Chapter 2
621 Words
I had no idea she already knew, so all I could do was nod honestly.
The very next second, my wife burst out sobbing.
She threw herself into my arms and explained frantically.
"I... It's true. I did have that problem," she sobbed.
"They found out when I was little. I was completely crushed back then."
"Later, I got surgery. The doctor said I could live just like a normal person after recovery."
"I really did not mean to hide this from you. I just thought I was all better now, so there was no point bringing it up."
Her voice was thick with tears, every word heavy with guilt and panic.
"Sean, I am sorry. Please do not be mad at me. Please do not leave me," she pleaded.
I stood there. The messy scribbles on that medical report swam in front of my eyes. I could just barely make out something about "no viable surgical reconstruction options."
But looking at the woman in my arms, sobbing her heart out and shaking all over, she did not look a thing like the bubbly, charming woman I knew day to day.
The last traces of shock and doubt in my chest melted away in an instant, replaced by a dense, aching tenderness.
"How could I be mad at you?" I said.
I wrapped my arms around her and patted her back gently. The second I thought about her having to carry this terrible pain when she was just a kid, and get through that brutal, complicated surgery, my heart ached with a twisting pain.
"It's okay. I do not blame you. I feel bad for you," I said.
The moment those words left my mouth, her eyes lit up with surprise and joy, and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"Sean, you are so good... Thank you. Thank you for not blaming me," she said.
I sank back onto the bed with her in my arms, and she curled into my chest, her gaze distant and blank, as if she were lost in her own thoughts.
My chest clenched tight. Worried that this had dragged up all her old painful memories, I tentatively made a move to get close and comfort her.
I wrapped my arm around her waist and pressed kiss after kiss along the curve of her neck.
I thought this would help ease her mind, but she turned me down flat right away.
"Sean, I am just so tired today. I'm really not in the mood," she said.
I froze for a second in surprise, but I chose to respect her boundaries. I closed my eyes and settled in to sleep. After all, I had just had a ton of new information dumped on me all at once, and my brain was tired too.
Not even a few minutes later, a faint glow from a phone screen cut through the darkness and shone straight onto my eyelids.
I opened my eyes on instinct, and I caught her fingers darting fast to close out of a chat window.
"Sean, I forgot to bring condoms with me. Give me a minute. I am going to run out and grab a box," she said.
My wife locked her phone screen, dousing the light, and turned to face me.
"Huh?" Confusion pricked at me. "Didn't you just say you weren't in the mood?" I asked.
She crinkled her eyes into a sweet smile, leaned in, and pressed a soft kiss to the corner of my mouth. Her voice was playful and flirty as she said, "I feel like it now, all of a sudden."
"Come on, you know how it is. Us women are always fickle, right?" she added.
- Writer
