Page 53 of From Rivals to I Do

“Nothing that concerns you,” I say as I try again, but he blocks me.

“Now, don’t be so sassy, Darla,” Joseph says. “That’s no way to treat a concerned friend of a patient in your hospital, now, is it?”

“Seriously Joe, now is not the time,” I say.

“When is it the time when it comes to you?” Joseph asks.

“As far as you’re concerned? Never,” I say as I finally bob and weave enough to get past him. “My own friend is in trouble.”

“Wait,” Joseph says as he nearly flies around to get in front of me again. “Listen, I’m sorry about the other day.”

“Joe—”

“I’m sorry I got so heated, I just miss you so much,” he says, “I love you, Darla, I miss what we had. What we could still have.”

“We have nothing anymore Joseph, don’t you see that?” I say. “Throughout our whole marriage, I did everything I could to make you happy. I helped build our home, I gave you two beautiful babies and all the love I could give even with your busy schedule. But then you decided to burn it all to the ground.”

“Come on, Darla,” Joseph says as he puts his hands on my shoulders. “We can fix it, there’s still time.”

“No, we can’t, Joe!” I snap as I shake my head. “No amount of apologizing or gifts will ever, ever fix what you’ve done,” I growl through gritted teeth.

“You are my wife,” Joe snaps, anger finally bleeding to the surface as his gentle hold on my arms becomes a painful grasp.

“We are divorced, Joe,” I say, not wincing or showing even a bit of fear. I refuse to let him think he has one over on me. “Now either you move out of my way, or I’ll have you escorted out. Find another sucker.”

He looks at me for a moment, appearing to be dumbfounded by my words, so I rip his hands off me and continue to run down the corridor. He continues calling out for me and I keep ignoring him as I focus on the sign that says, “operation waiting room” on the wall, and I follow the arrow.

When I enter the room, I see Zack, Noah, and another man who I assume to be Jeffrey in there, the two twins sitting together with their heads hung, and the other brother pacing back and forth behind them.

“Zack? Noah?” I call out, and both their heads pop up, and I can see their eyes are red and puffy.

“Darla!” Zack says as I run up to him and instinctively wrap my arms around him. “What are you doing here?”

“I work here,” I say. “I just happened to be covering the night shift tonight, and the other nurse read off the chart. . . I didn’t want it to be true.”

“It’s awful,” Zack cries, burrowing his face into my shoulder as Noah stands up and rubs his back lightly.

“It’s going to be okay man,” Noah says. “Dad wouldn’t want us to be a mess like this.”

“I don’t think Dad’s going to know,” Jeffrey says as he walks over to us.

“You must be, Jeff,” I say.

“And you must be the new girlfriend,” he says with a sigh. “Nice to meet you, wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Likewise,” I reply. “What happened?”

“The cows got out and Mitch, Zack, and I were rounding the cattle up. Next thing we know, Dad falls off his horse and Tango kicks him.”

“Tango? Really?” I ask. “He seemed so well-behaved.”

“We think he got stung by something,” Zack says. “There’s a little wound on his shoulder.”

“Where’s Mitch? Did he see what happened?” I ask.

“He’s here somewhere,” Noah replies. “He was right there actually. Said they were talking and then everything got crazy.”

That seems fishy, I think to myself for a moment, but it’s a fleeting thought, my hands shaking as I let go of Zack and sit down, the adrenaline coursing through my veins tapping out. I sit with them all night, and it’s not until the sun starts peeking through the windows that someone comes out from the OR to speak with us.

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