“What are you doing?” I murmur.
“I’m taking Mrs. Reese home, Miss Bright,” he says cordially, for the nurse’s sake.
“But... but Sybil needs constant care. She will not get better.” My voice sounds strained. Childlike. The nurse looks up at me.
“Yes, I understand that. I’m going to be arranging for a live-in nurse,” Conrad says, and then he turns to the nurse. “If you could collect my wife and her things now, that would be most appreciated.”
“Certainly, Mr. Reese.” The nurse turns toward an orderly to give him instructions.
Conrad touches my arm and leads me away, around the back side of a nearby marble pillar that affords a modicum of privacy; at least it is out of the line of sight of the reception desk. “I can’t keep Sybil here,” he says. His eyes are pleading with me to understand. But I don’t want to.
“Please don’t take her,” I whisper. “Please?” I feel like my world is crumbling beneath my feet. I lean against the pillar to steady myself. If he removes Sybil from the hospital, I will likely never see him again.
“I have to. I can’t... What happened the other day...” His voice drops away.
I can’t let him disappear from my life. I can’t. “It doesn’t have to happen again. I promise. Please don’t take her, Conrad.”
“But don’t you see? Iwantit to happen again! I want it to. And Ican’t.... Sybil is my wife! I know there isn’t much of her left, but I can’t abandon her, Evelyn. I can’t. That’s not the kind of person I am. It doesn’t matter that she doesn’t know who I am anymore.Iknow who I am. I can’t abandon her. And I can’t come here every other day and see you and not wish things could be different. I have to take her and go.”
I hear everything he is saying and I understand it, but I can’t accept it. The world is tipping off its axis. What is happening is not supposed to be happening.
“Stop,” I say. It is the only thing I can say.
He reaches up with one hand to touch my cheek. “It’s best this way. To stay would be too difficult. You deserve to be happy, Evelyn. Good-bye.”
Conrad pulls his hand away, and before I can say another word, he has moved away from the pillar. Sybil is being wheeled toward the reception area, her expression as vacant as an empty room. A nurse is pushing her, and an orderly carries a small case of her private belongings.
Conrad doesn’t look back at me as he meets up with Sybil, and the four of them make their way toward the front door.
I can’t stay to watch them drive off. I am not supposed to be in the main entrance. Alex might see me and throw himself into my arms. It takes Herculean effort to walk calmly to the staff washroom, where I let the tears fall at last.
