“Where’s mom?” Aaron asked, trying to sit up in his hospital bed.
“She’s still sleeping, little man,” Nick responded.
“Can I see her?” the little boy asked.
Nick smiled, glad to see his son in such good spirits. “When she wakes up, bud. I promise. She’s going to be so happy to know that you’re okay.”
The rest of the people in the room were surprised at the answer that he gave. Not only that he said yes. But how quickly he answered and how genuine he sounded. He usually found some way to skirt around the issue.
“Nickolas,” Jane said, sternly. “Can I talk to you outside please?” BJ, knowing something was up and ever the nosy sister, immediately follwed, grabbing Leslie by the arm as she walked out of the room.
“What mother?” Nick asked when they reached the waiting room where everyone was hanging around.
“I don’t really think that the children seeing their mother is the best idea,” Jane told him, folding her arms across her chest.
Nick rolled his eyes. His mother always butt-in where she didn’t belong. “You’re kidding, right? She’s their mother and she’s right. I can’t keep them from her.”
“Nickolas,” Jane began. “I know what I’m talking about and you need to listen to me. You don’t think clearly when it comes to her.”
“Mom.” Nick was starting to lose his patience. “You have no idea what’s gone on.”
“And you do?” BJ questioned. “She just showed up without any explanation.”
“Seriously,” Leslie jumped in. “Don’t let her manipulate you. Especially when she had no reason to leave you in the first place.”
“Yeah. What’d she do?” BJ asked, half sarcastically, half serious. “Jump into bed with Brendan the first chance she got?”
”She fucking tried to kill herself!” Nick’s emotions finally hit the roof, not being able to deal with all of their nagging.
“What?” Leighanne whispered, her eyes widening in shock. Brian grabbed her hand. He had seen the scars a few days ago. He and AJ. It wasn’t hard to figure out what had happened.
“She didn’t leave me for Brendan,” Nick explained, exasperated. “Or for anyone else. She left because she was so sick and she didn’t know what else to do. She’s been sick for years and no one ever fucking knew.” He spun around on his heel and walked back to his son’s room, leaving them all standing there, dumbfounded.
“What is he talking about?” Jane turned around and looked at Nick’s friends, hoping they had some answers. Her face had gone completely stark-white. No matter how angry she was at her daughter-in-law, she never wanted her to go through something like this.
Brian stepped forward and grabbed Jane’s arm, leading her over to the closest chair. “It’s true,” he told her. “AJ and I both saw the scars but we didn’t know what actually had happened. I think Brendan just told Nick everything a little while ago.”
“How?” BJ asked, quietly, sitting on the other side of her mother. “I mean, how did she do it?”
“It looks like she slit her wrists. That’s where the scars are. I don’t really know anything else other than that.”
“Jesus,” Leighanne breathed. “Why?”
Brian shrugged again. “Like I said, I don’t know the whole story. But maybe we all shouldn’t be so hard on her anymore. Clearly, she’s been through hell.”
“Yes she has.” They all turned their heads at the sound of the voice, seeing Brendan standing in the doorway to the waiting room. “And Brian, I think that’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long time. Now, does anyone know where Nick is? Kate’s awake and she wants to know how Aaron’s doing.”
Leslie led him down the hall to where Aaron’s room was. He softly knocked on the door. Nick glanced up and offered Brendan a small smile, waving him inside. Brendan quietly entered the room. “Hey,” he greeted Aaron with a smile. “How are you feeling, Air?”
Aaron grinned. “Good! I’m going to be all better soon.”
Nick smiled at his son. “You sure are, bud.”
“Nick,” Brendan began. “Kate’s awake and she wanted to know how Aaron was doing.”
“I should go talk to her.” Nick stood up. “Would you mind hanging out with him for a little?”
“No problem.” Brendan smiled. “Oh and Nick?”
Nick stopped and turned around. “I told her that you knew everyrthing. Just let her bring it up, okay?” Nick nodded before disappearing from the room.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Hey,” Nick said, softly, entering the room. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” Katelin replied, sleepily. “Just tired. How’s Aaron?”
He smiled, pulling up a chair next to her hospital bed. “He’s doing great. They want to keep him here for a few days to make sure that his body doesn’t reject the marrow. But he should be back to normal in no time.”
“Good,” she smiled, while at the same time, fighting back a yawn.
They both were silent, consumed in their own thoughts. Nick desperately wanted to talk to her about everything. Demand to know why she never came to him. Katelin, on the other hand, didn’t know what to think. She had fought so hard to keep her secret from him for so long. And now he knew everything and she had no idea what he was thinking.
“So,” she began, breaking the silence. “Brendan told me that he explained everything to you.”
Nick slowly nodded. “Yeah, he did.”
And, all of the sudden, she lost it, the tears flowing freely down her face. “I’m so sorry, Nicky. I never wanted to hurt you. And I never wanted to leave. I just had to. I was so scared. Scared about you leaving me. Scared because I didn’t know how to take care of my kids anymore. I felt like I couldn’t do anything.”
She was openly sobbing now and Nick felt his heart break. He wanted to take back every nasty thing he had said to her since she had walked back into his life. He pulled her into his arms as his own tears mixed with hers and rocked her back and forth. He would never, ever let anything bad happen to her ever again.
She backed away from the door, her heart shattering at the sight. In the back of her mind, she knew something like this was going to happen sooner or later. But there was always some part of her that had hoped he would choose her. But she knew what she was competing with all along and she wasn’t going to be second best anymore.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Nick walked into the hosue later that night, tossing his keys on the hall table. He was emotionally and physically exhausted, the events of the day and the last few months taking their toll. His parents had the twins for the night, graciously offering to watch them and give him some time to himself.
He walked upstairs and straight into his bathroom. Before he did anything else, he desperately needed a warm shower. Fifteen minutes later, he walked out of his bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He glanced at the bed. The bed he used to share with his wife. The love of his life. He wanted nothing more than to crawl into it and sleep for days, forgetting about the hell he had been through in the last few years.
He glanced up at his dresser, noticing something sitting on top of it. He walked over and picked up the envelope, noticing his name scrawled across the front of it in Brynn’s familiar handwriting. Sitting down on his bed, he opened up the letter and began to read:
Dear Nick,
I’m not doing this to hurt you. I love you and I never want to hurt you. But I’m not who you want.
I can’t compete with what the two of you had. Or have. No matter how much you want to deny it, you and Katelin share something that most people can only dream of having. And I won’t be the one that interferes with that.
She needs you. She’ll never be okay unless she has you in her life. And you need her too. Even if you can’t see it now. Help your wife get better and let your children get to know their mother again. And please don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine, especially knowing that I did the right thing by walking away.
I love you, Nick. You’ll always have a special place in my heart. Maybe one day we’ll see each other again. But right now, go put your family back together.
Love,
Brynn