Chapter 4

When I opened my eyes, the fluid draining into my body had left one whole side of me cold and numb.

I turned my head slightly and saw Claude sitting right beside Ada.

She hadn't worn a relaxed expression like that in front of me in a long time.

Claude speared a piece of fruit and lifted it to her lips.

"You're always taking care of him. Let me take care of you."

Ada opened her mouth and bit down,

the motion smooth and practiced, as if they'd done it a thousand times.

The woman in the next bed laughed behind her hand.

"You two lovebirds are really something."

I spoke, my voice hoarse.

"Wife."

The woman let out a little "oh" and turned away.

The smiles on Ada's and Claude's faces froze too.

Ada came over and pressed a hand to my forehead.

"You have a fever. Why didn't you tell me?"

I didn't answer, but inside I was thinking:

when he helped me to the guest room, could he really not feel how wrong my body temperature was?

The Ada I used to know was always so careful.

If the water was off by even a few degrees, she'd notice.

Claude leaned in and bent down to tuck the blanket around me.

The diamond necklace slid out from under his shirt,

glinting with a soft, wet shine.

"Ada has always cared about you, Wall. She and I are just good friends, and everything I did was to help you get better faster."

I stared at that string of diamonds

and asked Ada,

"You took the necklace my mother gave me and gave it to him behind my back?"

Ada couldn't help frowning.

"Don't put it in such an ugly way. Claude has done so much for you. It's just a necklace."

Right. What was one necklace my mother gave me,

when I'd already handed him my wife.

But I wasn't willing to let it go either.

"Take it off. Give it back to me."

Claude's eyes reddened.

He'd barely gotten the necklace off

when the chain snapped, and the diamonds rained down.

Claude kept apologizing.

Ada only gave them a light glance,

stopped me as I moved to get out of bed,

and neither of them made any move to pick them up.

Ada's phone rang. She answered it

and walked out of the room with Claude.

A few hours later, Ada sent me a message.

"My mom just told me the baby isn't feeling well. Come see him once you're feeling better."

But when I got there, it wasn't the scene I'd pictured.

The lights were bright.

My mother-in-law and Ada's younger sister sat on one side,

Ada, Claude, and the child in the high chair on the other.

Any outsider walking by would have taken it for a family dinner.

And I was the outsider who didn't know how to read the room.

My mother-in-law gave a cold snort.

"The madman shows up uninvited."

Ada's younger sister served her mother some food and cut in.

"Exactly. If Claude were my brother-in-law instead, I wouldn't be this embarrassed all the time."

"When people ask, I can't even bring myself to say my brother-in-law is a mental case who screams and raves every day."

Ada shot her sister a look

and told me to come sit.

"I didn't invite you because I figured you didn't like crowds."

I didn't go over.

"The baby's not sick?"

Claude, busy fussing over the child, turned his head at that.

"The baby's perfectly fine, don't go cursing him. Wall, it looks like you haven't taken your meds today. Maybe you should just go home first."

My mother-in-law's face went dark in an instant. She slammed the table.

"Wallace, you've been married to Ada for a year, and the Sanchez family hasn't gotten a single thing out of it. And now you come here to curse my grandson? I'm throwing you out today, and I'd like to see who dares stop me!"

In the past, hearing sounds this jarring would have left me struggling for breath.

But right now, I stood there steady.

"Claude, playing nanny for my son and warming the bed for my wife, does it feel good?"

Claude's eyes went red.

Ada put down her chopsticks, her brow tight.

"Wallace, you really haven't been in your right mind these past few days. Claude has done so much for our family, and you smear all of it with one sentence!"

"Sis, I told you a long time ago, you spoil him too much." Ada's younger sister crossed her arms and sneered.

"Depression, what depression, I've never even heard of it. He's just being difficult, wanting the whole world to coddle him and give in to him!"

"Since everyone's here today, the two of you get divorced, and you marry Claude!"

"Shut up!" Ada snapped.

Claude finally stood, the same familiar act.

"Don't argue, all of you. I'll go first, you eat…"

"You don't need to go."

I stepped closer, one step at a time,

looking at the hate in the younger sister's eyes, my mother-in-law shaking with rage,

and Ada's arm moving instinctively to shield Claude.

My hand closed around the tablecloth.

"Since you want to eat, let me treat you."