Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Jessica made her way to Timothy's hospital room, opened the door, and walked over to his bedside. She signed, *"You should go."*

Timothy had never been dismissed like this before-no one had ever asked him to leave before he'd made the decision himself.

Jessica was the first.

A wave of bitter laughter rippled through him.

His dark eyes locked onto Jessica's face. "What happened was my fault. Didn't you see how guilty and sorry I was afterward? We've been married seven years— other than that one incident, when have I ever let you down? Don't you think you've been unreasonable lately?"

He spewed the words out in anger, and saying them only deepened his frustration. His voice grew even colder, harsher. "Think about it—if you hadn't pushed me away over and over, would I have done that to you?"

Jessica stared at him, stunned, her lips curling into a frosty smile.

He was actually trying to blame her.

By his logic, was every girl who'd ever been hurt just at fault for being attractive or vulnerable?

Wasn't it the aggressor who chose to ignore the law-to trample on basic decency?

And how could he have the nerve to claim that, apart from that incident, he'd never wronged her?

It was all so infuriating.

on this. Her time was running out, and she still

needed to keep her spirits up. Problems with her

*"Fine, it's all my fault. You're blameless. You

had no intention of

your time. I just want to get to

Jessica almost laughed.

by wanting to talk, and now Timothy was

want to

want to talk, talk to my lawyer. From now on, unless

signing made his

boil over-he'd been patient enough. Jessica had turned his life

at all that he was hurt, didn't even ask about his

lips together, his dark eyes

the entryway, slung it over her shoulder, and walked out-without

leave,

expressionless as the

everything that had happened them, she honestly

had