Page 48 of A Different Husband

“I’ll find the time to go talk to her.”

“How do you think Courtney will feel when she finds out that Mina saved Dad’s business and your marriage wasn’t necessary.”

“Fuck, Bea. My marriage to Courtney was for nothing then.”

“That’s an awful thing to say.”

“I wasn’t done, asshole. I meant that she had to give up her life for me. Her whole relationship crashed hard all because Beckett convinced her to help me save my dad’s business.”

“Yeah well, if you ask me, she got the better end of the deal anyway.”

“No doubt. I’m a definite upgrade to Beckett.”

I heard a crash and Courtney screamed. “Gotta go.” I called out as I ran from my office. “Courtney?”

“Flynn, what’s going on?” Bea called through the phone. Dammit, I needed her to hang up in case I had to call 9-1-1. “Hang up, Bea!” I ordered as I found Courtney lying on her side, curled up in a ball at the top of the steps.

“Courtney!” I yelled. I dialed the fucking number I dreaded having to use and tried to check my wife over but she curled deeper into a ball when I did.

“Court, I need you to tell me where it hurts, so I can tell the dispatcher.”

“Go away, Flynn.”

“No can do.”

It only took a few minutes for the ambulance to arrive, and I had to go downstairs to let them in. Once they got Court loaded up, I was told I had to take my own car because there was no room, but I didn’t think that was why. The way the ambulance crew looked at me, it was clear that they wanted to get my wife alone to see if I had abused her. I understood even as I resented the implication.

It didn’t look good, especially since Courtney kept flinching away from me for some reason.

When I got to the hospital, the woman at the front desk informed me that I wasn’t welcome to join my wife. “What do you mean, I’m not welcome? I’m her fucking husband!” I shouted.

“And she requested that you not be allowed back.”

“She’s pregnant with twins. I need to know that they’re all okay. Her and the babies.”

“I’ll check to see if she will allow us to share that information, but you’re still not allowed to go back.”

Bea made it in time to hear what the woman had to say to me and she pulled me aside. “Oh God, Flynn, what if she overheard our conversation?”

“So? I would have told her anyway.”

“No, what if she only heard part of it?”

“I don’t get why that would be upsetting.”

“Imagine you’re pregnant with twins, and deeply in love with your husband and their father.” I smiled at the thought. Up until about an hour ago, that was exactly what I thought. “Now imagine you overhear your husband telling someone on the phone that your marriage to her was for nothing.”

“Fuck, are you serious?”

Bea shrugged. “Unless you did something else that was incredibly stupid, it makes sense.”

“Can you go back and talk to her?”

“I can try,” My sister agreed.

It tookthree hours before my sister made her way back out to the waiting room. I put in the call to Courtney’s dad but he was out of the country and said he would catch the first flight back. I didn’t bother to call Jill because I thought she might make matters worse, not better.

“Hey,” Bea called out to me. I jumped up to meet her, but she shook her head and hustled my way instead. “They’re keeping her overnight for observation to make sure she and the twins are okay. She ran from the exact conversation I told you was the problem.”

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