Page 185 of Wrong Marriage. Right Groom
It had come from distraction.
From a man who could hold me tightly, kiss me with desperate certainty, and still belong entirely to someone else in his mind.
My throat tightened.
Slowly, carefully, I turned away from the bed.
Each step felt heavier than the last.
I stretched my hands forward cautiously, sweeping them through the air until my fingers brushed the wall sooner than expected.
I exhaled quietly in relief and followed it.
Step by step.
Familiar motion returning.
But my mind wasn’t steady.
It kept replaying his voice.
“Don’t! I won’t be able to continue existing if you die... just stay alive, okay? Please!”
The words looped like a wound reopening each time.
The hallway felt colder than it had before.
Eventually my fingers found the doorframe.
I paused there.
Still not moving.
I turned my head slightly back toward the room, even though I couldn’t see him.
I didn’t need sight to imagine it anymore.
Rafael sleeping.
Rafael breaking in dreams.
Rafael belonging somewhere I could never follow.
Even unconscious, even vulnerable, even holding me—
He still went back to her.
I swallowed hard.
Then quietly stepped out, pulling the door shut behind me with a soft click that felt too final in the silence.
In the hallway,
I lifted my phone and spoke softly.
“Siri, call Ramiro.”
The call connected almost immediately.
