After Losing My Mother, I Leave Marriage

Synopsis

My mother died in a car accident. I arranged the funeral alone. After the last of the relatives had been seen off, I finally called my husband, Scott Ball, who had been absent throughout. "Can you come here?" There was a long breath on the other end of the line before he spoke. "Evie, Mom is in the care of the best doctors. She'll be fine. Harriet just had both legs amputated. She's in constant pain and can't sleep. She can't be left alone right now. I can't get away at the moment. I'll come when things settle down, alright?" I looked down at the urn in my arms. It was cold. "No need," I said. He paused. Then his tone sharpened. "Evie, don't do this. Harriet is also in a critical situation. She needs me more right now. Mom has you and the doctors. What could possibly happen? Stop using this to pick fights with me. I'm already stretched thin here." Harriet Stevens was his childhood friend. Five days earlier, a multi-car pileup had taken her legs. Five days earlier, my mother had died after twenty-four hours in intensive care. For five days, he had stayed at a top-tier private hospital, never leaving her side. In her final moments, my mother had tried to reach him. No one answered. I looked at the urn and said evenly, "Stay with Harriet. You don't need to come for my mother." He exhaled heavily. "I know you're upset," he said, "but Harriet has lost her legs. What do you expect her to do with her life? Mom is lucky. She'll pull through. Stop putting me in the middle of this." I drew a breath, cutting him off. "Scott, my mother has already…" A voice came through the phone before I could finish. "Scott, it hurts." Then the call ended. I stared at the darkened screen, laughing until tears blurred my vision. Holding my mother's urn, I whispered, "Mom, the son-in-law you once loved most couldn't even come see you one last time. I'm sorry." From my bag, I took out the divorce agreement I had drafted two days earlier. My tears fell onto the paper, staining the signature that had already been there all along.