"My feelings for him-whether it was family affection or any kind of emotional
dependence-never once crossed into our marriage."
Elodie spoke with a calm that came from deep exhaustion. There was nothing left
for her to hide; Jarrod knew everything now.
She was done letting him believe that during those three years of marriage, she''d
been unfaithful in her heart. If nothing else, she owed herself that much honesty.
Jarrod''sshes trembled. Red tinged the corners of his eyes as he kept his gaze
fixed on her.
Elodie closed her eyes, her voice steady and soft. "Jarrod, I did love you."
During those three years, she had given him everything-her whole heart, her
entire self. But she wasn''t one for grand derations; her love was quiet, almost
weightless in the air, yet itnded in his chest like a stone cast into a stillke,
sending ripples through everything he thought he knew.
He felt his heart twist painfully, realizing that in all the years she had loved him, he
had only ever misunderstood her.
Elodie was so tired. After those words, she simply closed her eyes and rested,
leaving Jarrod alone with a flood of emotions he couldn''t begin to contain.
His ears rang; his vision burned with the image of her pale, narrow face, tinged
with the faintest flush. He bent his head and drew a shaky breath, feeling as if her
simple confession had nearly undone him. Years of silent obsession and
resentment all of it seemed to dissolve in an instant.
It was enough.
Just those few words from her, and it was enough.
For a moment, he felt as if the clouds parted and he could finally see the sky-he
could finally breathe. He sat there, watching over Elodie as she slept, unwilling to
leave her side. Her illness felt like a ticking time bomb in his chest, filling him with
a fresh surge of dread.
He didn''t know how long he sat there.
Eventually, Jarrod got up and gently tucked the nket around her before leaving
the room to take a call.
Andrea had already gone to handle other matters.
Jarrod made his way to the smoking lounge, bought a pack of cigarettes, and lit
one with numb, icy fingers. It was the only thing that eased the ache in his chest,
even a little.
"Meet with the hospital director," he
ordered, his voice low on the phone.
"Talk to everyone involved-doctors,
nurses, even the janitorial staff. I
want concrete evidence. Leave no
stone unturned."
Just hearing Elias describe what
Elodie had gone through was
enough to fill Jarrod with a fresh
wave of self-loathing. Her pain, her
despair-they echoed inside him a
thousandfold. He couldn''t stand
even a fraction of it.
He knew who Elodie suspected. But this wasn''t something he could simply act on
out of suspicion or anger. Not now. Elodie needed him to be steady. He couldn''t
afford recklessness.
What others might fail to uncover, he was determined to find out. Whoever had
hurt her he would make sure they never had the chance to do it again.
After the call, Jarrod slumped onto a bench, sitting there for what felt like ages.
The cigarette burned down to his fingers before he even noticed the sting.
What finally pulled him out of his daze was the thought of Elodie-alone, needing
him.
He crushed the cigarette out and hurried back toward her room.
Halfway there, Andrea called. "Mr. Silverstein, I''ve reassured your wife''s
grandmother and uncle. Told them not to worry, and convinced them to wait until
tomorrow to visit."
Jarrod let out a breath. "Thank you, Andrea. I appreciate it."
He knew he wasn''t the only one
holding himself together by a thread.
The older rtives needed support,
too. Elodie was in no state for
surprise visitors-seeing her like this
would only upset them more and
she wouldn''t want that.
He had to think of everything, for her.
Back on the ward, Jarrod spotted Lucinda at the door to Elodie''s room. She must
have just arrived.
She turned at the sound of his footsteps, and what she saw made her heart lurch.
Lucinda was Jarrod''s mother, but in all these years, she had never once seen her
strong, stoic son look so shaken.