His eyes filled when he looked at Ethan.
Then he bent down and gently pressed his forehead against mine.
“I knew something was wrong,” he whispered. “I knew it.”
“I didn’t want to worry you.”
“You’re my sister. Worry me.”
I gave one laugh, but it sounded more like a sob.
Nathan wiped his face and turned toward Daniel.
“Thank you.”
Daniel gave a small nod.
But something passed between the two men that I did not understand.
A look.
Brief.
Heavy.
As if they were sharing a secret I had not been told yet.
I noticed it, but I was too weak to follow it.
That night, Detective Bennett came to the hospital.
She entered my room quietly, introduced herself, and asked if I felt well enough to speak.
Nathan immediately said, “She needs rest.”
I said, “I want to talk.”
Detective Bennett pulled a chair close.
Her voice was calm and careful, but underneath it, I could feel iron.
“Emma, I need you to tell me what happened before your husband left.”
So I told her.
I told her about the bleeding.
About begging for help.
About Ryan mocking me.
About the aspirin.
About what he had said.
Don’t call me unless the house is actually on fire.
Detective Bennett wrote everything down without interrupting.
When I finished, her mouth had tightened into a thin line.
“Did he know you could not stand?”
“Yes.”
“Did he know the bleeding had become severe?”
“Yes.”
“Did he see the blood?”
“Yes.”
“Did he leave anyway?”
I looked at Ethan sleeping beside me.
“Yes.”
Detective Bennett closed her notebook.
“There’s something else.”
My eyes lifted to hers.
“What?”
She reached into her folder and took out a printed still from Ryan’s resort video.
There he was, smiling with a glass of whiskey in his hand.
I turned away.
“We recovered several messages from your husband’s phone,” she said. “Some from before he left. Some during the trip.”
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