Torrid Affair(94)

I sat back in the chair and dropped my head. My palms were still tinted with Nate’s blood. “Julian is dead.” Delaney gasped. “He's downstairs in the morgue with the coroner.” I ran my hands through my hair as the image of a black bag being placed over him refused to leave my memory. ”Julian and I fought last night. He was back to his old Julian self.” I pointed to the bruise on my cheek. “I told him I wanted a divorce; that I couldn't do this anymore. And then I kicked him out of the house.” When I came home from work I decided I should tell Nate what was going on, and we went into his office to talk privately.” I glanced at Caleb. Julian must've been in the apartment. He came looking for me but he was disoriented, drunk, slurring his words and he pulled out a gun. He wanted to shoot me, not Nate.” I cried and looked up at Delaney. Tears dripped down her face.

“But Julian’s dead?” Delaney asked.

I nodded. My lower lip trembled. “Caleb walked in. Nate lost consciousness and Julian turned the gun on himself.

“Mrs. Wright?” A nurse walked into the waiting room. “We have an update on your husband.” She looked over at me.

“He’s my husband.” Delaney corrected her.

“I’m sorry.” The nurse apologized. “Your husband is stable for now, Dr. Ororke is operating on him now. As soon as we know something more, I’ll notify you.

“Thank you.” Delaney nodded and turned to hug Caleb.

It was the longest eight hours until Nate was out of surgery. Delaney paced the waiting room. I spoke with the police officers and left a voicemail for Louisa. When Nate was in recovery and we thought there was hope after all, the floor was ripped out from underneath us.

Delaney and I approached the ICU room where Nate was delivered after his surgery. It was late at night and Caleb was asleep with Delaney’s mother. We held hands as we walked further into the room. Delaney whimpered quietly while my heart broke in pieces. Tubes came from his mouth, machines beeped around him. I stood back and gave Delaney her time with him. I hated that she had that. Even then, while he was hanging on, I wanted more from him. Unable to control my emotions, I turned my back and cried silently.

An erratic beeping noise startled me. I spun back to face Delaney. Her hand covered her mouth as she sobbed. A slew of doctors and nurses rushed in.

“He’s crashing!” someone shouted.

A nurse shoved Delaney out of the way.

“What do we have?” a doctor called out. Unable to move, I held on to Delaney.

“GSW to his chest, it grazed his Aortic. We had to bypass in two circuits. His pulse dropped and he’s in cardiac arrest.”

“Okay. Get them out of here.” The doctor pointed to us.

Delaney fought to stay in the room, but in the end we were shoved out.

“It’s okay,” I cried. “He’ll be okay.” I nodded, needing to reassure myself more than her.

“This is all your fault!” she screamed. “Ever since you showed up at our damn door.” She covered her face with her hands. “We were happy!”

“Del.”

She didn’t speak to me. She simply shook her head and stormed away.

I was alone.

Utterly alone.



“This urn is brass.” Donna, the funeral director, held it up for us to see. “It looks beautiful on a mantel.”

It had been two days since the shooting, and we were already discussing funeral arrangements. I wanted to sit in a room and cry, but Louisa and Warren flew home once they got the news. We all agreed that a quiet funeral was best. There was no reason to open it up to anyone else.

My head pounded, but I tried to keep my composure around Louisa. I needed to be strong for her, especially when she had no idea what happened between Nate and Julian. No one did. I was the only one who knew the entire tragic scene. It was all my fault.

Delaney’s eyes were puffy and red from crying. Neither of us had slept much in the past few days. She had spent most the time crying and ignoring me. I was to blame for all of this. I was the reason Caleb was medicated. I was the reason we were selecting an urn at a funeral home that smelled like old stale clothes.

I rested my hand on Louisa's thigh, and she looked at me with sad eyes. Her nose was still pink, but the Xanax she took had finally kicked in. “Brielle, what do you think?”

“Whatever you decide is fine with me.”

“We have a wooden urn or a marble one,” Donna said when there was a long pause. “Or there is always the option of a burial.”

I bowed my head. I couldn’t picture Julian laying in a casket with half of his head missing.

“We want it to be a cremation,” Delaney said when the words wouldn't leave my mouth.