Scarlett isn't sure her life could fall any further apart. On the morning her husband, Captain James Tamworth admits to cheating on her, she's diagnosed with cancer.
In the midst of caring for their two small children, battling through her health t...
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JAMES
It feels like I'm watching her whither away. It's past four o'clock in the afternoon and she's still sleeping. The past two weeks of radiotherapy has really taken its toll, and she's unable to do a lot of things.
"Scarlett," I whisper, trying to wake her up for some water. "You need to drink something."
The silence which greets me causes my heart to pick up speed. I pull the covers off her slightly to check over her face, stroking her cheek to try get her attention.
"Hmm," she murmurs, rolling onto my hand. "What time is it?"
I crouch down beside her, desperate to press closer. "It's almost five o'clock. You slept a lot today."
It seems impossible for her to open her eyes. "I'm so tired."
I lean in, but have to stop myself. "I know, darling."
My fingers touch her head when she seems to be drifting off to sleep again. "I made you some soup. Will you eat something?"
She murmurs a word before slipping off to sleep again. My chest hurts so deeply to see her this unwell. Scarlett has always been the resilient one and I feel sick to my stomach for betraying her.
I'm the worst kind of idiot who clearly is incapable of dealing with any emotion.
I'm contemplating trying to wake her again when the doorbell chimes. The stairs are cluttered with Elsie's toys, so I mentally add tidying them to my to-do list.
It rings again and I'm rushing to get there. "I'm here, stop fucking ringing the bell. I have to come down the stairs, you know."
"James, dude, hurry the hell up. It's freezing out here," Max shouts.
I tug open the door and stand back for my friend who comes to a sudden stop near the bottom of the staircase to give it a torn expression. It then hits me that he knows about Scarlett's breast cancer.
I go in first. "I would of told you, but it's been a terrible few weeks. It's all a bit of a blur."
"Shit, James, don't even worry about it," he says, lifting up the carrier bag. "I brought some beers. I figure you can use the drink."
"Let's go through," I respond, leading him to the sitting room. "Ignore the mess."
He grabs a can of beer and offers it over, but I refuse. "You sure? Look like you need it."
"I'm never drinking again," I say sharply and his eyebrows go right up.
Alcohol only leads to mistakes.
I scrub at my face. "Do you know when the funeral is?"
I haven't had the heart to tell Scarlett yet, but our friend Derek died out in combat last month. A minefield. Blew him up bad. I got the call from his wife on the Friday night while out with Max, and it absolutely destroyed me, but then I got so obliterated it's hard to know what happened next.
