Silent Screams of Betrayal

A patient's husband brought her flowers every single day for three weeks straight until I

noticed something that made my stomach drop. The arrangement always had an even

number of roses except Tuesdays and Thursdays when there were always seven.

I thought it was sweet until I saw him in the parking lot those same nights meeting a woman

in scrubs from cardiology. She wore a gold bracelet with seven charms. My patient had been

recovering from a stroke and couldn't speak yet but her eyes told me she knew.

One morning she grabbed my hand and spelled out on her communication board that the other

woman was her sister and this was their arrangement because he couldn't choose. She wasn't angry,