Chapter 10 - CLAIRE’S NEW LIFE
Claire was carrying three plates when Daniel walked into the restaurant.
She saw him.
One plate slipped.
It hit the floor and shattered.
Everyone turned.
For a second, neither of them moved.
Then Claire’s face hardened.
“What are you doing here?”
Daniel looked around.
“You’re working here?”
“Very observant.”
“I thought you did accounting.”
“I do.”
“And this?”
“I like appetizers.”
“Claire.”
She handed the remaining plates to another server.
“Take table nine.”
Then she grabbed Daniel’s arm and pulled him outside.
Cold air hit them.
“What do you want?”
“I know.”
She froze.
Daniel saw the exact moment she understood.
Her anger became fear.
“No.”
“Claire—”
“No.”
“Dr. Harris told me.”
She stepped back.
“That son of a—”
“I asked him directly.”
“He promised.”
“He didn’t promise. He said you asked him not to bring it up.”
Claire turned away.
Daniel’s voice broke.
“You sold the house.”
She said nothing.
“Your retirement.”
Nothing.
“You borrowed forty-two thousand dollars.”
“Go home.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“I didn’t know.”
Claire spun around.
“And?”
Daniel stopped.
“What does that change?”
“Everything.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No, Daniel.”
She jabbed a finger toward his chest.
“It changes something for you. Not for me.”
He stared at her.
“I’m sorry.”
“I don’t care.”
“I was selfish.”
“Yes.”
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
“I felt trapped.”
Claire laughed.
“You felt trapped?”
“I’m not saying it was right.”
“You felt trapped while I was sleeping on hospital floors?”
Daniel winced.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
Her voice rose.
“You know what it’s like to be sick. You don’t know what it’s like to love someone who is dying and have them punish you because they hate themselves.”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
Claire kept going.
“You yelled at me. You shut me out. You made me feel guilty for being healthy.”
“I’m sorry.”
“And I stayed.”
“I know.”
“No. You know now.”
She wiped her face angrily.
“I sold the house because the hospital needed money. I cashed out my retirement because your numbers got worse. I took the loan because the surgeon said waiting another month could kill you.”
Daniel could barely look at her.
“And while I was doing that, you were texting Vanessa.”
“I know.”
“That’s the part you’re here for, right?”
“What?”
“To punish yourself.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I want to make it right.”
“You can’t.”
“I can pay you back.”
Claire stared at him.
Then laughed.
It was a raw, exhausted sound.
“Pay me back?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what you’d have to pay for?”
He said nothing.
“My mother’s kitchen?”
“Claire—”
“The mark on the wall where she measured me every birthday?”
Her voice cracked.
“The bedroom she died in?”
Daniel looked away.
“You can pay off a bank.”
Claire stepped closer.
“You cannot buy back what I sold.”
Silence.
Daniel whispered, “Come home.”
Claire’s face went still.
He immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say.
“No.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“Yes, you did.”
“I love you.”
Claire flinched as if he had slapped her.
“Don’t.”
“It’s true.”
“No. Guilt is loud. It sounds a lot like love when you’re desperate.”
“I chose wrong.”
She stared at him.
“You chose exactly what you wanted.”
“That was before I knew.”
“And that is exactly why I will never come back.”
Daniel froze.
Claire’s eyes filled.
“If knowing what I sacrificed is what makes you want me, then you don’t want me.”
She opened the restaurant door.
Daniel reached for her.
She stepped away.
“Don’t touch me.”
The door slammed.
Daniel stood outside in the cold.
Then his phone rang.
Dr. Harris.
Daniel answered.
“What?”
“Daniel, when was the last time you took your anti-rejection medication?”
Daniel’s blood went cold.
He looked at his watch.
May you like
Then at the pill bottle in his pocket.
He had missed two doses.
