She Drained Me for My Backup

I pulled my mouth into something that did not resemble a smile. "Doctor, my only request is that you write me a ten-day prescription for painkillers."

I would not spend my last ten days in a hospital. Both of my parents had died in one, and I had never shaken the dread the place left behind.

I had barely cleared the front entrance when Winona called.

"Why did you check yourself out?" she asked.

"I'm bored. I hate lying around," I replied.

She started to argue. "That's not acceptable…"

Then Daniel's voice cut in, close enough to her ear that he had to be standing beside her. "Winnie, this couple's ring is gorgeous…"

"Then we'll go all in!" she told him, before speaking to me again. "Jordan, you're an adult. Take care of yourself."

She tossed out a few hollow words and hung up without waiting for a response.

I remembered how it used to be, before Daniel. A work dinner had landed me in the hospital with a stomach bleed. When the doctors told her my blood type was rare and that I needed to be careful, she had not slept for days. She had cried and begged me not to leave her

After that, she barely let me out of her sight. A paper cut on my finger would be enough to send her into a panic.

Now I had lost a kidney, yet she couldn't be bothered to stay on the line.

I told myself I was over it. Still, something in my chest, a small, involuntary ache, had not gotten the message.

I laughed at myself and blocked her number.

The first thing I did that day was hire a cleaning crew. I had them clear every trace of me from the house, including the ceramic couple figurines I had painted by hand and the 20,000 photographs from seven years together. I burned everything, along with the villa key.

On the second day, I hired a funeral service and arranged for the collection of my body.

On the third day, I went from one party to the next with friends. At one of them, I lost a round of truth or dare and ended up toasting with a pretty woman, our arms linked, glasses touching.

The friend beside me went pale. "If your girlfriend sees this, she'll kill me."

I smiled easily in the noise and neon. "Doesn't matter. I don't care anymore."

That night, Winona could not hold back. She sent me a photo taken in the dim light of the venue. The woman and I stood mid-toast, arms linked.

Winona: [Jordan. Come home, get on your knees, and explain yourself.]

…

I went home on the fourth day, but not because she scared me. A package I had ordered had arrived.

Maria, the housekeeper, opened the door. She pulled me aside and whispered, "Sir, please don't argue with her tonight. Just admit you were wrong and be done with it."

I walked in to find Winona on the sofa, her arm around Daniel as he cried. He wore pajamas and clutched a dark navy burial suit in both hands. A matching couple's ring caught the light on his finger.

I was still trying to make sense of it when he saw me and cried harder. "Jordan, I know you can't stand me. I know you don't want me living here. But you didn't have to curse me. You sent me a coffin suit."

He had moved in while I was gone. I had no idea.

Winona's brow tightened. "Jordan, I thought you were better than this. You walk out and do whatever you want, and I say nothing. All I did was ask Danny to stay so I could look after him. Was that really worth this?"

I crossed the room without a word and took the coffin suit from Daniel's hands.

"Who said it was for you?" I slipped it over my clothes and turned to check my reflection in the full-length mirror.

It fit well.

I used to be afraid of dying. I was afraid that if Winona left me, I would not survive it. Now, as I stood at the edge of it, I saw clearly that I had given myself far too much credit.

Winona's face went rigid. She stood and reached for the buttons. "Jordan, have you lost your mind? Take that off. Right now."

I stepped aside.

Her expression hardened. "Stop running from the problem. Stand there and apologize to Danny properly."

Before I could respond, she exhaled slowly and unclenched her hands. Then she reached into her bag and pulled out several documents.