Chapter 79. Breathing Contest

RUBY

There's this number that has been calling me for the past few weeks at roughly the same time. When Toby leaves for work then the call comes in. I say hello and there is no reply, it's like we are engaged in some sort of breathing contest. Most times I'm the first to give in and cut the call. Every day I tell myself that I won't pick up the call again but every morning I find myself picking up the call like it's something to check off my to-do list. The day I woke up determined not to end the call no matter how long it took for the person on the other end of the line to either say what they have to say to me or cut the damn call, the call never came. It didn't come until a week after and by then I had almost forgotten what had been happening.

I woke up feeling more rested than usual. I couldn't remember the last time I had slept so many hours at night. I make my way to the nursery to check up on Jeremy, wondering why the source of m