34
Embrace and Shatter
Vanessa
Vanessa hugged her arms to her body as she followed Senator Ross out of the emergency room and into the cold night. He had turned and walked away from the doctor without a word as soon as they made the final pronouncement of death for his wife. Now outside, he took a few steps and stopped. Turning around, he opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. His fingers ran through his already messed hair. She had never seen him so distraught and disheveled before, and her world was unsteady in his unsteadiness.
After another few seconds of his frantic back and forth, he finally stilled, dropping to sit on the red curb of the sidewalk. She went to him, stepping off the curb and sitting down at his side. The cold of the cement seeped through the thin fabric of her dress and made her shiver. Hugging her legs to her chest, she rested her chin on her knees.
Ross yanked at the top three buttons on the high collar of his shirt, freeing himself from the restricting grip the fabric had on his neck. He put his head in his hands, elbows on his knees, and sighed.
Sniffing, she stared out at the sea of cars in the parking lot and wondered briefly if Eddie had canceled the extraction plan for Mrs. Ross. He was likely listening to the police back channels right now, finding out that they had taken too long to save the woman. No doubt every paper, magazine, and tabloid would have it as front page news in the morning. They were probably salivating at the chance to post something new after all the articles they’ve been printing about the wedding.
“She had a heart attack last year.” Senator Ross’s voice was nearly inaudible, and he kept his gaze on his shiny black oxfords as he spoke.
“What?”
“Margaret.” He lifted his head, his hands falling to hang limp between his knees, hair falling over his forehead. “She had a heart attack last year, a small one. She didn’t want the press to make a fuss about it, so we kept it quiet. We started new diets and exercise plans with a specialist, started going for walks in the mornings before I left for the office, and did all the things that her doctor suggested we do.” He clenched his jaw and blinked several times, his chin quivering as he glared out at the cars in front of them. “I guess it didn’t matter, in the end.”
“I’m so sorry, Dixon.”
It hurt her more than she understood to see him hurting in this way. She reached over and placed a hand on his arm in what she hoped would be a comforting gesture for the man. He placed a hand on top of hers.
“Oh god, you’re freezing,” he said, and started unbuttoning the vest he wore over his dress shirt.
“No, Dixon, it’s ok.”
He shrugged it off and draped it over her shoulders, rubbing some heat into her upper arms. The fabric still held his body heat as it covered the open back of her dress. “I’m sorry, it’s not much. I think I left the jacket in the car.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “Neither of us are dressed for being out in the cold.”
“No,” he said, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her against his side to share his body heat.
She let him hold her if it would make him feel better. Anything to get him closer to returning to the image of strength that she usually saw from him.
“I honestly wasn’t expecting to feel such an impact from this,” he said.
Having no response to give to that statement, she waited, and he continued.
“Of course, I had imagined that in the next twenty or thirty years that one of us would die. We’re not, weren’t, as young as we once were. I had always thought that I would feel relieved if Margaret were to go before me, but never this soon. Despite the lack of any romantic love in our marriage, I find that I am…” He paused for a moment before he continued. “I think that I did love her, in some way, and I will miss—” His voice broke, and he inhaled sharply. He didn’t try to continue the thought.
Vanessa’s eyes burned in the icy air, and she reached over to grab his hand that wasn’t around her shoulders, holding it as she watched the man next to her break and shatter before her eyes. “Oh, Dixon.”
He let go of her hand and hugged her to him in a crushing hold, resting his head on top of hers.
“I’m sorry.”
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So sad!!
:(