Chapter 73

It’s like they were stuck in some sort of torturous cycle. One of them was always to mess something up, and the other wouldn’t be receptive enough to listen. It was so stupid. Why did they continue to do this to each other? Emma’s thoughts were interrupted by her phone buzzing. It was Will. She took a deep breath and answered.

​ “I need to talk to you,” she said as a greeting.

​ “Did you come to the hospital to verbally attack Grace?” he asked.

​ “I went there to find you. Instead, I found out that you were with her the day you came back from Italy. Why didn’t you tell me?”

​ “Are you still stuck on that day? I thought we talked about this!”

​ “No, we talked about you seeing her after the funeral and then about the day you two were having lunch. We never talked about why you left me waiting around for you like a fucking idiot when you got back!”

​ “Is that why you attacked her?”

​ “She just told me about it! And for the last time, I did not attack her. She set me up!”

​ “Well, I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I didn’t think it mattered. I thought we were done with all of that.”

​ “Whatever, Will.”

​ “Why are you mad at me? You’re the one that’s assaulting people! Did you really hit her and call her ‘homewrecking slut’ just now?”

​ *Oh, I wanted too,* Emma thought.

​ “Why do you need me to tell you? You won’t listen to me anyway. Just listen to Grace’s side of the story. That’s the only truth you care about, isn’t it?”

​ “Emma…”

​ “Stop it. This is enough. I’ve had enough. Clearly you think so poorly of me that you won’t take my word for it. I can’t do this anymore,” Emma’s voice broke and she struggled to hold it together.

​ “What does that mean?”

​ “I want a divorce, Will.” The line went silent for a few seconds.

​ “No,” Will’s voice was firm and final. “Absolutely not.”

​ “Why not? It’s not like either of us are any happy.”

​ “You’re not going to leave me, Emma. I’ll grant you a divorce over my cold, dead body.”

​ “Well, if things keep going they way they have been, we may end up killing each other, so who knows right?”

​ Emma hung up before he could say anything else. He called back a few times and she didn’t answer. Each one of the unanswered calls sent a cold dagger into her heart. She wanted to scream and cry, but didn’t want to cause a scene in the middle of the street. Her heart, mind and body waged war within her, and it seemed that there would be no victory.

​ There was no winning when William Stewart was the prize.

​ “I can’t do this anymore,” Emma whimpered. Two thick tears escaped, and they opened the floodgates for the rest. Emma sobbed, mourning the life she could have had with Will. That night between them was glorious, but she understood then that was a fluke. They were volatile together, chemicals that were fun and explosive when mixed in the right quantities. But this dance they were doing was too much, and both of them would come out scarred in the end.

​ She didn’t want to be the one to make the decision, but Will had made it clear that he wasn’t going to let her go. As she contemplated her next steps, her phone rang again. Assuming it was Will, she didn’t want to answer. But she looked at the screen and recognized the number for the hospital her father was in.

​ “Hello,” Emma wiped away her tears.

​ “Hello, Miss Wells. This is Amanda, one of your father’s nurses. I want to let you know that everything is okay now, but Mr. Wells slipped during therapy.”

​ “Is he hurt?” Emma panicked.

​ “Yes ma’am, he has been injured, but it’s not severe. It will slow his progress down a bit, but we aren’t concerned with any long-term damage at this time.”

​ “Thank you. I’ll be there shortly.”

​ “Yes ma’am.”

​ Emma hung up and stared into the phone screen for a few seconds, as though it held some answers for her. Calling Jack back to take her to see her father was out of the question. It would take him too long to get to her, and she had sent him home for the evening. He deserved to be with his family. She hailed a cab, and did her best to clean herself up. There was no reason for her father to see her that way.

​ When Emma arrived in her father’s room, his nurse was scolding him for being so stubborn.

​ “You need to be more careful,” she said. Her voice was stern, but sweet. “We’re all excited about your progress. But you need to slow down. What good will it do you if you fall and break a hip? You’d lose everything you’ve worked so hard for and we’d have to start all over again.”

​ “Yes, Amanda,” Emmett hung his head like a chastised child. “I’ll be more careful.”

​ “That’s what I like to hear,” she smiled.

​ “Have you called my daughter?”

​ “Yes, she said she was coming.”

​ “I’m here,” Emma called from the doorway. “And she’s right Daddy. You have to be more careful.” She walked over to his bedside, and kissed his forehead.

​ “I’m sorry. I had walked… a lot more and got excited.”

​ “Well, now you’ve got to rest for a few days before we can keep going,” Amanda crossed her arms over her chest.

​ “I’ll make sure he rests,” Emma smiled.

​ “Good. He’s stubborn, this one.” Amanda smiled back. “Let me give you two some privacy. I’ll be at the nurses’ station if you need me. Emma and Emmett thanked her as she walked out.

​ “You need to be more careful!” Emma playfully swatted at her father’s arm.

​ “Hey! No hitting… the patient,” he laughed. Their playfulness subsided and Emmett put his hand on Emma’s head. “You’ve… been crying.”

​ “No… well yes, but you don’t need to worry. Everything is fine.”

​ “Is it Will?” Emmett insisted.

​ “Please, Daddy, everything is fine. You look very tired. How about you take a nap?”

​ “Okay,” he conceded, not believing her at all. “I am tired. Rest… sounds good.”

​ After a few minutes, Emmett fell asleep.

​ “Oh, Daddy,” she said to his sleeping form. “It is Will. I don’t want to do what I know I should do. I wish Mom was here. She would know the right thing to say.” Emma laid her down and cried. Not from sadness or pain. These tears came from the deep frustration that boiled in her soul. Her logic and emotions were deadlocked. Neither wanted to give in to the other, and she feared that there wouldn’t be much of her left if she didn’t make a decision soon.

​ Will had also received the call from the hospital about Emmett’s fall. He stood in the doorway as Emma seemed to be breaking down. He felt so confused. Emma said she didn’t attack Grace. She said it was some kind of elaborate trap and that Grace had set her up. But how could he believe that? How could anyone believe that? Grace had never lied to him before.

​ *But she did break up with you, effectively ripping your heart out*, he thought. It was preposterous to think that Grace would scheme such an extravagant plot just to make Emma look bad in front of him. But the woman he watched, slumped over in a hospital room, crying at her father’s bedside and missing her mother, just didn’t strike him as someone who would viciously attack someone unprovoked. Something was wrong about everything and Will didn’t know who he could trust anymore.

​ “Emma,” he called out to her. Her head snapped up in surprise at the sound of her name. She looked up and saw Will there… the very last person she wanted to see. She got up and marched over to him.

​ “What are you doing here?”

​ “The hospital called me about your father’s fall. I’m still the primary contact as guarantor.”

​ “Right. You want to throw that in my face too? You knew I would come to be with him, so it’s not like you came to make sure he was okay. Why are you here?”

​ “I…” Will didn’t know what to say. Emma was right. He knew she’d go to be by her father’s side. So why did he rush over?

​ “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I won’t be home tonight. But it’s not like that matters. You haven’t been home either so I guess the house will be empty.”

​ “I was going to go home tonight,” Will said when he couldn’t think of anything else to say. It was a lie. He hadn’t planned on going home. He wasn’t sure why he said that at all.

​ “Good for you,” Emma replied. “I won’t be. Now, please go away. We don’t need you here.”

​ Disorder and turmoil battled within Will. He was confused, and didn’t know what to feel. He nodded and left Emma and her father be. Perhaps he’d been too quick in jumping to conclusions. He needed to resolve this. Soon.