Louise
I pace outside the hospital room, my legs long since gone numb, but I can’t stop. I just keep walking in circles, over and over.
Charlie tried to kill himself. The fact sits in my chest like a thousand-pound stone, stealing my breath.
He called me so many times. I only listened to three of those messages before I shut it off. I thought it was just his usual routine—the standard apology, the desperate attempt to reel me back in, the "I’m sorry, please come back" that precedes everything going right back to the way it was. I didn’t know he would…
I close my eyes, rubbing my temples hard.
Is this my fault? If I had listened to just a few more messages, if I had picked up the phone, if I had just told him I was okay but needed space, if—
"Who gave you permission to be here?" a man
