my room.
She looked at me, and just like always, handed
me a pre–printed appointment slip for the
<
9:07
99
“Everything’s been scheduled. Two hours from now,” she said, a flicker of sympathy in her eyes.
Sarah always arranged these procedures for me
after Jake made the call.
And she knew better than anyone how much my body had suffered.
“Okay,” I replied, getting up.
Sarah didn’t move.
I was about to ask her what was up when I saw
Jake sweep past my doorway, carrying Tiffany in his arms.
They were laughing and joking. “Tiffany, I’m
taking you to Disneyland today!”
“You’ve always wanted to go, right?”
く
Tiffany was a family friend who lived with the
family; they weren’t officially family but grew up
together. Their bond was rock solid, and no
matter how hard I tried, I could never pry Jake
away.
“Ooh, Jake, can we get cotton candy? Please?”
Tiffany batted her eyelashes, and Jake was all
over her.
I suddenly remembered that one year, on my
birthday, I’d mentioned wanting to go to
Disneyland.
But Jake had scoffed, “That’s for kids. You’re
too old for that nonsense.”
Snapping back to reality, Jake and Tiffany were
gone.
And I headed to the clinic with Sarah.
く
Familiar place, familiar operating table.
The doctor double–checked with me. “Ma’am,
are you sure you want to go through with this?
“Your uterine lining is very thin. It’s possible you won’t be able to have children in the future.”
“It’s okay.”
I didn’t want kids anymore anyway.
Jake had finally broken me.
Before going into the OR, I scrolled through
social media and saw Tiffany’s latest post.
Caption: [I think happiness is just being with the
people you love.]
In the video, she and Jake were sitting by a
little brazier, roasting tea and oranges, eating
pastries. They were playing cards.
<
9:07
Jake was gazing at her adoringly. “You’re amazing, Tiffany. You always win.”
“Well, duh. I’m a card shark!” Tiffany pouted playfully.
994
I could clearly see the light in Jake’s eyes, the pure relaxation on his face.
I remember a time when he took me fishing and I offered to make BBQ.
He always looked impatient and uninterested in fishing and said the BBQ was nothing good.
He seemed truly happy, with Tiffany.
I turned off my phone and went into the OR.
- 4.
After the procedure, I bumped into Jake and
Tiffany right outside the clinic.
<
9:07
994
Jake was anxiously asking her, “Are you feeling
okay? Are you sure you’re not hurting anywhere?”
Tiffany spotted me and suddenly looked
terrified. “Stay away from me! Stay away!”
“Lindsey! I can’t be a mom anymore. Please
don’t try to hurt me!” Tiffany cried.
“Get away from her!”
Jake shoved me aside, and I slammed into the building wall.
My stomach seized up in pain.
I never imagined she would be so cunning to
taint my name.
When Jake and I were dating, she asked me to
go shopping with her.
<
9:07
994
Halfway through, she ran off to meet her friends. Later she encountered punks and was raped multiple times until she had a massive hemorrhage and her uterus was gone.
The first thing she told Jake when she woke up was, “Lindsey took me to that bar. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have met those punks.”
No matter how much I explained, Jake would never believe me.
He believed Tiffany, and considered that I indirectly harmed her.
“Sarah, from now on, find out my schedule before you arrange these appointments for Lindsey,” Jake said coldly.
“I don’t ever want Tiffany to see her again.”
Sarah, looking terrified, hastily agreed. “Okay.”
