He swallowed, and she watched hypnotically as the small bob of his adam’s apple in his throat moved up and down. His eyes narrowed and he parted his lips to speak. From the doorway, the soft squeak of the nurse’s shoes echoed across to both Michael and Delores.
“Here we are,” the softness of her voice danced across the room to Delores, almost a physical thing that she might be able to reach out and touch. The corners of Michael’s eyes crinkled and he stood up, moving his face away from Delores’.
The nurse came closer, and Michael took a step back, watching with agitation as she poured Delores a glass of water and helped her sit up and take a sip. Delores swallowed greedily, grateful for the undeserving compassion.
“Not sure where that got to, but I’ll make sure it keeps topped up today for you,” the nurse said, and then turned to the softly beeping machine at the side of the bed. “This is all looking good, sweetheart. I think you’re on the mend.” She looked towards Michael, her smile growing, as all women’s did when they saw him. He was handsome, almost strikingly so, and he knew it. But today he wasn’t smiling; in fact, he looked angry. The nurse’s smile fell. “I’ll leave you two alone,” she murmured and walked towards the doorway. She gave one last concerned look at Delores and left the room, leaving the door ajar.
Michael’s face twitched. He strode over to the door and shut it. He twisted the blinds to closed and walked back to Delores, one hand already unbuttoning his jacket.
“So, you’re getting better,” he said smoothly. Delores blinked in response, not sure what to say to that. He hadn’t posed it as a question. It was a statement of fact, and he looked furious at the fact. “Well, isn’t that marvellous, Del.”
Again, a fact, not a question. Delores didn’t reply. She glanced sideways at the water on her bedside cabinet, thirsty for more of it but knowing there was no point in asking him for it. As if reading her mind, Michael smiled and picked up her glass. He brought the glass to his lips and drank the remainder of it and then placed the empty glass back on the cabinet.
“Refreshing,” he said with a smirk. He picked up the jug and moved it out of Delores’ reach. “You don’t need that, do you?”
Delores shook her head in sad agreement.
“Sorry, what was that? I didn’t quite hear that, Del’.” He walked across the room, his leather Italian shoes making small tapping noises on the linoleum. He moved to the door and clicked the lock shut.
“No,” she whispered out.
He smiled at her again. “You know why you’re here, don’t you?” he said, glancing over his shoulder, and then back at Delores again. He fixed his cold gaze down on her.
Delores nodded, and he frowned, his lips pulling into a tight thin line.
“Speak up, Del’.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Why?”
“Because I’m bad.”
“No, it’s because you’re evil.”
“Yes,” she said, tears burning her eyes.
“Say it, Del’, sayI am evil.”
“I am—,” a sob broke free from her mouth, and the corner of Michael’s mouth twitched again.
“Evil, say it.”
“I am evil,” Delores’s tears spilled over. “I am evil,” she whispered, her voice full of shame.
“Yes, you are.”
“I am evil. I am evil. I am evil. I am evil…” Delores cried as she repeated the mantra over and over again, her tears falling like the crashing of ocean waves. “I am evil.”
Michael smiled down at his broken wife, satisfaction bubbling in his stomach. “Yes, you are. You had everything, why did you throw it all away? I thought we were happy. I thought you knew better than to want more from life. I’m all you needed, Del’, but you had to go and ruin it, didn’t you?” he sneered, rage and fury simmering below the surface of his eyes and making Delores frightened.
“You were enough,” she sobbed.
“Were?” he gritted out.
“Are, you are enough. Always, Michael.”
Michael stared down at his wife, a softness sparking in his eyes briefly. But then he shook his head, and thoughts of his cheating wife and that pig of a cop, hand in hand, sneaking around behind his back, brought his anger back full force. She’d made a fool out of him, but he was going to have the last laugh.
