Martha couldn’t believe her eyes.  She looks around to see if anyone is watching her.  No one was around. Should she throw the photos away?  Should she call the police? Someone was watching her and Richard.  But who? Who would do this? She ended it with him. This should all go away.  She pulled out her phone to call Richard. She knew he was at a conference, but she would leave a message if he didn’t answer her.  They haven’t contacted each other since Martha broke up with him. It went straight to voicemail so Martha left a message saying just to call her back ASAP.  His phone must be off.

Jasper should not see these photos.  He is already heartbroken by Martha telling him about the affair, it would be worse if he actually saw the affair.  She would have to hide them until Richard got back and talk to him about it. But where?

Thankfully Jasper had left so Martha had a little time to find a hiding spot for the photos.  She wanted to get rid of them, but if the police did get involved then she would need evidence.

The trash doesn’t go out for another 4 days so Martha decides to hide the photos behind the trash.  Jasper would never look behind there.  Besides, it was always Teegan's chore to take out the trash. She looked again at the photos and hardly recognized the woman. It didn’t look like her, but she knew it was. This woman looked like a traitor and a bitch. She didn’t want to keep looking at herself so she shoved them behind the can, tucking them underneath a little, and headed inside.  

Martha got herself a bottle of water from the fridge and went to sit on the couch, Brick following her the whole time.  She sat and got lost in her thoughts.  Jasper then got home with Martha's dry cleaning, he didn't say anything when he walked inside.  Brick got off of the couch and followed Jasper upstairs.  Martha strained her head to see if she could see him, but she just assumed he was hanging up her clothes.  When he came back down, he sat next to Martha on the couch, he had his own bottle of water in his hands.

He looked at her as if he saw a ghost.  His face was pale and his arms folded in front of him. Martha could tell that he didn't sleep at all last night.  He looked like a shy high school kid.

“You can say something if you want,” Martha told him.  She tried to sound casual, but she sounded like the way Jasper looked, shy and tense.

“Let’s call a therapist,” is all he could say.

“That doesn’t mean that we can’t talk without one.”  Martha started to feel her eyes getting wet. This was the first time that she had cried over Jasper in a long time.  

Jasper got up and walked into the kitchen to get his phone.  He couldn’t even describe the frustration he was feeling.  He wanted to work it out with Martha, but all he could see when he looked at her was another man’s hands on her body.  He wanted the image to erase from his mind. He would sacrifice anything in the world in order for him to forgive and forget. He knew it would take time, but now it was too difficult to look at her.  

Martha was now alone in the living room.  She thought about the photos and panicked thinking that they weren't in a good hiding spot. She decided that she wanted to hide them better, and this was her chance.  

She snuck out into the garage to grab the pictures.  Glancing at them, she noticed how she was looking into Richard’s eyes.  There was passion there, but now she can’t remember why she even felt that about him.  Her mistake wasn’t making sense more and more. The more she thought about it, the more regret she felt and she didn’t like this feeling.  She looked at the picture again and noticed Richard. His lean and tone body, the way he cradled her in his arms, but his eyes… his eyes bothered her.  He wasn’t looking at her like he was in love, like Martha was looking at him. He wasn’t even looking at her. He was looking out of the window. He was looking outside.  Martha didn't notice it while she was with him, but she noticed it when it was caught on camera.  Martha realized that Richard wasn’t who she thought he was. He wasn’t who she was hoping he’d be and she felt better knowing that she just ended it. Richard was never falling in love with Martha.  Richard was just in it for the sex. Now she knew why Richard hadn’t fought for her when Martha broke up with him.  How could she be so stupid?

Martha stuffed the photos under her shirt and headed back inside.  She passed Jasper and he stopped her.

"We’ve got an appointment tomorrow at 11:00 am.  I figured you wouldn’t be going to work tomorrow so it would be OK, right?”  Jasper looked down when he spoke to her, but his voice seemed to be much calmer.

“Yes, that’s perfect,” Martha said, “I am going to go up and take a shower.”

Martha left and went upstairs, the photos still stuffed under her shirt.  

“Hey Martha?” Jasper called to her as she was halfway up the stairs.  Martha got nervous. Did he see the disfiguration of her shirt? She rearranged her arms hoping it would be less noticeable.

“Yes?”  Martha’s voice trembled slightly, but she managed to keep her calmness.

“Does your stomach hurt?” Jasper was actually looking at her this time, he was always so concerned whenever Martha was sick or injured.

Martha looked down and noticed that she was holding her stomach like it was in pain.

“Yes, it’s a little nauseous.  Hopefully the heat from the shower will calm it down a little.” Martha didn’t plan to lie. She wanted to stop lying to Jasper when she confessed her affair to him, but she thought this time was necessary.  She headed back upstairs to find a good hiding spot for the photos.

Her apartment was a little small and there wasn’t many hiding spots so she decided in the most obvious place, the bottom of her underwear drawer.  Jasper never put away laundry or went through her clothes anyways, they should be safe in there, and there would be less of a chance for Teegan to find them. 

Once she was satisfied with her hiding spot, she headed into the shower.  Brick came out of Teegan’s room and followed her. He loved to be in the bathroom so she let him hang out in there with her. She grabbed a shower cap to cover her stitches and hopped in.  

She was only in the hospital for a day, but there was always something so comforting about showering in your own shower.  It was an amazing feeling, the guilt washing away from the day before. She couldn’t believe how much has happened in twenty four hours. Everything was going to be different now, but it had to seem the same for the boys.  Her conscious felt better, but Jasper was still upset. Martha was determined to fix it. She was going to do whatever it took to save their marriage.

Martha stepped out of the shower and felt an immediate chill.  She dried her body and walked to her room to get dressed. Brick followed right behind her.  As she was bending to put her socks on, a real nauseous feeling took over her. Martha ran back to the bathroom to throw up again.  She was leaning over the toilet when she felt someone behind her pull her hair back to keep from getting vomit on. She knew it was Jasper, but didn’t want to look at him knowing that she probably looked as disastrous as she felt.  

“I know everything is stressful and I know that you are going through a lot.  I am going through a lot too. I am frustrated and I am upset, but my feelings for you haven’t changed.  I am here for you. Are you OK?”  Jasper sounded calm and understanding. 

Martha’s heart skipped a beat.  She needed to hear those words to continue.  Her feelings for him haven’t changed either. Those words were what she needed to lift her head out of the porcelain and look at him.  This time he looked back at her in her eyes.

“I think the medicine they were giving to me is finally catching up.  I think I will lay down on the couch and watch some TV before the boys get home.  Thank you, Jasper.” Martha wanted to hug him, but she felt it was too soon.

Martha finished dressing and walked down the stairs with Brick by her heals.  He was walking a little slower than normal, but Martha didn't think anything of it. He was probably still a little distraught from being locked in the bathroom. 

Laying on the couch, Martha started wondering why she kept getting sick.  Was the stress getting to her that much? She’s never been in this situation before so it could be the reason why her stomach is plotting against her.  

She laid down on the couch and started flipping through the channels.  It was the middle of the day, that meant nothing was on except the news.  She settled on the one station where the newscaster’s voice wasn’t annoying.  Sunny for the rest of the week, with a chance of a storm on Friday. Great, Martha was sick and she was going to miss all of the nice weather.  She got up to get another bottle of water, she was so thristy, she already finished the first one.

Jasper is cooking lunch in the kitchen. Looks like grilled cheese and tomato soup. It was something really simple, Jasper wasn’t the cook in the family, but Martha appreciated it all the same.  

“It will be ready in about five minutes.  I will bring it to you.”  He seemed a little bit more cheerful, probably since he had something to distract his mind a little.

“Thank you, honey,” Martha said with a shyness.  She wasn’t sure if it was OK to continue to use nicknames with him, but it didn’t seem to bother him.  She noticed him smirking happily out of the corner of her eye.

Martha walked back to the living room, water in hand,  to watch the news. As she was in the middle of taking a long gulp, she looked at the TV and saw the white truck on the screen being pulled out of the river two miles away from Martha’s home.  Martha jumped back a little and spilled some water down her shirt. She lazily wiped it away as her eyes were transfixed on the truck. She grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.

“All of the windows were broken from the water pressure, but there have been no bodies found on the scene,” the newscaster spoke in her professional voice. “No one knows the owner of the truck, but the investigation will continue.”

Martha was paralyzed.  The truck was still around, or it had been around.  It wouldn’t be around anymore. Did the truck drive inself into the river after spying on Martha at the hospital?  Martha didn’t know what to think.  Was her nightmare over?

No bodies were found on the scene.