I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to… The words felt hollow even as they left my mouth. “I never intended…
It’s fine, she said softly. “Just an accident. I know that no matter how much you hate me, you’d never intentionally hurt me,
The candid look in her eyes made my chest tighten inexplicably.
I sighed, helping the nurse wheel her bed out of the emergency room.
Audrey, how are you feeling?” James rushed forward the moment we emerged, his face full of concern.
“It’s my fault,” he continued, shooting me an angry look. ‘I shouldn’t have gotten you involved in all this…”
“What are you doing?” I frowned, seeing his movements. “It was an accident. Stop trying to cause trouble.”
“Accident?” James stood his ground. His voice rose with barely contained fury. “It was fucking deliberate! You just love bullying her, just like your family!”
I felt my hands clench at my sides, jaw tightening at his presumption. Who was he to judge my family? To stand there playing protector to my wife?
James. Audrey’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Please stop. Get checked out and go home.”
James hesitated for a moment before letting out a resigned sigh. “Fine, Audrey, I’m leaving now. Take care of yourself. Call me if you need anything.”
Before walking away, he turned to me with a threatening glare. “If you hurt her again, I won’t let you off!”
I pushed Audrey’s bed toward her ward. “If he had stayed any longer, I might have hit him again.”
Audrey closed her eyes wearily. “I knew it, and that’s why I asked him to leave.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “So you were worried about him? Are you protecting him?”
She kept her eyes closed, offering no response to my question, which felt like
an answer in itself. It made something dark twist in my chest.
Back in her ward, I found myself drawn to the collection of medications lined up on her bedside table. Picking up one of the bottles, I studied the label. “What kind of illness makes you cough up blood like this?”
*Just stomach problems.” She moved quickly, almost defensively, taking the bottle from my hand and replacing it. “An old condition that’s been acting up lately. Nothing serious – just need a few days‘ rest. Sometimes certain foods trigger it.”
“Seriously?” I couldn’t keep the skepticism from my voice. “And I suppose you just happen to have bleeding gums too?”
Her slight nod only fueled my suspicion. The bleeding gums would explain the blood – a clever trick, really. After all, this was the same woman who had single–handedly managed my care when I was in a coma. I remembered her strength then, carrying my much larger frame to the bathroom, her constant chatter filling the silence of my unresponsive state. She had been the picture of health and vitality.
“So the blood you coughed up – is it from your bleeding gums?” Everything clicked into place. “If this were really serious, like gastric cancer, you wouldn’t be faking symptoms so dramatically.”
The smile she gave me was strange almost pitying. “You’re right. I didn’t think you’d see through it.”
–
Her easy admission seemed to confirm my suspicions, but I felt no relief. Her pale face, her trembling hands, the way she’d snatched that medication bottle from me – everything suggested there was more to this than she was letting on.
But I couldn’t bring myself to dig deeper. Was/it fear holding me back? Or guilt? It was easier to convince myself that yes, she was just acting, as she always
did…
My phone’s sudden ring cut through the moment
–
it was my grandpa.
1/2
Chapter 22
I stared
at it for a long
moment. Finally, with
more reluctance than I cared to admit, I answered
the
calf
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