Chapter 2 - The Apology That Wasn't Mine
I picked up the envelope before Linda could reach it. Inside was a printed list: Daniel, Linda, and a space for a hospital room number. My best friend Mara, whom I'd asked to be my backup support person, had been crossed out in blue ink.
"Where did you get this?" I asked.
Linda lunged for the paper. "It's a draft. Stop digging through my things."
"It fell at my feet. And that's my name."
Daniel stood between us. "Not here, Em."
Tasha returned when she heard us arguing. I showed her the page. She studied it without taking it. "This isn't a hospital consent form," she said. "No one can approve visitors on your behalf just by typing your name. I'll help you check the records after your monitoring is complete."
Linda's face tightened. "So now I'm being treated like a criminal?"
"No," I said. "You're being told no. That's new for you."
We left through separate doors. In the car Daniel turned on the radio, then turned it off. He said his mother had texted an apology.
"To whom?" I asked.
"Me."
"She pulled a chair out from under me. Why is she apologizing to you?"
He stared through the windshield. "She didn't mean for you to get hurt."
"What did she mean?"
A long traffic light trapped us beside a gas station. Daniel tapped the steering wheel until I wanted to grab his hand and make it stop.
"She's felt pushed out for months," he finally said. "She calls me upset. She thinks you're taking everything personally."
"So all those nights when you told me I was imagining things, you'd already discussed them with her?"
"I was trying to keep the peace."
"You weren't keeping peace. You were keeping me uninformed."
At home I took pictures of my bruises. I added the doctor's discharge instructions to a folder and sent Mara one message: Can I stay with you if I need to?
Her answer came immediately: Yes. No explanation required.
Daniel's phone lit up on the counter while he searched for a charger. The preview was from his mother.
Don't tell Emily what we agreed about the delivery. She's emotional enough already.
May you like
I turned the screen toward him. "What did you agree?"
He reached for the phone, but I held up my hand. For the first time in our marriage, I was afraid to hear his answer.
