Chapter 5
1511 Words
Frank had been sitting in the chair for ages after Mara left, letting his thoughts loop over and over. He kept coming back to the same conclusion he'd reached before: Mara was emotional. Always had been.
That ‘collaspe’ stunt she pulled felt so dramatic, like it was all just a show to make him look like the bad guy in her story. He figured she would cool down, think things through. She always did come back once her feelings settled.
“So pathetic,” he muttered to himself, the words sounding reasonable and almost convincing when no one was around to argue.
Then the phone rang, breaking the silence. Caleb’s name lit up on the screen, and for a moment, Frank thought about letting it go to voicemail, wanting to hold on to the certainty he'd built up. But something twisted in his gut urged him to pick up.
“Frank,” Caleb's voice came through furious and tense. “If anything happens to Mara, I swear I won’t let you off easy. How could you leave your wife alone in a hospital? You'd better get there before I do.”
Hospital. That word stuck in Frank's mind, heavy and unavoidable, forcing him to face the truth he'd been trying to dodge since their fight. So this wasn’t just some act she pulled.
He jumped up, keys in hand, rushing through the house in a panic, almost thinking that moving fast enough could fix whatever mess he’d made. Tires screeched as he sped out of the driveway, his mind racing even faster than the car, replaying snippets of their argument—her voice, her expression, and the hurt look in her eyes when he had turned away.
“What have I done?” he murmured as the streets flew by.
He barely got there before the explosion hit from a distance, loud enough to make him slam on the brakes, the shockwave rattling his car as flames shot up into the night sky, clearly coming from the hospital.
His breath caught painfully in his throat. There was no way that could be real.
By the time he arrived, chaos had erupted. Smoke filled the air, people were running in every direction, and sirens blared as if the night itself was falling apart. Frank stumbled out of the car, his legs shaky and his heart pounding so hard he could hardly think straight.
“Mara,” he whispered, searching through the crowd for her face. He grabbed a doctor passing by, his voice trembling despite his best efforts. “My wife. Mara Calloway.”
The doctor looked tired and shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
Denial kicked in automatically. “No,” Frank murmured to himself. “She can’t be here.”
There was no way.
Then he heard the nurses. Their voices were low and rushed, mixed with panic, but their words cut through everything. “The room that exploded belonged to the woman whose husband told us to inform him when she was dead.”
Frank felt everything tilt. He had said that, though not seriously, not truly meaning it… just words thrown out in anger, trying to end the argument but never thinking it would lead to something this serious, this final.
Caleb showed up moments later, confusion on his face until he spotted Frank, and then it turned to rage. He rushed over, grabbed Frank by the collar, and slammed him back.
“What’s going on?” Caleb demanded. “Where is she? Where’s Mara?”
Frank opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Because the truth hit him hard.
Caleb’s grip yanked him forward again. “Frank.” His voice cracked snow, and anger changed into something closer to panic. “I asked you a question. Where is my cousin?”
Frank’s throat moved, but no sound came out, then he turned slowly toward the burning building instead, like if he stared long enough it would change shape, and undo itself.
“I… I didn’t know,” Frank said finally, but even he could hear how weak it sounded. “She wasn’t supposed to be there. She left my office. She. she… she was fine.”
For a second, neither of them spoke.
Just sirens and the sound of distant collapsing glass.
**********
After some hours of pacing back and forth, one of the hospital administrators came rushing out, his face was pale, and phone still in hand like he had been running and calling at the same time.
“Mr Calloway!” he called out.
Frank turned immediately. “Yes… my wife, Mara Calloway—”
The man didn’t even let him finish.
“We’ve confirmed something,” he said, breath uneven. “The explosion wasn’t random. It was targeted.”
Frank went still. Caleb did too.
The man swallowed hard. “The device was planted in the private recovery section… specifically the room your wife was admitted into.”
It took a second for Frank’s brain to connect them.
“No,” Frank said immediately, shaking his head like that could erase the sentence. “No, she wasn’t… tell me she was discharged. She left right? she—”
Caleb stepped forward sharply. “What are you talking about?”
The administrator looked between them, clearly struggling with how much truth to release at once. “There’s more,” he said quietly. “The nurses… they reported a threatening phone call earlier today. From this number.”
He raised the phone slightly.
Frank already knew before he even saw it.
Caleb snatched it. “Whose number?”
The man hesitated. “Mr Frank Calloway.”
Caleb turned slowly to Frank.
“Explain threatening…,” he said.
Frank’s lips parted. His mind was racing now, trying to pull words together fast enough to survive this moment.
“I didn’t—” he started, then stopped. “I didn’t know it was serious.”
Caleb blinked once. Slowly.
Then the calm broke.
“You didn’t know?” he repeated, voice rising. “You didn’t know she was in the hospital? Make me understand Frank. ”
Frank shook his head fast now, stepping back instinctively. “No… no, you’re not understanding me. I thought she was… she does this, Caleb. She walks out, she collapses, she makes everything bigger than it is. I thought it was another one of those moments. I didn’t think—”
Caleb’s fist hit him before he could finish.
Frank stumbled backward, nearly falling into the rubble beside them.
“You killed her,” he said, voice shaking now. “You literally killed her.”
Frank wiped his mouth, startled more than hurt. “No,” he said quickly, shaking his head again. “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I thought she was exaggerating. I thought she was doing it for attention, trying to make me react—”
Caleb stepped forward again, but this time the administrator and a security guard grabbed his arm before he could swing again.
Frank lifted both hands slightly, breathing hard now. “I didn’t know she was actually there,” he repeated, louder this time. “I know but… I didn’t know—”
His voice cracked, he was lost in words and excuses.
“She wouldn’t stay,” he added, almost to himself now. “She always leaves before things get… before things get like this.”
Caleb stared at him like he was trying to decide if Frank was lying… or just too late to matter anymore.
The administrator stepped forward again.. “We’ve launched an investigation. Preliminary reports confirm… twenty-two fatalities. Fifty-seven injured. And the blast originated exactly from the room she was in.”
That sentence hit harder than the punch he got from Caleb.
Frank stopped breathing properly as his eyes stared back at the burning hospital. It felt like a single, undeniable point where everything he had said, assumed, dismissed… all came together.
Caleb spoke again, but softer this time.
“What did you say to her on the phone?”
Frank didn’t answer because now he remembered it properly. Not how he had justified it, but the exact words.
‘Call me when she’s dead,’
“I—” he tried, but nothing came out properly.
Caleb stepped closer, voice low. “Say it.”
Frank shut his eyes for a second.
Then whispered, “I swear, I thought she was faking it.”
He felt like the truth was finally dragging itself out of him, whether he wanted it or not:
“I thought she was pulling a stunt.”
Caleb’s face changed instantly as something in him snapped again, but this time there was no restraint left.
“You thought—” he repeated, voice breaking completely now. “You threatened her life’’
Frank shook his head fast. “That's not how—”
But Caleb didn’t let him finish this time.
He grabbed him again, harder than before.
“Save everything else you’ve got for the police.”
- Writer
