I looked at his gray hair, his tired face, the hands I had held for almost four decades.
And I thought:
No. I’m not going to do this.
That night, I tried one last time.
I moved closer to Robert in bed.
I rested my head against his chest.
I kissed him.
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He gently pulled away.
“Linda, please. I’m really tired tonight.”
Something inside me broke.
Two days later, I was standing inside a hotel elevator.
I was wearing auvr dark dress.
Underneath it was the same red lingerie my husband had barely noticed.
My hands were trembling when I reached Eric’s room.
Marriage
I nearly turned around.
Then the door opened.
Eric looked at me for several long seconds.
“Wow…”
Just one word.
But suddenly, I felt like a woman again.
I could still have left.
I should have left.
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But I didn’t.
When he kissed me, I stopped thinking about Robert.
I stopped thinking about my age.
I stopped thinking about what morning would bring.
For those few hours, I wanted to forget everything.
The night was passionate, reckless, almost overwhelming for a woman who had spent years forgetting what it felt like to be wanted.
I laughed more than I had in months.
Eric kept telling me I was beautiful.
“Stop,” I whispered, almost embarrassed.
“Why?” he asked. “Because your husband forgot to tell you?”
Those words hurt.
But at the same time, they pulled me even closer to him.
At one point, Eric kissed the side of my neck much harder than I expected.
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I flinched and pulled back.
“Easy.”
He immediately stopped.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No… it was just a little too hard.”
We even laughed about it.
At the time, it seemed like nothing.
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I had no idea that only minutes later, the entire night would end in panic.
I got up to get some water.
I took two steps.
Suddenly, a strange ringing filled my ears.
The room seemed to tilt.
“Eric…”
He turned.
“Linda?”
I reached for my neck.
Then my legs gave out.
Everything went black.
The next thing I remember was the steady beeping of a hospital monitor.
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I opened my eyes.
There was oxygen tubing beneath my nose.
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A doctor was standing beside me.
“What happened?”
He explained that the fainting episode might have been connected to strong pressure around a sensitive area of my neck, with exhaustion and dehydration possibly making things worse.
My hand immediately went to my neck.
“Is there a mark?”
The doctor hesitated.
“Yes. And it will probably be visible for several days.”
My stomach dropped.
“Where is the man who was with me?”
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“He called the ambulance.”
I closed my eyes.
But the doctor wasn’t finished.
He looked uncomfortable for a moment before saying,
“Ma’am… we also had to contact your family.”
My eyes flew open.
“Who?”
The doctor answered quietly.
“Your husband.”
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My blood ran cold.
And then I heard footsteps outside my room.
They were coming closer.
