To Err Is Human

Strangled

The table was quiet for a while, for a long while. Anna had her eyes glued the slice of beef on her fork. She was well aware she had not touched her dinner or said a word to anyone the entire night.

She just wasn't sure she needed to say anything at all. She just wanted to keep on twirling her fork around and glaring at it. She was sure if she kept on doing that, if she remained quiet, she wouldn't have to tell Angelo what happened at the hospital even when she was dying to. She needed to talk to someone about it, she knew she could trust Angelo, it was his child too, but she was scared. It wasn't just the right time.

But If there was one thing she knew about her husband, it was the fact that he wasn't entirely blind. He wasn't enjoying his dinner watching his wife play dumb the entire night. It was almost like he wasn't there.

He was dying to know what was wrong with her. He frowned for a while, watching her closely, trying to read her mind but all he was getting was...nothing. Angelo exhaled in frustration, dropping his fork loudly in his plate. He pulled his napkin from his shirt and dabbed his lips with it

"Okay what's wrong?"
Anna looked up slowly

"What?"

"Anna you've been this way the entire evening. You've barely even touched your food."

Oh
She sat up

"It's nothing." She lied "I'm just thinking a lot about work."

"Work?"

"Yeah work."

She forced the beef into her mouth and grabbed her glass of water. She took a big sip. Angelo wasn't buying it.

"Do you need a break?"

She dropped the glass slowly on the table, shaking her head in disapproval

"I can handle it ."

She turned back to her plate and grabbed her fork. She really didn't want to be so obvious but Angelo had already grown so fond of her to know when she had something on her mind

Angelo hesitated before he turned to his food

"Were you able to see the doctor today?"

Anna paused. She didn't look up, she was hesitating. This was the point where she had to lie again. What on earth was she going to say? Angelo watched her closely. She turned back to her plate.

"Yes I did."

"And?"

"It's nothing serious. He just said I was ill from stress at work and needed to rest a while."

She looked at him hoping deep in her heart that he was buying it. Angelo didn't have a choice. He exhaled and nodded. He wasn't going to push it.

"Look, I know it's been a bit crazy these past few months, but you know you can talk to me if something is bothering you right?" He slowly reached for her hand, he squeezed it

She looked at him. He was just so bad at pretending to hide his worry. He didn't even try to.

She forced a smile

Just try to act normal Anna!

"I know ." She told him pulling her hands away slowly. She wasn't exactly in the mood to hold hands. Everything had changed since she left the hospital, her thoughts were all over the place. She couldn't afford to be distracted than she already was. She still needed to figure somethings out. She needed to find a way around everything that was happening. But that was Angelo, sitting right there. That was the man she trusted, the father of her child too. How could she just act like he wasn't there? Like he didn't have the right to get involved. At that moment everything the doctor told her began to make sense. She knew she could trust him, she wanted to. She wasn't sure she could handle it alone