Delaney held the gathering after the service at her house. She informed the guests that Caleb would stay in his room. I knew she did that to protect him from inquisitive eyes. I couldn’t go back to that house, though. There wasn’t a bedroom for me to hide in. Instead, I drove to the hospital.
I sat outside the nurse’s station for a few hours. My heart ached, and I didn’t know what the future held for me. I couldn’t stay in Charlotte anymore. This wasn’t my home, but I also didn’t know what Nate wanted. Only the possibility of a future with him kept me here. At seven in the evening, the night shift nurses took over, so a new unfamiliar face sat at the desk. Delaney would be home entertaining and I could potentially sneak in to see Nate. Slowly, I approached her with a smile.
“Hi.” I paused and waited for her to look up at me. “I’m here to see Nathaniel Wright.” She reached for the paperwork, and I slid my license toward her as proof, not that she required it. “I’m his wife,” I lied. Since Nate had been unconscious in the ICU since his surgery, the only one allowed to visit him was his next of kin. In this case Delaney. It was my only chance. We shared the same last name, same address.
She scanned the identification and smiled. “Of course, Mrs. Wright.” She handed it back to me along with a visitor’s pass.
When I rounded the corner, I sighed with relief. I’d get to see him. Even if it was only for a few minutes.
My legs felt like Jell-O with each step I took. The sterile scent of the hospital vanished when I stepped inside his room. It was filled with colorful bouquets from his closest friends.
“Hi,” I whispered and sat on the chair next to him. My hand gripped his, and gently I kissed his knuckles. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.” A scruff had begun to grow on his face. “We buried Julian today. It was a small service. Your mom seems to be doing better, and Delaney says the doctors have faith you’ll wake up any day now.” I sniffled.
“Nate, I need you to live, okay? I need you to wake up. I can’t live in a world where you don’t exist. I can’t live without you—not anymore. For ten years I hated you, but the last few months have been everything I ever wanted from you. I want a life with you, Nate. So you have to live. You have to be okay.” I kissed the back of his hand and stood.
Walking out of his room, I was greeted by Delaney. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her lips were pursed with anger. “Of course you’d sneak off to come visit him.”
“I can explain—”
“Explain what? Explain that you’ve been fucking my husband behind my back since you got here?” I took a step back. “Did you really think that when they cleaned up his office, they wouldn’t give me your phone records that were tossed on the floor? That’s why Julian went in there. He would have never shot his brother. You were the one he was trying to get rid of.” She took a step forward. The devil was in her eyes.
“I thought I got rid of you years ago. You weren’t supposed to come back. He was supposed to forget you.”
“Y-You’ve known?”
“I was eight months pregnant when Nate came home inebriated. He crawled into bed with me, oblivious to it all, and told me how much he missed you. How he regretted every day that he didn’t go after you,” she spat.
“You were pregnant with Austin’s kid,” I bit back. “You trapped Nate for ten years because Austin didn’t want anything to do with you. And I know you were planning to do it again because Austin’s back in town and he’s looking to meet his son.”
“You’re crazy!” She threw her hands up. “Caleb—”
“Looks identical to Austin.”
“Why don’t you tell Nate that? Tell him that the son he’s been raising as his own isn’t his. Don’t you think you’ve done enough damage around here? Your husband killed himself because of you, and now you want to take mine, too! You ruined your mother’s marriage, you ruined Julian’s life, and Nate is unconscious because of you. Don’t you see the common denominator in it all, Brielle? It’s you.”
“Fuck you.”
“Don’t you think if Nate really wanted to be with you, he would be? You’re an old flame that will die out eventually. We were going through a lull when you arrived. Marriages go through lulls all the time. But I’m his wife. He won’t turn his back on his family for a home wrecker.”
Her words were like venom, but I knew they held some truth. Nate would never turn his back on Caleb.
“Mrs. Wright?” a nurse said from behind me. Delaney and I both turned to face her. “Your husband is awake and asking for you.”