I was foolhardy thinking I could sleep without sedatives. I woke up occasionally in the middle of the night from bad dreams covered in sweat. I had seen Alec’s pallid face. In one of the nightmares, I tried to pull out the knife. Blood gushed out and he choked to death right in front of me. In another, he was imploring me to help him.

    I didn’t know his current status, but I prayed he would make it. I had seen a lot of blood yesterday and each time I remembered it, a chill ran down my spine. The clock on the nightstand said 7:00 A.M. I was certain I turned off the alarm at my usual waking time, then went back to sleep. That would explain why I was waking up this late.

     Sighing, I pushed the blanket aside and sat up, running a hand through my bedhead. I closed my eyes. All I saw was Alec’s face. I instantly blinked and opened them, gazing at the wall. I stifled a yawn, rose, and walked to the window. When I stared out into the Bergers’ porch, there wasn’t a sigh of their Mazda 6. Amy must be at the hospital by now.

     I stood, watching their house. Zeroing in on their bedroom, I started to see Alec and Amy behind the curtain, arguing. He grabbed her neck and choked her hard. When she was out of breath, he finally let go of her and she collapsed to the floor. I tried to delete the scene to no avail. If I hadn’t shown up at their house last night, Amy would probably be dead by now. Alec would be trying to hide the body out of fear. Then I’d wake and find out the Bergers were gone to wherever they came from. I wouldn’t hear from them ever again. Alec would get away with murder. I did my best to save both of them only if Alec made it out alive.

     At least I was right about Amy’s abuse, and in a way, Amy was better off without Alec by her side. After all this upheaval, I was certain Amy would ask him for a divorce and press charges against him for attacking her. The mystery with the Bergers had been dealt with.

     Retracing my steps to the bed, I grabbed my phone from the drawer and turned it on. A while later, I looked at the background photo. This time, I didn’t frown. The picture of me and Tom was gone and replaced with the photo of the green forest I found in my phone’s gallery. I had two new messages, all from Anne. She’d emailed me the photos. I thanked her and went to my email section, then pulled up her messages. Soon, I was staring at photos of Anne and Tom cuddled up together. I kept flipping till I couldn’t.

     My hands froze. Tears welled up in my eyes. I blinked them back and glanced down at the screen, then threw the phone on the bed. A pang seared through my body. I staggered to the bedside and fell slowly on the floor, wrapping my hands around my legs. I thought I could handle this. I didn’t know what I was up against.

     For years now, Tom had accused me of cheating while in reality, he had been seeing Anne since we got married. I hadn’t sensed his infidelity. I couldn’t stop feeling like an idiot. Four years of my life were wasted in a bad marriage. I had no idea what good came out of my marriage. If there had been a child, I’d have thought of it as the blessing that came from the marriage, but there wasn’t any. Thank God I didn’t give birth. My baby would’ve been caught in this mess.

     Tom doesn’t deserve you. He’ll be in your past in no time. I just couldn’t believe I wanted to have a future with him. Had I been delusional? There was a churn in my stomach. I wanted to throw up, but I didn’t. Clara strutted toward me, wagging her tail.

     I reached out to her. “Come here, girl!”

     She ran to my side. I carried her into my arms, stroking her fur. In no time, I’d be a free woman. Tom and his Mom would no longer be my burden. If it was possible to erase them, I would instantly do it. They would always be in my head to remind me of the poor choices I made. With time, I’d make peace with my past. That was the only way I could move on. Clara licked my fingers. I looked down at her and smiled. At least I wasn’t alone. I had company. Even though it was from a pet, it was enough.

* * *

     I pulled out a plastic cup from the dispenser sleeve at the entrance of the hospital and filled it up from the watercooler. I took a big gulp, rinsing out the taste of Scotch from my mouth. I downed two glasses before setting out to the hospital thinking I could drown my sorrows and prepare myself to come here. When the thoughts of Anne and Tom overwhelmed me, I couldn’t do anything. I snapped out of it minutes later and drove straight here.

     I sipped the rest and tossed it in the trash. Smoothening the sharp crease on my dress, I did a quick sweep of the hospital. At the front desk sat a petite woman in a nurse’s uniform speaking on the phone. A couple of men and women wearing lab coats walked across the hallways, cradling charts, their light footsteps echoing in the background.

     A siren sounded down the corridor. Dr. Mann, you’re needed in Trauma Unit Two. Just when it ended, a door flagged open, and a woman wearing a lab coat over a pantsuit sprinted out, and then hurried into the Trauma Department.

     The double door behind me swung open. I sidestepped as frantic paramedics wheeled someone on a gurney with what looked like gunshot wounds to the ER. When they disappeared into a room, I sighed. As I walked further into the hospital, a sudden wave hit me like a whirlwind and then a familiar feeling glided down my spine. It reminded me of how much I hated hospitals. When Mom’s illness worsened, I had been at the hospital often, going and coming till she was discharged. Being here again reminded me of those moments I had been trying to forget.

     The scent of antiseptic hanging around the place got stronger as I neared the waiting room, scanning the faces of the people seated on the sofa.

     “Elodie,” a familiar voice called out, “over here!”

     I glanced up and saw Amy sitting on the sofa, her eyes sunken, a newspaper splayed on her lap. The people around her had similar expressions. Grim faces, lips pressed together, and hands steepled. I walked over to her side and sat slowly.

    “I’m glad you came. I needed the company,” she said.

     “It’s the least I could do. How’re you holding up?”

     She sighed and set the paper aside. “I’m still in shock. Last night I couldn’t sleep. I had nightmares. Alec ...” She trailed away.

     I pushed closer and wrapped my arm around her. “It’s fine,” I cooed. “Have the doctors updated you on his condition?”

     She bobbed her head. “Yeah. The surgery was successful. He’s sleeping. They said they’d let me know once he’s awake, but I don’t want to see his face.”

     I peered into her eyes, tilting her head to face me. “Hey, hey ... if you don’t want to see him, it’s fine. And nobody can force you to.”

     I watched as a rivulet snaked down her cheek.

     “I’m sorry you’re going through this.”

     She murmured, “I know.”

     “Have you called home yet?”

     “I called his sister this morning. She’s trying to catch the next flight here.”

     “That’s good. Know that this wasn’t your fault. You stabbed him in self-defense. It was either you or him.”

     She looked up at me. “I know. I’m afraid that he’d come at me when he recovers. That night if you hadn’t shown up, I don’t know what would have happened.”

     “You can file a restraining order for the moment, so he won’t come close to you when he recovers, or you can press charges. I’ll be your witness.”

     She swallowed hard. “Thank you, Elodie.”

     I nodded. “Eaten already?”

     “Not yet.”

     I stood. “C’mon, let’s grab something for breakfast.”

     “All right.”

     We took our food on trays to the bench at the far end of the hospital’s cafeteria and sat across from each other. I watched Amy sip from the mug and nibble the blueberry muffins.

     Glancing away, I curled my fingers around the mug. As I blew the tea, my eyes fell on Amy’s chest. I saw a locket around her neck. Narrowing my eyes, I took a sip and placed the mug across from me. Alec couldn’t have given her the locket when it wasn’t yet her birthday. And besides, the locket I chose was silver. Not gold. It sparkled in the glint of the overhead light.

     “That’s a beautiful locket,” I said, smiling. “Where did you get it from?”

     She grinned at me. Her fingers clasped around the ceramic, she looked down at the jewelry. “Oh that,” she murmured. “I bought it a couple of years back.”

     A couple of years back? Was that the locket Alec said she’d lost during their honeymoon? My mind raced to the photograph of Amy I saw on Alec’s phone. Racking my brains, I tried to remember the jewelry around her neck. What was it? A gold locket? Yes... It had to be it. If Amy was wearing the same locket, then it didn’t get lost during their honeymoon. Alec wouldn’t lie about that. What would he gain from it? The other alternative didn’t sit well with me. Amy lied about losing the locket. Why would she also lie about losing the locket? Whatever the reason was, I knew I couldn’t trust Amy.

     My mind skittered to last night in their house. When Alec held her neck, he’d said something I didn’t pay attention to. Who are you? Why would Alec ask her that in the middle of an abuse? And when he slumped onto the floor and called out to me, he didn’t strike me as someone filled with rage. Was it because he was dying? Now I was curious as to what triggered the fight. From my experience, I knew abusive men didn’t just attack. Something always sparked their fury.

     I resisted the urge to ask Amy about it. She was going to lie to me. I started to think that I didn’t imagine her behind the window and writing Help Me on the pane. If I was correct, then she lied to me about that too.

     “You’re quiet all of a sudden,” she said.

     I took another sip. “Just thinking. How long did you say Alec and you have been married?”

     “Five months,” she said.

     I nodded. Five months? And Alec had been abusive toward her to the extent that he’d strangle her and try to kill her. Unlikely. Unless, of course, Alec was a psychopath, which he didn’t exhibit any signs of. I found out about Tom’s mean streak years ago. He started hitting me years after our marriage. He didn’t try to kill me until he got worse. Although it wasn’t rare for abusers to show their true colors early in marriages, in this case, it was for me.

     We finished our breakfast in silence and then headed back to the waiting room. As we walked to the sofa, I said, “I should get back to the farmhouse and check on Clara.”

     “Yes, sure,” she said, then giggled. “I almost forgot you had a cat.”

     I smiled. “Do you want me to get you anything? I’ll be back in the evening.”

     “Thanks, Elodie. As soon as Rebecca gets here, I’ll go to the farmhouse and grab a couple of things. She should be here any moment.”

     “Okay,” I said, turning to the exit. “I’ll see you later.”

     “Later.”

     I walked out of the hospital and climbed into my car parked across the street. After buckling up, I gripped the steering wheel, then glanced at my reflection in the rearview mirror. Amy has been lying to me. The question was, why?