Lena watched Daniel’s face.
For the first time, she saw him without the filter of fear.
Not the man she had hoped he would become.
Not the husband she had spent years waiting for.
Just a person who had made terrible choices.
And she realized something painful.
She had been mourning the marriage she wished she had, not the one she actually lived in.
The ambulance arrived soon after.
The next hour passed like a dream.
Doctors.
Questions.
Paperwork.
Kind strangers.
Lena sat quietly while someone carefully examined her arm.
Vincent remained nearby.
Not hovering.
Not demanding answers.
Just present.
After everything was finished, Lena sat outside the hospital room, staring at the city lights through the window.
New York looked different from up there.
Smaller.
Quieter.
Vincent sat across from her.
“You should have called sooner.”
She looked down.
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Lena thought about lying.
