My stomach tightened into something I could not identify. Fear and suspicion twisted together until I no longer knew where one ended and the other began.
“Don’t do this,” I told myself. “He’s probably hurt or worse.”
Still, my thoughts kept circling. And the more I turned everything over, the less sense it made.
By the time I arrived at the hospital, my insides felt tangled into knots.
I pulled into the parking lot, left the car crooked in the space, and half ran through the sliding doors.
Nurse Patel was waiting for me at the desk. Her eyes were gentle, and her voice was quiet and steady.
“He collapsed earlier this evening, but he’s awake now. Right this way, Mrs. Bennett.”
Relief washed over me instantly, and I silently thanked whatever higher power had kept my husband alive.
I followed her down a corridor that smelled like antiseptic and bleach. She paused outside a room and gave me a small nod.
I pushed the door open.
Daniel was propped against the pillows. He looked pale and worn out, an IV taped to the back of his hand. But he was alive. Awake. Looking straight at me.
The relief split me open. I covered my mouth, and tears spilled out before I could stop them.
“Thank God,” I whispered.
“Hey. Hey, Claire, I’m okay.” He gave me a faint, guilty smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you like this.”
I moved toward him on unsteady legs.
Then my husband lifted a hand and rubbed the back of his neck, the way he always did when he was about to confess something.
“There’s actually something I need to explain,” Daniel began.
I searched his expression.
My voice came out much smaller than I wanted it to.
“What is it, Daniel? What are you not telling me?”
He opened his mouth to answer, but he never got the chance. The door behind me flew open so hard it slammed into the wall.
A woman rushed inside, breathless, her eyes fixed on my husband as she ran directly toward him.
She did not notice me standing there.
And the second she stepped into the light, all the color left my face.
Megan, Daniel’s younger sister!
She hurried straight to his bedside, reaching for his hands.
“Are you okay?! Daniel, please tell me you’re okay!”
Her voice broke over every word.
My knees nearly buckled because Megan was the person who had cut herself off from the whole family almost four years earlier and had never returned. I had not seen her since a Christmas that ended with yelling and a front door slamming shut.
“Megan?” I said.
She went still. Her shoulders stiffened. Then she turned slowly, as though she had been hoping I somehow would not be standing there.
“Claire?”
Only my name. Nothing else.
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