Then a crash. A loud thud. Someone hits something hard. I shove a pillow over my head and cry into the mattress.
“Dee!” Colt pounds on the door. “Dee, baby,please. I’ll do better. We can fix this. Just… just talk to me.Please!”
Every pound against the door is like a punch to my chest.
“Come on, Colt,” Joseph says, voice calm but strained. “You need to go. She doesn’t want to see you right now.”
“She’smy wife,” Colt snaps. “She’severything.”
“And you pounding on her door is going to make her hide in there longer. Trust me, I know Dee. If you sit here all night, she’ll wait you out. She’s stubborn as hell, man. Just… let her come to you.”
Silence.
Then Colt sighs, broken. “I hit you. I’m sorry,” he mutters. “I just… ah, fuck, Joseph, I love her so much. I can’t breathe without her.”
“I know,” Joseph replies, gentler now. “But you need to think clearly. You can’t crash like last time. You have a son now. He needs you. Caleb’s sick, Colt. You don’t get the luxury of falling apart. You have to stay upright. Forhim.”
There’s more silence.
“Go home. Get some rest. Show up for your boy tomorrow. If you can’t live for yourself right now, live for him,” Joseph says.
A beat.
“I love you, Dee,” Colt calls out. “Until the end of time, baby.”
I stay where I am, curled into myself, sobbing silently. Then the front door opens and closes. Seconds later, I hear a car tear out of the driveway.
He’s gone.
And it feels like someone’s cut a hole in my chest.
I drag myself to the bathroom and splash cold water on my face, trying to breathe. My eyes are so puffy that I can barely see.
A knock comes at my door.
“You okay in there?” Joseph asks.
“Are you alone?”
“Danny’s here. Colt’s gone.”
I open the door.
Joseph wastes no time pulling me into a tight hug.
Danny follows, frowning. “Dee, are you sure this is the right move?” Danny asks. “Colt was in pieces.”
“I miss him already.”
Danny crosses his arms. “This is ridiculous. You both look like you’ve been hit by a truck.”
“I know,” I whisper. “But this is how it has to be. He deserves arealfamily. One I can’t give him.”
Danny scoffs. “That’s the story you’re telling yourself?”
“It’s not a story, Danny. It’s reality.”
Joseph steps in. “Dee, you don’t have to do this alone. And you definitely don’t have to throw him away because life changed on you.”
