Chapter 3

By the time the fourth bag of blood was filled and the needle was pulled from my arm, I was already slumped against the bed. My vision blurred, then slowly faded toward black.

An hour later, Ellen's surgery was over. She came to see me in a wheelchair.

Ned pushed her into my room.

She looked at me and smiled. It was the kind of smile that said she had won. It was the kind that told me to give up.

I lay there without a word. I picked up my phone, contacted a lawyer, and prepared the divorce papers.