Chapter 10 - The Hospital Promise
Alex remained beside Claire’s hospital bed.
The baby’s heartbeat was steady.
Claire’s hip was badly bruised but not fractured.
Doctors warned that stress and trauma increased risks.
She needed rest and safety.
Claire stared at the ceiling.
“I almost didn’t send it.”
Alex leaned forward.
“Why?”
“Because I knew what would happen.”
“What happened needed to happen.”
“No. I mean everything after.”
Police.
Court.
News.
Questions.
Victor’s family accusing her.
People asking why she stayed.
Claire had imagined the aftermath so often that continuing to endure sometimes felt simpler.
Alex took her hand.
“I’m not going to ask why you stayed.”
Tears entered her eyes.
“I thought you would.”
“I’m going to ask why I made it so hard for you to tell me.”
Claire turned toward him.
Years earlier, Alex had confronted Victor after noticing the bruise.
He shouted.
Threatened him.
Claire spent the night calming Victor afterward.
The next morning, Victor told her Alex was dangerous.
He said her brother’s anger would destroy the marriage.
Claire began hiding more.
Alex remembered.
“I thought defending you meant making him afraid of me.”
“It made him punish me after you left.”
Alex closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I didn’t ask what you needed.”
Claire squeezed his hand.
“Now I need you calm.”
“I can do that.”
“I need you to protect the evidence. Not fight him.”
“I will.”
“I need you to believe me even when I sound uncertain.”
“I already do.”
Claire began crying.
Not loudly.
The tears moved silently toward her hair.
“I thought the message might be too late.”
Alex looked toward the fetal monitor.
“It wasn’t.”
She placed one hand over her belly.
“What if I go back?”
He did not say she would never do that.
He understood leaving could be complicated.
“If you go back, I will keep the door open. If you leave again, I will come again. But I will never pretend it is safe.”
Claire looked at him for a long time.
Then she whispered, “I’m not going back.”
That was the promise that mattered.
May you like
Not to Alex.
To herself.
