.” The maid covers her mouth in tears. “I think I should go in person to see Master Caleb. I'll send someone in my place for assistance, make sure you do everything as Mr. Zayne says, he's the only one we can depend on for now.” Just as he was about to step out, another one of the maids call out to both of them to come up in your chambers immediately.
“What's going on?!,” the butler says in a tone of alarm. “Her breathing is getting heavier, it's getting harder for her to breathe and her pulse has weakened,” Zayne says holding your wrist. You were gasping heavily as your chest tightened. “Caleb...,” you gasped out. Zayne held your hand tightly. “Just hold on, he's going to be here.” He looks at the butler and with a nod of his head the butler leaves in a haste.
“Make sure everything is prepared by tonight, we need to act as fast as possible and get this done.” “Sir.” He dismisses the adjutant and proceeds forward along the long corridor. He makes a stop before his office when he hears an argument. “Sir, you cannot enter only classified personnel are allowed to have a meeting with the Colonel.” “You don't understand please, I need to speak to him right now. It's his wife-” The mere mention of you had him busting in the conversation. “What's wrong? What happened to her??” “Master Caleb, the lady... you need to come with me. Now.”
His footsteps splash hard against the puddles forming from the heavy rain. His Colonel uniform completely drenched but that was far from his mind now. “The lady has been taken to the hospital.” Those words kept ringing in his head until the car stopped and before he could realize his feet were running and taking him through this heavy storm. Please be alive, please be alive, please live. The voice inside him kept chanting those words like a prayer. He was in a state of worry and instability. He stormed through the gates and headed straight through the front corridor, not bothering to ask anyone which room were you taken to. “Sir, you cannot just enter-” “My wife! Have you seen my wife?!” “Sir, calm down I need you to-” He grabs the male nurse by the collar. “WHERE IS MY WIFE?!”
“Caleb.”
He turns his head and sees Zayne and hurries towards him. “Where is she? How is she?” The friend that helped heal his wife all these years could only avert his gaze away and Caleb knew all too well what that implied. “Zayne?” “You need to listen to me, please.” There were many moments in the past where Zayne bore unpleasant news for both you and Caleb but that was soon followed by a comfort, a hope that everything was going to be alright. His hazel green eyes became soulless almost an unpleasant grey that made him feel more like the grim reaper than the healer.
“I couldn't save her, I'm sorry.”
Rain poured down on the dark umbrella that was held over Caleb's head. Everyone left one after the other after sending their condolences and prayers. Only two childhood friends stood before the gravestone of the other friend they cherished and loved so much, each in their own way. “You'll get sick if you keep standing under the rain like this,” Zayne said quietly. Caleb didn't move, his soulless eyes kept staring down at the stone. “Caleb.” His friend put a hand on his shoulder but could not bring himself to say anything.
His soul left with yours and he was a walking empty vessel of a war machine now.
