My husband urged me to find him a nurse to take care of him after he had an accident. The attractive young caregiver stood at my door weeks later, shivering. “I can’t keep this a secret any longer…” It’s about Bryce. I calmed down, not expecting that what she was going to say would end my marriage.
The hospital called at 11:47 p.m. Bryce’s car had gone off the road and hit a post.
The staff was preparing him ready for surgery in an emergency.
I remembered Bryce’s smile the night we met, which made me feel like I was the only person in the world, and how soon we became a team.
Bryce was my other half. What would I do if he didn’t make it?
I went to the hospital in a daze, crying as I reminisced about the day he asked me to marry him. We had just been dating for two years, but when it feels right, you don’t think about the time.
Last night, we were dreaming about the babies we would have in the future.
Bryce had said, “Two kids.” “A boy and a girl, with your eyes and my stubbornness.”
“Good luck to us if they get your stubbornness,” I replied. He teased me till I couldn’t breathe from laughing.
Now, everything was turned around.
Bryce was already in surgery when I got to the hospital. They said that his right leg was seriously broken.
I waited a long time.
It felt like forever before a doctor in scrubs came to talk to me.
The surgeon said, “Your husband is doing fine.” “We have fixed the bone, but some nerves are still hurt.” He might be able to walk again, but it will take months of therapy. “Everything, from physical therapy to pain management.”
I was so relieved that my legs almost gave out. He was still living. But the words “nerve damage” and “might walk again” kept coming to mind.
“Can I see him?”
A nurse led me to Bryce’s room. He was groggy from the anesthesia and hooked up to monitors, but when I grabbed his hand, he grasped it tightly and spoke my name.
I murmured softly, “We’ll get through this.” “We’ll do what we have to.”
But reality hit harder than love ever could.
Bryce’s leg was in a full cast, so he needed help with everything. He couldn’t take a shower, get dressed, or drink. I had a lot of short lunch breaks and sleepless nights checking on him.
Have you ever been so exhausted that you hurt all over? That was me every day for weeks.
I felt like I was running an endless race as I helped Bryce to the restroom, put his leg on pillows, and did the “bed-to-chair shuffle” that the therapist told me to do.
“I can’t just lie here and do nothing while you wear yourself out,” he remarked one night, and his eyes shone with what I thought was rage.
He begged me the next day. “Please hire someone.” I can’t stay alone all day like this. Then he continued, “Or maybe Mom could stay?” with a troubled look on his face. I don’t want strangers; I want family.
Bryce continued telling me to let Myrna move in with me, so I called her.
I almost dropped the phone when she informed me her “caregiving rate.”
“Two hundred a day?” I said. “That’s more than I make, Myrna.” That’s more than what nurses who are trained charge.
She answered, “You get what you pay for.” “Bryce needs the best care.”
Myrna and I both thought that was a good idea, so I hired Nora instead. She was qualified and only charged half of what Myrna wanted.
Nora would always show there at 8 a.m. She would give Bryce his medicine, make sure he did his therapy exercises, and even get him to watch daytime TV without grumbling.
I said to my friend Veda over coffee, “She’s great.” Polite and professional. Bryce seems to like her.
Everything seemed good for weeks.
When I got home, Bryce would be in bed, silently whimpering about his “tough day.” Nora would calmly give me thorough reports before leaving for the night.
Nora would say, “Today was hard therapy.” “But he is moving forward. “Slow and steady.”
Bryce would nod a little from the bed. “Nora has been great, but this hurts.”
But being steady can be a trick. The ground may move before you see the cracks.
Nora stood by the door and fidgeted with her hands like a youngster who was about to tell her parents she broke something on a Thursday in late October.
She said, “Can we talk?” in a low voice. and turned to look at the bedroom. “I can’t stay quiet any longer. It’s about Bryce.
My heart started to race.
“Tell me,” I murmured, going out to the porch and shutting the door.
Nora had a hard time getting the food down. “I had just left for lunch when I remembered I needed my charger.” She stopped and put her arms around herself. ” Bryce was walking. Not the slow, careful steps of treatment or the use of crutches. He was acting like nothing was wrong.
“But that’s great, right?”
Nora shook her head. “When he saw me, he fell onto the bed and groaned like he couldn’t stand.” He went back to “helpless mode” right away.
Her words were like cold water, but Nora wasn’t done yet.
“I pretended not to see,” she continued. “I helped him get back into bed, got my charger, and then…” I halted in the hallway. It was strange to see him walk like that. He must have thought I was gone. I heard him talking to his folks on the phone.
“What did they say?”
Nora took out a long breath. “First, he bragged about how he tricked me when I almost caught him, but then I heard him tell her that everything is going great and that he feels terrific. He said that he could live off of you for as long as he wanted without accomplishing anything.
I couldn’t grasp the betrayal in my head.
Bryce, my wonderful and kind husband, looked like he was in pain. Was he the man I had been working so hard to help?
“Are you sure?” I whispered it softly.
Nora nodded, and her eyes were watery. “I’m very sorry. I had no idea what to do.
I told Nora to keep it to herself and go to work the next morning like she normally did. What else can I do? I needed some time to think and make plans.
That night, I kissed Bryce’s forehead like nothing was wrong, even though I was hiding the truth in my heart like a bomb.
He winced and mumbled about fake pain, not understanding that I was already planning to tell on him.
I stayed awake that night, staring at the ceiling and listening to Bryce breathe next to me. How long had he been telling me lies?
I went to work the next morning, but I came back when Nora texted me to say she was going out for lunch. I parked two blocks away and went carefully toward our house.
I could see him standing up in the kitchen window with a phone in one hand and a coffee cup in the other. He didn’t have any crutches.
I got closer. Through the open window, I could clearly hear what he was saying.
Bryce said, “It’s like a free ride, Mom,” and I could hear Myrna laughing with glee over the speaker. “She’s taking care of everything, even the nurse.” “Until Christmas at the earliest, I won’t do anything!” If I play it wisely, it might last longer.
Myrna remarked, “You have always been the smart one.”
My phone camera caught every portion of his trick.
On the way back to my car, I called a lawyer and a locksmith. If you truly want to, it’s funny how quickly you can end a marriage.
“This is marital fraud,” the lawyer said. “That video will make sure he doesn’t get anything else.”
That night when I got home, Bryce was in bed with his face contorted like it always does when he’s in pain.
He looked up at me with the same gentle expression that had won me over at that party years ago.
He said, “How was your day, dear?” “It was hard for me.” It hurt a lot.
I stood at the foot of our bed and gazed at the stranger I had married.
“I know everything.” I handed her the divorce papers. “You can go by yourself.”
His face turned white, like someone had taken all the blood out of it. He opened his mouth, shut it, and then tried again.
He muttered, “You got it all wrong.” “I was just—”
“Acting like you did and telling your mom how you fooled me.” Bryce said, like I said before, “I know everything.” I took the trash bag from the kitchen, shook it out, and started placing his clothes in it. “Now I think you should call Mommy to come get you before I call the police to get you out.”
He went to the additional room that Myrna had. He contacted and texted for weeks, pleading for another chance.
I didn’t care about them.
Instead of being a nurse, Nora stayed with me as a tenant. Her rent helped pay for the legal fees, which was a small bright spot in the chaos that Bryce left behind.
She was a great roommate, far better company than my cheating husband.
