Chapter 4
Emily’s POV
I tried to sit up but hissed when my hand sank
into a ceramic piece. I had fallen on the shattered
bowl. Now, I was covered in cuts and “fertility soup.”
Yay.
A movement to my right startled me, and I
looked to see Lucy there, seemingly unaffected by
my fainting spell and subsequent injuries. She
couldn’t care less about me; I knew that. It was just
startling to see her exact level of indifference. For
god’s sake, she was yawning. Like my pain bored
her.
I heard the front door open before fully
collecting myself and trying to rise to my feet. I
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knew it was Louis just by his thundering footsteps
as he ran across the house towards the kitchen.
When he entered the room, his eyes immediately
zeroed in on me, and seemingly genuine concern
appeared on his face.
“Emily,” he murmured as he walked over and
carefully knelt beside me. “Emily, are you okay?
What happened?”
Why was he so concerned? Didn’t he remember
what I had screamed at him through the phone?
He put his hands on my arms, and I couldn’t help
but relax a bit under the warmth of his palms. Damn,
I should have resisted. I should have pushed him
away and torn him a new one. But I didn’t.
“Emily isn’t feeling well. You should get her
checked out at the hospital,” Lucy said, her tone was
sharp but not malicious–not in front of Louis.
“Mom, what happened? Why is she covered-?”
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knew it was Louis just by his thundering footsteps
as he ran across the house towards the kitchen.
When he entered the room, his eyes immediately zeroed in on me, and seemingly genuine concern
appeared on his face.
“Emily,” he murmured as he walked over and
carefully knelt beside me. “Emily, are you okay?
What happened?”
Why was he so concerned? Didn’t he remember
what I had screamed at him through the phone?
He put his hands on my arms, and I couldn’t help
but relax a bit under the warmth of his palms. Damn,
I should have resisted. I should have pushed him
away and torn him a new one. But I didn’t.
“Emily isn’t feeling well. You should get her
checked out at the hospital,” Lucy said, her tone was
sharp but not malicious–not in front of Louis.
“Mom, what happened? Why is she covered-?”
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Lucy waved a hand to dismiss his concern. “It’s
nothing. We had a little disagreement, and she
accidentally dropped the soup I made for her. Then
she fainted and fell right on top of it. I didn’t know
what to do; I’m so glad you came home when you
did, son.”
Of course, Lucy would do all she could to
distance herself from any responsibility and then.
play the damsel in distress.
Lucy always knew how to twist the narrative
around in her favor to make sure, if anything, I
looked like the problem. Her pure malice toward me
was well hidden under a carefully constructed
façade–something Louis never seemed to grasp.
Lucy rose to her feet and collected her things.
“I’ll give you both some space,” she said and glanced
at me as if she were being gracious. “But remember,
Emily, drinking all of that wine will only hurt your
overall health.”
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Louis glanced over to her as he slowly helped
me to my feet. “Mom, don’t do that. Please don’t
overstep. Whether you like it or not, Emily is my
wife. There’s no one else for me.”
Lucy’s smile twitched into a grimace for a
moment. Before yesterday, I would have felt love
and pride at Louis for standing up for me. But now, I
couldn’t feel anything besides sadness and apathy. I
was numb.
“Of course, dear,” Lucy said too sweetly. “I’ll
leave you to it.”
With that, she left, and the air felt a little bit
lighter. IF only just. The tension between Louis and I
could still be cut with a knife. “Come on,” he said as
he gently led me to the side door towards the car,
“Let’s get you to the hospital.”
The ride to the hospital was pretty silent. I
stared blankly out the window, barely feeling the
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stinging cuts on my arms and hands. I saw Louis in
the window reflection, glancing at me as if unsure
what to say. But I was too tired to start the
conversation. My every movement felt heavy with
exhaustion.
At the hospital, a doctor quickly came to see us;
I recognized her as Dr. Jenna Anderson, a distant
family friend of Louis, but someone whom I had
enjoyed when I met her at the wedding.
“Hey guys, how are you? I saw you on the list
and knew I had to come over and check on you,
Emily,” she said with a genuine smile.
Louis nodded in greeting but seemed anxious to
get me looked at. “Thanks, Dr. Anderson. Emily
fainted on top of a shattered bowl of soup. Of
course, we want the cuts checked out, but I’m more
worried about the fainting.”
Jenna looked knowingly at me as if saying,
“What would we do without worrywart husbands?” I
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didn’t react back, and her smile faltered. Then she
turned to Louis and said, “And you should be more
worried about the fainting, but I wouldn’t get too
worked up about it yet. Any number of factors can.
cause fainting.” She pulled on some gloves. “Let me
clean up these cuts and see if any need stitches.
And I’ll ask Emily some questions to get a sense of
what may have happened.”
As she cleaned me up, I answered Dr.
Anderson’s questions as best I could while still
feeling emotionally out of it. However, it did help me
realize there were previous symptoms I had been
ignoring–occasional nausea, dizziness, hot flashes.
I noticed something spark in Jenna’s eyes as it
all came together. “What?” I asked. “What do you
think it is?”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure. I want to run
some tests, though. And I want to keep you
overnight for observation anyway, just in case.”
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Louis nodded urgently, obviously happy that I
would receive more medical care. For all his flaws,
he had always been mindful of my physical well-
being.
I agreed a little more reluctantly. Still, I ended up in an ugly hospital gown on an uncomfortable hospital bed. Louis sat beside me, his dress shirt and pants wrinkled and a bit stained now. He looked
as put together as I felt–meaning not at all.
Suddenly, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I broke
through my numbness and asked, “Louis, have you
ever cheated on me?”
His eyes widened in shock, but without missing
a beat, he shook his head and said firmly, “No, Emily.
I’ve never cheated on you.”
I searched his face for any signs of a lie, but his
expression was steady and sincere. Still, something
didn’t sit right with me.
