Part 2Summer Farewell

Joanna had saved my life, but she was drowning in guilt. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed by my bedside.

"If I had just learned first aid… if I had checked the weather forecast before we left… if I hadn't agreed to pick you up, maybe this wouldn't have happened…" Her tears fell faster than she could wipe them away.

"I heard this hospital collaborates with Mark's. I used his name to request a specialist consult for you. The doctors said your condition is critical. If we don't do something soon, you might lose your uterus…"

Just then, Mark, her husband, called, his voice sharp with accusation.

"Joanna, are you in the mountains? Are you following me? Don't you have anything better to do? I wouldn't have even known if the hospital hadn't called me!"

"Don't you know there was a landslide? Can you stop making trouble? Lily being here is a coincidence! She's not my only patient! And can you please stop hanging out with that crazy friend of yours? Is stupidity contagious?"

"I've explained this to you a thousand times. What will it take for you to trust me? One day you're talking about learning first aid, the next you're using my name to monopolize hospital resources. Can you just be normal for once? If you keep this up, I'll be the one asking for a divorce!"

He hung up.

Joanna stared at her phone, at the picture of the two of them on her wallpaper, and fresh tears welled in her eyes.

I had never regretted my marriage more than I did in that moment.

The room was silent, save for the soft sound of our tears.

Nick didn't believe I had a miscarriage. Mark didn't believe Joanna trusted him.

Our relationships were a mistake from the start. Our stubbornness had only pushed us further down the wrong path.

And turning back had cost me half my life.