The words seemed to echo in my mind, reverberating through the stillness of the waiting room. Claire’s frail form sat before me, a stark contrast to the fiery, relentless woman I once knew. I tried to process what she had just said, but my mind stumbled over the implications, the complexity of what lay ahead.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I asked, my voice barely audible above the whisper of hospital life around us.She looked down, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of the hospital gown. “I was scared, Ethan. I didn’t know how to tell you, especially after… everything.”
Everything. The word encompassed our tumultuous past, the fights, the misunderstandings, the love that had once been so vibrant and then so painfully absent. I took a deep breath, trying to navigate the whirlwind of emotions surging within me.“Are you okay?” I finally managed to ask, my concern genuine despite the emotional chasm that had grown between us.
