Chapter 6
David rubbed his palms together.
“His symptoms have improved since he stopped operating.”
“That sounds hopeful.”
“It is,” Dr. Patel said. “But the nerve has been under pressure for a long time.”
I looked down at my hands.
I was wearing the wedding ring Marcus had given me eleven years earlier in a small church with yellow roses along the aisle. He had cried during his vows. Not a little. Completely. Tears streaming down his face while everyone laughed softly because he had always been terrible at hiding what mattered to him.
I had thought that was the most vulnerable I would ever see him.
I had been wrong.
“Why didn’t he tell me when it started?” I asked.
Dr. Patel looked at David.
“He believed the symptoms would resolve.”
“And when they didn’t?”
“He convinced himself he could manage them.”
“And when he couldn’t?”
“He became frightened.”
My voice tightened.
“Frightened enough to let me think he was simply too busy for his family?”
David flinched.
I saw it and immediately regretted the sharpness in my voice, though not the truth behind it.
“I’m not angry that he’s sick,” I said. “I’m angry that he decided I wasn’t strong enough to stand beside him.”
Dr. Patel nodded.
“That is a conversation you need to have with him.”
“Where is he?”
David rose.
“He’s in the chapel.”
“The chapel?”
“He goes there before difficult procedures.”
“I thought he wasn’t operating.”
“He still sits there.”
I picked up the lunch bag.
Dr. Patel stood as well.
“I’ll give you both privacy.”
I paused at the door.
“Does he know I’m here?”
David shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why did you bring me upstairs?”
“Because I couldn’t watch you walk away again.”
The words surprised me.
I turned toward him.
“Again?”
David looked down at the floor.
“Last month, you came to the hospital for his birthday.”
I remembered.
I had brought cupcakes from the bakery near our house. Marcus had texted that morning saying he was covering an emergency consult and might be late. I had stopped by anyway, hoping to leave the cupcakes in the staff lounge.
David had found me near the parking garage.
He had taken the box from me and promised to give it to Marcus.
I had thought he looked guilty because Marcus was missing another family occasion.
He had known then.
He had already known.