Page 111 of Wrecked
My mom moves to stand in front of me. “Don’t you fucking start!”
“You didn’t tell me Chris was going to be here,” a new voice interrupts. My sister. She’s standing behind Chris, frozen in fear.
She must have snuck in while my parents were arguing. My dad turns around to face her, and stumbles backwards. “The fuck…” he says angrily, staring at the man standing next to her. When he turns back to my mother, his face is a mixture of shock and rage…and maybe a little fear. “The hell with this.” He sneers, his face turning pale, as if he’s seen a ghost. Then without any explanation, he walks out the front door.
Well, that was… strange.
His absence allows me to see my sister and her fian?—
No.
No. Please God, no. This is not happening. This can’t be happening.
“Nate,” I whisper, so quietly I don’t think anyone can hear.
“You know my fiancé?” Katie asks, her voice still wobbling as she recovers from the shock of seeing Chris here.
“We went to high school together,” Nate interrupts before I even have a chance to answer.
He’s the picture of cool, calm, and collected.
He’s holding Katie’s hand, giving it a squeeze with hisanswer. I zone in on their hands. I can’t pull my eyes away. The way they are connected so perfectly. The way his thumbs swipe over her knuckles. The way she grips his hand like he is the love of her life.
No.
What did I do to deserve this? Why would he do this to me? Is this some cruel joke?
“Well, isn’t this a small world,” my mother offers, noticing the tension in the room. Something my sister is clearly missing as she continues introductions, her face shining bright and displaying a kind of happiness I haven’t felt since the last timemyhand was in Nate’s.
Nate and my sister brush past me, no further acknowledgement on his part. They head toward the dining room and sit down with my mom, happily engaging in all her questions. I stand in my spot in the living room.
Lost.
Broken.
Dying inside.
It feels like my soul is being ripped from my body. Like my heart is melting from the heat of a thousand flames. I’m suffocating with grief. There is no air left for me to breathe…
“Els, you okay in there?”
“I…” I can’t speak. My throat is closing. My head feels dizzy.
He’s with my sister.
MyNate.Mylove.Mysoulmate.
He’smarryingmy sister.
Nate (26 years old)
I siton my hands so that I don’t reach for her. She’s having apanic attack; her breathing is shallow. She’s not even taking a breath. Why can’t anyone see what is happening?!
Remember your steps, love…just do your steps! I shout at her in my head, begging her to work her way through it before she passes out.
I can see when she starts to count.
Thank God.
