Page 135 of Tell Me What You Want, Or Leave Me

Björn seems to read my thoughts. He holds my face with his hands.

“He loves you. I know that’s the way it is. You just have to see how he looks at you to know my foolish friend can’t live without you.”

“He’s a dickhead.”

We both grin.

“A crazy dickhead who loves you madly. I hope someday I find a woman as crazy, loving, and fun as you to make me feel what you make him feel.”

“You’ll find her, Björn. You’ll find her, and then you’ll complain about her like Eric does about me.” We both grin again. “Thank you for forcing Laila to clear everything up.”

My good friend nods.

“Where’s Norbert?”

“He went with his niece. He wanted to talk with her.”

Poor man. This is all so awful for him.

“C’mon, let’s get something to eat,” Björn says. “You need it.”

But I don’t want to eat. My heart is broken.

“I want to go home.”

“What?”

“I want to go back to Germany,” I say. “I told him to decide what he wants to do with our relationship and to call me with whatever he decides.”

“What are you saying?” says Björn. “Now you’ve gone crazy too? How are you going to leave?”

I swallow the knot of emotions in my throat.

“I laid everything out for him, Björn. I told him to tell me what he wants or let me go. Now I just need to wait. I don’t want to overwhelm him. I want him to decide what he wants to do.”

My good friend tries to convince me not to leave, but I refuse. I’m tired, very tired, and I’m not feeling well. The coldness of my husband and his rejection have touched my heart deeply.

In the end, Björn gives up, and we take the elevator. When we reach the lobby and are about to leave the hospital, we hear shouting and a fuss. When I turn to look, I’m speechless. I see Eric struggling with two nurses.

“Jude...wait. Jude!” he shouts.

My heart races.

The Iceman is in total pissed-off mode, dressed in that ridiculous hospital gown, letting loose with myriad expletives while trying to break free from two nurses who look like professional wrestlers.

I can’t move.

“From what I can tell, Eric has decided what he wants,” Björn says.

My crazy love suddenly sees me looking at him and, raising a hand, shouts at me not to move from where I am. Then he shakes off the nurses and drags himself, including the leg in the cast, over to us.

“I called you, darling,” he says, showing me my cell. “I called you, but you’d left your phone in my room.”

My heart is beating out of my chest.

Again my love, my Iceman, shows me he loves me.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart...I’m sorry.”

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