After the Rupture, Our Ruins

Disappointment pools drop by drop, and that last text was the one that broke the dam. For me, this was the flood.

Wiping away my tears, I sent him a single word: "Okay."

My decision was made.

Three days later, I was discharged. Oscar hadn't sent another message. I hadn't reached out.

Nurse Sarah gave me a kind parting warning. "Ms. Forrester, you're still very weak. You must rest when you get home. Eat well, sleep well, okay?"

I forced a smile, my heart a leaden weight. "Thank you, Sarah. I'll take care of myself."

After saying goodbye, I wrapped myself in a thick coat and started for the exit. I had only taken a few steps when a voice called my name.

"Claire? Oh my god, what are you doing here?!"

I turned to see my best friend, Olivia, her own belly swollen and ripe, clearly on the verge of giving birth.

Olivia’s eyes widened at my deathly pale face. "What are you doing here? You look terrible."

"I... I was pregnant," I said, my voice flat, as if discussing the weather.

Olivia's congratulations died on her lips as she registered the darkness in my tone.

I closed my eyes. "It was an ectopic pregnancy. I had surgery. I'm being discharged today."

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Olivia's anger quickly melted into concern as she grabbed my hand. "Wait, where is that bastard Oscar? Where the hell is he?!"

To our friends, Oscar was the doting husband, famous for protecting me from the slightest harm. His absence was a jarring shock.

A bitter smile twisted my lips. "He's at a hospital. A different one. With Hedy's mother. Apparently, he's a little busy for me."

Olivia, who knew the bare bones of the situation, was about to explode. "Even if his own mother were on her deathbed, you just came back from the brink! He should be here! I'm calling him right now!"

I pressed her hand down, shaking my head gently. "Don't, Olivia. It doesn't matter anymore. Why are you here alone?"

"Final check-up. Mark went to pay the bill. Claire, you're coming home with me!"

Just as Olivia was about to drag me off, our Uber arrived.

But as we stepped out of the elevator, we saw them. Hedy, standing in the lobby, arm in arm with Oscar.

All four of us froze.

The next second, Oscar shoved Hedy's hand away, but his gaze on me was as hard as stone.

"Claire, I explained everything in my text. What's the point of following me here, of spying on me? When did you become this unreasonable?"

"Claire, please, stop pressuring Oscar!"

In the middle of the bustling hospital lobby, Hedy let out a piercing shriek before dropping to her knees in front of me, clinging to Oscar's leg and bursting into theatrical sobs.

"Hedy, get up! What are you doing?" Oscar frantically tried to pull her up.

"Don't stop me, Oscar! It's all my fault, and my mother's. We're the ones who hurt Claire. But Claire, my mother is dying. I'm begging you, have mercy! Just let me borrow Oscar for a little while! As soon as she's gone, I promise I'll give him right back to you!"

As she spoke, she made a gesture as if to kowtow.

Unable to move her, Oscar's distress curdled into anger, which he directed squarely at me. "How can you be so heartless? Coming here just to force a girl who's about to lose her mother to her knees? Where is your conscience, Claire? You disgust me."