Chapter 4Seven-Year Itch: Divorce Denied

"Why were you so sure he didn't want to see you?"

My thoughts were pulled back to ten days ago.

After our fight at the hospital, we both retreated into a stony silence. It was a cold war.

The next time I saw him was when I was admitted to the hospital for a sharp pain in my abdomen. It was appendicitis. I needed minor surgery.

The doctor told me I needed a family member to sign the consent form.

That was the first time I called him since our fight.

"Hello?" His voice was so distant, so detached. It felt like I was talking to a stranger, not the man I had shared a bed with for seven years.

"I need surgery for appendicitis," I said, my own voice flat. "The doctor needs a family member's signature."

There was a long pause on the other end. Then, "I'm on my way."

He arrived about thirty minutes later. He didn't ask how I was feeling. He didn't ask if I was in pain. He didn't seem to care that I was about to go under the knife. The old Alexis would have been a blubbering mess.

"Where do I sign?"

The doctor pointed to the line. Alexis scribbled his name. He looked at me then, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just turned and left without a word.

I didn't know if he was still angry about our fight, or if he just genuinely didn't want to be there.

It was probably the latter.

The surgery was a success, but I had to stay in the hospital for a few days to recover. In the bed across from me was a middle-aged couple. The husband had brought his wife a thermos of soup.

"I told you," she grumbled, "I don't want chicken soup."

"It's good for you," he coaxed. "I'll make you something different tomorrow."

"You'd better," she said, but she was smiling. Then she noticed me. "Dear, where's your family?"

"They're busy," I said.

The truth was, my parents had emigrated with my younger siblings the year I turned eighteen. I hadn't heard from them since. I could never bring myself to admit that they had abandoned me. For a long time, I thought fate had been fair. I had lost my family, but I had gained Alexis, a man who loved me with his whole heart.

Now, I had nothing.

"Busy or not, they should be able to spare some time for you," the woman clucked sympathetically.

Her husband gently shushed her. "Here, young lady," he said, offering me a bowl of their soup. "Have some."

I was about to refuse, but the woman had already pressed the warm bowl into my hands. The moment I felt its heat, the dam broke. All the strength I had been clinging to for days crumbled. I was utterly, completely alone.