Page 26 of The Breaking Point

I give him a glare sharp enough to cut glass. He sighs, gripping the wheel like he’s bracing himself.

“It’s your dad. He had a heart attack.”

“Oh,” I say. That’s all I can manage.

“He’s okay. They took him into surgery. Jack called me. He didn’t know how to tell you.”

“Right,” I murmur. “Because it’smyfather.”

Silence. The city rushes past outside, but I can’t feel any of it. I stare straight ahead.

“You okay?” he asks, glancing at me sideways as he merges through traffic.

I don’t know what I am anymore. “What are we going to say?”

“What?”

“When they ask how we got back fromBora Borain one hour.”

“Aren’t you… he’s your dad.” Aiden’s looking at me like I'm gonna break. I won’t. I don’t want anything to happen to him, but Don Wilson is less father, more stranger to me at this point.

“We’ll just say that we came home early for Quinn?” I offer up the lie.

“What happened to Quinn.”

“Markus has been declared MIA. I just dropped her off with the other wives, they’re going to Fort Cavazos to get more information.”

“Shit. Is she ok?” he asks sounding concerned. Markus is his friend too. I wonder if Aiden told Markus about the stripper.

“She’s scared,” I say staring out the window, “and I don’t blame her.”

“Kate?” he says but I don’t turn around just give a “mhh.”

“What are we going to say… about us?” he sounds scared now, good.

I still don’t turn around, “We’ll say nothing. That’s usual for us anyway.”

He makes a sound of exasperation, “You not even being able to look at me is not usual.”

“Would it make you feel better if I stared into your eyes.” I snap turning to him. “Would your life be easier if I pretended you are not a cheater, that you are still the loving devoted husband I made you out to be all these years.”

“No. Kate are you really going to throw all these years away over a mistake I made ten years ago.” The audacity.

“Just because it happened ten years ago does not make it any less of a betrayal. It just means you’re a really good liar.”

He opens his mouth but I cut him off, “this is not the time. We’re going to go in there, pretend everything is ok and take care of our children, clear?”

“Aye captain.” Motherfucker.

The hospital looms ahead, all glass and steel under the hazy Houston dusk, the name stencilled in blue letters that seem too calm for what happens inside. Aiden pulls into the loop near the emergency entrance. I’m out of the car before it’s fully stopped, the gravel crunching beneath my shoes.

Inside, the air is cold, too clean. I ask the woman at the desk for Don Wilson. She clicks at her keyboard, asks for my name, thentells us he’s out of surgery, in recovery, stable for now. Family is in the third-floor waiting room.

Aiden joins me as I move to the elevator. I can feel him looking at me but I keep my eyes fixed on the doors. When they slide open, the hallway stretches long and quiet, the fluorescent lights buzzing above us.

I walk down until I spot Jack, my oldest, pacing outside the waiting room. He looks older since I last saw him. Maybe it’s the tension on his face which melts away when he sees us.

“Mom,” he breathes and then I’m hugging him before either of us says another word. His arms wrap around me tight. Too tight. I feel him tremble just once before he lets go.

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