Part 2
Part 2 · 2 min read ·
He gently removed my wet coat.
Something slipped from its pocket.
A narrow white hospital wristband.
Luca picked it up.
ST. BRIDGET'S CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL.
Patient: NORA QUINN.
My maiden name.
Yesterday's date.
He studied the identification number, then the department printed beneath my name.
His hand stopped moving.
"Why were you at a children's hospital?"
Before I could answer, Dr. Samuel Mercer arrived.
Luca handed him the wristband.
"Tell me what this means."
The doctor looked at the band, then at me.
He did not answer.
Instead, he asked Luca one question.
"Mr. Ferraro, does your wife know you've found this?"
Dr. Samuel Mercer stood beside my bed, his expression unusually serious.
Luca looked from the wristband to the doctor.
“She was at St. Bridget’s yesterday. I want to know why.”
The doctor glanced at me.
I closed my eyes.
Not because I was asleep.
Because I couldn’t bear to watch the moment everything changed.
“Mr. Ferraro,” Dr. Mercer said quietly, “I think you should sit down.”
“I don’t need to sit down. I need an explanation.”
“Your wife has been receiving medical treatment for several weeks.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“Treatment for what?”
The doctor took a slow breath.
“She has a serious cardiac condition. We’ve been monitoring her closely. The recent episodes of dizziness and exhaustion are warning signs that her condition may be worsening.”
Luca stared at him.
“How serious?”
“Serious enough that she should not have been walking through freezing rain tonight. She needs rest, medication, and close supervision. We also need to complete further testing before determining the next steps.”
For the first time in all the years I’d known him, Luca Ferraro looked completely helpless.
He turned toward me.
“Nora?”
I opened my eyes.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m suddenly important because a doctor told you I might die.”
His face changed.
He reached for my hand, but I pulled it away.
“Nora, please.”
I laughed weakly.
“You know what’s funny? I spent months hoping you’d notice something was wrong. I stopped eating properly. I couldn’t sleep. I fainted twice at home. I even changed doctors because I thought maybe someone else could tell me what was happening.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I looked directly into his eyes.
“When?”
He said nothing.
“When you were taking calls during dinner? When you canceled our anniversary? When you left for three weeks without telling me whether you’d be home for Christmas?”
“Nora…”
“I wasn’t asking you to save me, Luca. I was asking you to notice me.”
The doctor quietly stepped back.
Luca lowered his head.
And then, for reasons I couldn’t understand, he began crying.
I’d never seen him cry.
Not when his father died.
Not when his company nearly collapsed.
Not even when someone put a bullet through his office window.
But that night, he cried because his wife had finally stopped asking him to love her.
THE SECOND SECRET
The doctor was preparing to leave when I noticed the hospital envelope sticking out of my coat pocket.
“Dr. Mercer.”
He turned.
“There’s something else.”
Luca immediately picked up the envelope.
“What is this?”
“Don’t open it.”
But he’d already seen the name printed across the top.
ST. BRIDGET’S CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL.