The Anniversary Betrayal

my voice raspy but firm. I didn't

livia' s stare on my back, but she didn' t say a word. She didn' t stop me. She let me go, ju

rough my body. It was the shock, the pain, the finali

, Mr. Miller?" s

more kindness in a day than my wife had in a y

chances. She had used them all up. There would not be a fourth. It was a s

r called. She never visited. My parents, who lived in another state, were on a cruise wit

rying to walk with crutches in the hallway, I

ess, Olivia Stone, is

d ankle? She' s been here every day, bringing him food, reading

him. While her husband lay in a hospital bed a few floors up with a shattered leg

oor. The sound was loud in the quiet hall. The nurses looked u

g screaming in protest, and picked up the crut

my heart. No more anger. J

called the front desk," she said gently. "They're back fro

out the window at the gray city skyline. "I don't

d and real. I was on my own. And for the first time since I' d woken up at th