And the barbecue two months ago… I remembered sitting on the rooftop, exhausted from the pregnancy, while Jessica sat next to me. She had placed her hand on my stomach.
“Can I feel?” she had asked. “It’s such a magical connection, isn’t it? Nothing can break that.”
I felt bile rise in my throat. It wasn’t just an affair. It was a performance. She wanted a front-row seat to the life she was dismantling.
“Mrs. Thompson?”
A young doctor with wire-rimmed glasses stood before me. “Dr. Patel. Your husband is out of danger. He’s lucky.”
Lucky. The word tasted like ash. Lucky to be alive to face the wreckage he caused.
“Can I see him?” My voice was unrecognizable—flat, dead.
“He’s sedated for pain management right now,” Dr. Patel said, hesitating. “And the other patient is in the same observation room. Perhaps it’s better to wait…”
“No,” I said, standing up. The dizziness was gone, replaced by a cold, sharp clarity. “I want to see him now.”
He led me to a room separated from the hallway by a green curtain. He pulled it back.
The scene revealed itself like a tableau of guilt.
Two beds, side by side. On the right, Michael. His arm was splinted, his face scratched, sleeping the sleep of the medicated. Even unconscious, he looked weak.
On the left, less than six feet away, was Jessica.