Page 81 of Perfect Imperfections

“Sorry, Angel.”

“Sorry, Charlotte.”

She glanced at Sullivan, sharing an amused expression. They’d seen this movie so often the little girl could recite it—and currently was, silently, her lips moving along with the talking animal currently on screen telling the princess to be her best and good things would follow.

They sat in silence, enjoying the movie. Well, Charlotte enjoyed it. Ellie tolerated it because the little girl loved it so much and it made her happy to see Charlotte happy. Besides, Ellie would get her happy later. A few happies if she was lucky.

Suddenly the sounds of ringing filled the air. Since Ellie had her incoming calls set to the sound of an elephant trumpeting—yes, she let Charlotte set it—she knew it had to be coming from Sullivan’s phone.

“Daaaaaaaddyyyyyyyy!” Charlotte complained. “My favorite song is coming up. You promised to turn the ringer off.”

True. Sullivan usually silenced his phone during movie night.

“Sorry, Angel, I forgot.” He pulled the phone from his pocket, scowling at the screen. “California? Hold on, I gotta take this.”

Rising from the couch, Sullivan headed out of the living room. Charlotte—content now that all distractions had been silenced—turned back to the television. Ellie snuggled the girl in close, preparing herself for the titular who am I song of the movie. It wasn’t so bad, but the dang thing got stuck in her head after every viewing and the last thing she wanted was to be humming the bars during tonight’s activities.

Near the end of the song, a loud crash came from the kitchen, followed by the harsh sounds of Sullivan swearing. Ellie jumped, feeling Charlotte tense in her arms.

“What happened?” Charlotte whispered.

Movie momentarily forgotten, Ellie glanced down into worried, emerald eyes. “I don’t know.”

“Is Daddy okay?”

Hard to tell, but she heard more muted swearing, so she assumed he wasn’t lying dead on the floor. Pasting on what she hoped was a convincing smile, she hugged the girl tightly. “I’m sure he’s fine, sweetie. Why don’t you finish watching the movie while I go and check? Okay?”

Charlotte glanced worriedly toward the kitchen, but then the prince arrived on screen to save the princess who had already saved herself and the child’s attention was diverted again.

“Okay.”

Quickly slipping away, Ellie hurried to the kitchen. The sight she saw made her breath stop. Sullivan stood hunched over the counter, bowls and dishes from their earlier dinner scattered across the floor, some of the ceramic broken. It didn’t appear to be an accident, either. From the heaving tenseness of his shoulders, it seemed Sullivan swept them all off the counter in a fit of rage. That would explain the loud noise, but not the reason for the outburst.

In all her time with Sullivan, she’d never seen him livid. Scared, upset, even angry, but never this raw fury that currently poured off him like lava from an exploding volcano.

“Sullivan?” She approached him cautiously. She wasn’t afraid of him. Never that. Sullivan would never hurt anyone. Not only had he taken an oath as a doctor to do no harm, but inflicting pain on anyone just wasn’t in the guy’s DNA. She knew that. She knew him. “Are you okay?”

“She’s dead.”

He spoke the words so softly she didn’t think she heard right at first.

“What?”

“She’s dead. Claire is dead.”

He lifted his head, and the sight broke her heart. Pain, raw and unchecked, blasted out of his gaze as tears leaked out of the corner of his eyes. There was anger and confusion as well, but it was the pain that was the strongest.

“Oh…I’m sorry.”

That’s what you were supposed to say, right? When someone died. Give your sympathies even if the deceased wasn’t particularly close to the person anymore. He had been married to the woman for two years. There must have been some happy memories. Some love shared that would create pain at the loss.

“How did she—”

“Car accident.” He scoffed. “Random, freak car accident. She got T-boned at an intersection by a guy who ran a red light. No alcohol or drugs involved.”

Oh no! A car accident. Just the way his parents had died.

“She was totally sober,” he continued, his voice becoming harsh and scratchy. “In fact, she’d been sober for the past two years, apparently.”

---