AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Here were some words I never believed I’d say: I wish my fake wife was my patient.
"No, look, I don't know all the details; one moment, I was there in Boston, and this beautiful woman falls down at my feet in the middle of the street. I took her to the Emergency Room, and when she woke up...she woke up and asked if I was her husband. I said yes.”
Hearing my own story out loud made me feel like a fool. It was not even weird, or immoral, it was just plain stupid.
"James, my man, what are you saying?”
"I just, Zach, I panicked, ok? I’m saying Rita believes we are married. I never corrected her assumptions. I never set her straight. We’ve been living together since.”
Silence. Total silence, and somehow this was worse than yelling. At least when they screamed their lungs out, I knew where we stood.
“Can anyone say something, please? Zach?” But I got nothing. “Jessica?”
"What do you want us to say?" she spat in reply.
If I had knocked the words out of Jessica Monroe, that meant I had really screwed up.
"Oh my God." Zachary put both his hands into his hair and looked at me like I just grew a second dick out of my forehead. "You're fucking lying."
What the fuck?
"Zach..."
"Sullivan, you took three days to pick up a gift wrap for London's birthday present, and you try to tell me you just picked up a woman...No, dude, fuck you. That's a lie. You got back with the sea witch, didn't you? You and Avery are back fucking together, and you're trying to distract us with this half-ass sci-fi lie. Fuck you. Fuck. You."
He was fuming, and I was stunned. What the fuck just happened?
"You are lying."
"Ford, I'm telling you the fucking truth."
"Fuck you." He turned around and stormed out in the hallway, leaving his stethoscope and London.
Everyone in the room was stunned by the tantrum Zach had thrown, and I was confused as hell. Thankfully, London was here to do damage control for my fuck-face friend.
"James, are you serious?"
"I'm afraid I am. I know I fucked up, ok? And you can't say anything that I haven’t already told myself in the mirror. Leave her alone, come clean, this is crazy, it's immoral, you're a fraud, you're a jackass. Everything!" My mouth suddenly felt dry, and I paused to try and swallow my anxiety. "It's my morning ritual, but then she...Rita, walks behind me, and I see her black eyes smiling in the mirror...and I can't."
Seeing her walk out on me now would crush me like I was made of glass. I couldn’t comprehend it, and if my highly trained brain couldn’t, it must have meant it was not possible. My life before Rita was dull: childhood back home with mother and father was good but always content; college was Zach's scene, and marriage with Avery...well marriage with Avery was like driving a Honda at speed limit on the interstate and feeling like you're in a Ferrari. You could pretend it was the same, that the wind blowing your hair was liberating. That it made you happy. But it was not. I was married to a porcelain woman and told myself we were in love. Maybe I was for a while but now? Now I could see how many colors were missing from my scheme. Rita was a whole fucking rainbow.
"Guys, I'm in deep shit."
"Yes, you are," Jessica said. "Look at Wendy; you drained all the blood from my wife's cheeks. Shame."
"I'm sorry." But I was not. I should be. After all, this was my pile of shit, and I was the one who was dealing with it.
"James, listen to me. What you did is wrong, and to be honest, it's weird as fuck, but you are our friend. Our stupid, fucked up friend. I speak for everyone when I say you're a good guy. If you're into some Stockholm Syndrome shit, that's fine; we'll figure something out, but you have to look into my eyes and swear on everything that was ever dear to you that in no way, shape or form have you forced her to do anything."
Her words brought flashbacks. All those close fractures I saw on Rita's scans came back to me with the force of a Tsunami. I never laid my head on the pillow at night without thinking about it.
All I was able to articulate back to Jess was a choked sound.
"Faster, Sullivan, I have surgery in twenty, and Wendy's coming with me."
"Of course, I'm not...I would never...Jess."
"Fine, so we'll figure something out. Wendy, we need to go. You've got this?"
