¶  ONE

...the heart can bleed for that which the eyes doesn't see...

He heard her though she thought that he didn't. He heard her clearly despite the fact that she was always so quiet in doing her business. He heard the soft sniffing, the quiet sobbing, the controlled wails, the pained sounds she made, all of it as she cried for the third time in three nights. He heard her shuffle for a while in the bathroom and hoped that she was about to come out.

She didn't.

He really wanted to continue to help her keep her secret. Since she wanted him out of it, he had better stay out. He knew his wife. But, if she made those sounds once more, the one that tore at his heart and summoned a husband's instinct to protect, he swore that he was going to go to her and do as he wished.

But, she did.

He heard her sink not so quietly back to the floor and begin to cry once again. The tap was running softly, but he still could make out all these occurrences. He sat up in bed and tried to win the battle between his common sense and his love for her.

Love always won.

He shifted the covers away from his body and stealtily got out of bed. She was not the only one who could be as quiet as a theif. He walked noiselessly to the bathroom and gently pushed the door open.

She will hear him.

The moment he did so and got in, she went quiet. The bathroom was dark, but he instinctively knew where she was, looking in her direction. She sniffed softly and he made to switch on the light.

'Don't,' she said to him. The word stilled him, his hands hanging halfway to the switch on the wall. 'Please, don't turn on the light,' she pleaded further with him.

'Then, you must tell me why you are crying,' he said after a moment, bringing his hanging hand to his side. She was quiet for a while.

'I wasn't crying.'

'I heard you Simi, I have heard you every night. I just didn't want to intrude,' he confessed. He heard her slowly rise to her feet, making out her silhouette as his eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness.

'Please, don't ask.'

'I shall have to ask and you know. It tears at my heart when you sob so quietly, trying to hide your pain from me. Please Simi, what is going on with you? What has made you cry for three nights straight?' he asked her in a pleading voice.

'You kept count.'

'It was easy to.' There was a long silence in which she washed her face at the tap and cut off the water flow when she was done.

'It was nothing Praise.'

'Is this because of a child?' he asked her. 'Is it because we haven't had one?' he continued.

'Praise I...' Then, she broke into another sob, breaking down. He made his way carefully to her and hugged her tenderly.

'Don't Simi, if it is too hard, don't say it,' he said as he patted her back.

@OmaPhinaPhire🔥