Then he told her the latest results had arrived. His voice changed. “They’re clear,” he said, almost disbelieving. Her relief rushed in unexpectedly. The catastrophe she had prepared for dissolved, leaving exhaustion and a sudden awareness of how close they came to losing everything entirely, forever.
He needed no surgery, only regular monitoring. He exhaled. “I was so scared,” he admitted. The confession softened him. She realized fear had isolated him as much as his secrecy had hurt her. For a minute, she teetered on the edge of an outburst she was containing.