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“He’s a monster and I’m gonna kill him.”
“Josh,no. You are a better man than that. You’re a better man than him. Don’t sink down to his level, okay? Trust me—it’s not worth it.”
He starts chewing on his bottom lip but he gives me a tiny nod. I have to be satisfied with that as I type a quick text to Phoebe. It takes some effort to keep my fingers from shaking.
EMMA:Hey hon, I know this is super last minute and I understand if you can’t make it, but can you maybe watch the kids for a couple of hours?
She starts typing back almost immediately.
PHOEBE:So sorry babe. Just got in a meeting. Bossman is here so I can’t get out of it. He’s a hard ass, too—just not in a fun way like your boss man.
It’s funny how her words send this weird stabbing pain straight through my heart.
He’s not my man anymore. In fact, he’s not even my boss anymore.
PHOEBE:What’s going on? Is everything okay?
Since she can’t do anything right now, there’s no sense in worrying her.
EMMA:Everything’s fine. I’ll figure something else out. Not a big deal.
It is unbelievably hard to keep myself together but Josh seems like he’s close to falling apart. Which means I definitely can’t afford to do the same.
“Okay, hon. Change of plans. Aunt Phoebe is at work and she can’t get out of it, so—”
“You still have to go to the hospital,” he says firmly.
I sigh. “Alright then. Guess you’re all coming with me. I’m gonna go—” I look down at myself. “—clean myself up a bit. I don’t wanna scare the girls. Can you get them ready?”
He nods and heads to their room while I limp towards mine. My tiny little bathroom mirror shows that I’m more torn up than I thought I was. I’m hurting so much from head to toe, inside and out, that it’s like my brain isn’t even bothering to register it as pain anymore. Just numbness radiating through me.
Josh is right, though—I do need to go to the hospital.
I swap my clothes out for long pants and a long-sleeved shirt that covers most of the damage. I actually look halfway presentable when I walk out. The girls areoohingandahhingover the shards of broken glass.
“Girls, walk around the table, please, and make sure to keep your shoes on. Let’s go.”
We have to take Ben’s busted Chevy because the Asshole Extraordinaire took the Mercedes. Turns out, driving while you’re bleeding from fifty different places on your body is quite a challenge. Every time I spin the steering wheel, my right underarm stings with sharp pain.
Once we get to the hospital, I have to fill out an endless parade of forms.Any allergies? Am I on any medications? When was the date of my last period? Cause of injury?It makes my head spin.
After I get assigned an appointment, we’re sent to the emergency room lobby to wait. Forty minutes go by and I can’t decide if it’s the longest wait of my life or if it passes in a blink.
When they call my name, I leave Josh with the girls and step into the doctor’s office for my appointment. I have to strip down and let her examine my cuts.
“You mentioned in your forms that this was a… fall?” Dr. Nara asks with a raised eyebrow, emphasizing her skepticism in the last word.
I shrug, which hurts. “I’m clumsy.”
The doctor’s dark brown eyes bore into mine. “Ms. Carson, I’ve seen my fair share of ‘clumsy’ women walk into this hospital. I can tell the difference between an accident and abuse.”
I answer a little too fast. “I’m not being abused. I fell.”
Dr. Nara sighs. “I know how hard it is to leave an abusive relationship. Especially with three children and one on the way, but—”
I flinch back, causing her to pull back the little tweezer she’s holding to pick out the microscopic glass shards that have apparently been embedded in my skin.
“Careful, Ms. Carson.”
