Till death do us part

Chapter 35: I'm scared - Present time

Cora's POV

I watched Rose as she was trying to eat her lunch. She was mainly playing around with it: pushing and pulling the food around. It seemed she wasn't going to eat any of it.

"Are you going to eat it or are you just going to keep pushing it around?"

She looked at me. She shrugged. "I'm not really hungry..."

I raised my eyebrows. "You have to eat something, Rose," I scooted closer and looked at the food. It indeed didn't seem that appetizing. "Maybe try the dessert? It can't be that bad."

She looked at the dessert. It was a chocolate pudding. "Maybe..." She took the cup of pudding and took a spoonful of it. She looked at it for a bit before finally putting it into her mouth.

"Well?" I asked as I looked at her. "Is it any good?"

She swallowed the food before shrugging. "It's ok," She took another spoonful before guiding it to my mouth. "Try some."

Hesitantly, I opened my mouth and took the spoonful of pudding. I swallow it before looking at Rose. "It's ok indeed," I drank some of my coffee then. "I've had better."

She nodded. "I bet we used to make better pudding."

I smiled. "The best."

She chuckled.

Right then, there was a knock on the door. We both looked at the door before it opened. A doctor entered the room. "Good day to both of you," He smiled at Rose. "How is your lunch?"

Rose shrugged. "I'm not that hungry."

He simply nodded. "We all have those days," He said before looking at me. "Can I have a word with you in private?"

"Sure," I then looked at Rose. "I'll be right back."

She nodded.

I got up and followed the doctor out of the room. We closed the door of the room on our way out. I then looked at the doctor, he seemed serious then, like he was about to deliver bad news.

"It's good your wife has recovered her memories back," He slowly nodded. "But we can not forget how serious her case still is," He said, making me look down. "The accident that got her here affected Rose on multiple levels."

I slowly nodded. "I know..."

"Her body is still healing from the accident," He paused. "Her left leg is broken completely."

"I know," I said. "I saw."

He nodded. "Did she see it?"

I frowned then. "I don't know," I then wondered about it too: did Rose know about her injuries? "I don't think she knows."

"And then there are the other injuries: her ribs are bruised, her wrist is still healing, and she has many other internal bruises too," He paused, making me nod. "We have to monitor her process closely. That accident was hard on her body too."

I slowly nodded. "Is the pressure in her head gone though?" I gulped. "The blood cloths, are they gone now since she remembers again?"

"We have to test her first to be sure but it seems the medication did its work yet again," He smiled a bit. "But we have to make Rose realize how serious her situation is. That accident proved how she can be a danger to herself."

I gulped and looked away.

"She has to remember the accident, she has to realize how to deal with all of it before she can go home."

I slowly nodded. "I'll talk to her."

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I was waiting in the cafeteria of the hospital. I had just finished my lunch, it was way better than the lunch Rose had gotten. Maybe I could take lunch to her tomorrow?

"Hey Cora," Dara said as she and Naheed sat down with me. "So, what's up?"

I smiled at them. "Thanks for coming," I looked down, at my hands then. I sighed deeply. "I need your advice," I then looked at them. "I talked to the doctor," I sighed yet again. "It's not good..."

Their facial expressions changed. "What did he say?"

I gulped and looked away. "I have to talk to her about the accident," I gulped again, feeling myself get emotional. "How do I do that?" I then looked back at them. "How do I talk to her about the one thing that got her here?"

"Maybe you can try to have her talk about it," Naheed said, gaining our attention. "Maybe she wants to talk about it as well. It's the one thing that caused all of this."

Dara slowly nodded. "Have you tried bringing up the accident before?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "She didn't want to talk about it."

Dara put her hand on mine. "I know the accident was hard for her but it was also hard for you," She looked so worried. "When I heard you on the phone after the accident, I had tears in my eyes," She paused a bit. "You went through hell, Cora, and you're allowed to express that."

I looked down a bit. "At work, I get calls about people in distress every day. I know how to handle them and what to do. It's what I do for a living," I gulped. "But when I got the call that my wife was in need of help..." I sniffled. "I froze," I looked at them. "Suddenly, I forgot everything that came naturally to me," I sniffled more. "I lost myself."

"You have to tell her this," Dara said. "You have to be honest with her, about how you've been feeling these past years."

I gulped but nodded.

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After my conversation with Dara and Naheed, I went back to Rose's room. I took a deep breath before entering.

Rose looked at me and smiled. "Cora," She sat up a bit. "Where were you? I thought the doctor only wanted to talk to you for a minute or so..."

I stood there, in front of her bed. I didn't go to my usual spot, I didn't smile, I didn't even respond. I just stood there.

Rose seemed to catch on that something was wrong. Her smile vanished completely. "Cora," She said quietly, she seemed unsure. "What's going on?"

I took a deep breath before stepping a bit closer to her. "For many years, I've been worried. I've always tried to keep strong for us, for you, but I can't do it anymore. I want to be honest with you," I looked Rose in the eyes. "Things are not ok, and I don't know what to do about it."

She seemed taken back. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. It seemed she didn't know what to say.

"I'm scared, Rose," I sniffled then, I couldn't hold it together anymore. I kept strong for Rose for many years but it seemed my facade finally broke down today. "I'm so scared."

She didn't say anything, instead, she nodded. She opened her arms for me. I went to her, hugged her, and cried in her arms.