Even though the staff clearly weren’t thrilled with Nathan,
he still had the right to be informed about my condition.
On paper, he was still my husband.
“The doctor said you can only eat liquids today,” he said, walking in with a warm container.
“I got your favorite–chicken noodle soup.”
I didn’t even look at him.
I never liked red dates.
That was his thing.
Back when he had stomach issues, I lied and told him I loved the stuff,
just so he’d eat it too.
To help him.
Not that it mattered now.
He sat down beside me, still trying to play the part.
“You went through something huge. Why didn’t you call me?”
“I’m your husband. You can’t just keep acting like a kid.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Bitter and sharp.
I picked up my phone and dialed his number.
A robotic voice answered.
“This number is unavailable. Please try again later.”
His face turned ghost–white.
He forgot.
He blocked me.
“Olivia, wait–let me explain…”
He reached for my hand.
I jerked it back like he burned me.
“Don’t touch me.”
“And stop pretending like you give a damn.”
“You put me in this hospital, and then you ran around ‘trashing me to our son
Said I keyed Sarah’s car?”
“That I cheated on you?”
AM
Fifteen Days in Hell While le Took Our Son to Her
7.49%
Chapter 9
“1–I didn’t know…”
Nathan looked like someone had punched him in the gut.
Then suddenly, something clicked.
He froze.
“How… how did you get hurt?” he asked, his voice shaking.
“You really want to know?”
I stared him down.
“It was pouring rain.”
“I was bringing you your meds.“”
“You called me, remember?”
“I got hit by a car.”
Nathan’s jaw dropped.
He looked like his soul had just left his body.
“No… no, that’s not real. That can’t be true.”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel guilty, right?”
“You think this is a game, Nathan?”
“Truth or dare?”
“I answered your call and ran into a storm for you.”
“There was flooding everywhere, but I didn’t even think twice.”
“You have any idea what it’s like to have your chest impaled?
My kidney ruptured.
When they pulled me out from under that car,
I was still holding your pills.”
“On the ambulance, I told the EMT to call you,
and guess what I heard?”
“Sarah, giggling on the other end–saying you were playing some dumb party game.”
My voice broke. The tears came hard and fast.
My whole body was shaking.
I thought about the crash
I thought about his voice that night–cold and dismissive.
My heart felt like it was being ripped apart.
Nathan looked like he wanted to crawl under the floor.
Like a kid who just shattered something expensive and had no clue how to fix
7.7桶
Chapter 9
“I’m sorry, I swear I didn’t mean for this to happen. It was just a game.”
“I didn’t think-”
I looked up through my tears.
Disappointed didn’t even begin to cover it.
“You didn’t think it’d hurt me?”
“That’s your excuse?”
“I almost died for you, Nathan.”
“And you didn’t call. Not once.”
“Not a single message.”
“You were out playing house with Sarah. Took our son to a theme park.
Did you even wonder how I was doing?”
“Did you know he called me a whore when I got home?”
“You told him I cheated, didn’t you?”
“What kind of man lets his kid believe that about his own mother?”
“Nathan, how the hell do you sleep at night?”
I pictured him and Sarah, all smiles, holding our son’s hand.
Then I pictured my son, looking at me with disgust.
It felt like my heart was being shredded into pieces.
I lost it.
I screamed at him, said things I didn’t even know were inside me.
Three years of dating.
Ten years of marriage.
And it all felt like one big, ugly lie.
