I never thought one ordinary day would make me question my entire marriage and everything I believed about the man I married. But the moment I needed my husband most, I saw exactly who he really was.
I was six months pregnant when my marriage finally showed me what it really was.
It started with fries.
That fateful day, Albert, my husband, had decided he wanted homemade fries with his steak. But he left the stove splattered and somehow managed to drip grease all across the kitchen floor without noticing or caring.
My marriage finally showed me what it really was.
I saw the mess while carrying laundry down the hallway.
“Albert, can you clean this up before someone slips?” I asked.
He barely looked away from his phone. “I’ll get to it.”
He never did.
About an hour later, I walked back into the kitchen to grab some water. The second my foot touched the slick spot near the counter, everything went out from under me.
I went down hard.
“I’ll get to it.”
Pain exploded through my leg so fast it knocked the air out of me. I screamed as my leg twisted awkwardly when I hit the floor. The first thing I did was grab my stomach.
The baby.
“Oh my God…” I gasped.
I called out for Albert.
My husband wandered in, looking more annoyed than concerned. His eyes dropped to me on the floor.
“Seriously?” he muttered. “What did you do now?”
“I slipped,” I cried, still holding my stomach and terrified for the baby. “I think my leg’s broken.”
Albert rubbed his forehead as if I’d interrupted something important.
“Oh my God…”
***
The ambulance ride to the hospital felt endless. Every bump in the road sent pain through my leg and panic through my chest. I kept asking if the baby was okay. Nobody would tell me anything until the scans were done.
***
At the hospital, I breathed easier when they confirmed that our son was fine, but my leg wasn’t. The doctor confirmed a fracture near my ankle.
They wrapped my leg in a cast and told me I couldn’t put weight on it for weeks without help. Between the pregnancy and the injury, I’d definitely need assistance moving around.
I kept asking if the baby was okay.
Albert looked irritated throughout the discharge process, as if the injury had happened to him rather than to me.
***
By the time we got home, it was dark outside.
The front steps suddenly looked impossible. I stood there gripping the railing while balancing awkwardly on one leg, with the crutches digging into my arms.
“Albert,” I said quietly, “please help me upstairs.”
He stared at the steps, then frowned at me.
“I can’t risk throwing out my back.”
The front steps suddenly looked impossible.
At first, I thought my husband was joking.
“What?”
“My trip with the guys is tomorrow. If I hurt my back carrying you, the whole weekend’s ruined.”
I honestly couldn’t process what I was hearing.
“I’m pregnant,” I whispered. “I can’t even walk.”
“You should’ve been more careful,” he snapped. “I already paid for the trip. I’m not wasting it because you were careless!”
Then he walked inside, not to help me, but to pack.
I thought my husband was joking.
