Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Being the "brother-in-law" was never an easy road.

Forget it. He'd just have to rely on himself.

By the time they reached the hospital, Yates went to collect all sorts of samples. The process dragged on, and it was already late when they finished.

"Vince, let's take Jessy out for dinner tonight-and maybe a walk. She's been cooped up at home for days; it's getting stifling."

"Sure," Vince agreed, thinking it was about time Jessica got some fresh air too. Night fell.

Dawn was breaking in Riverside City.

Timothy opened his eyes and realized he was in a hospital room.

Suddenly, he remembered his phone.

His blood had gotten on Jessy's face he needed to clean it up.

He reached for his phone and only then noticed his upper body was bare-his shirt must've been taken off. Sitting up, he spotted the phone on the bedside table. He grabbed it and lit up the screen.

There, on the screen, was a photo of Jessica. The dried blood had turned black, staining her face in the picture.

He pulled a few tissues from the box, went into the bathroom, and dampened them under the tap. Carefully, he wiped the caked blood from the phone's screen.

Jessica's smiling face emerged again, bright and clear. Timothy's lips curved unconsciously into a faint, wistful smile.

the bathroom, flopped onto the hospital bed, and

his phone, it hit him: in seven years of marriage, they'd never taken a single picture together. He'd never taken any candid shots of her. Not even

smile vanished from Timothy's

she'd said she

now, his

at their enlarged license photo hanging

ready to take those wedding photos, she ignored him— wouldn't answer

long since she'd first talked about moving out, but even then, he hadn't realized: she wanted to leave

it started even

out

she'd never go, so certain their marriage was solid. He didn't bother apologizing properly, lost his temper, and dismissed her feelings as

Now, looking back, he

seven years of stability, that supposedly unbreakable marriage, had been held together by her

power drill were boring straight through his

pictures

back, he found a photo of Jessica with

her smile was so

flipped through the nine-photo grid, and his gaze stopped on the last

shot-one of the

remembered: that was the director Yates had mentioned, the one behind that

on his phone-the director was currently doing a press

was his name.

sat bolt

Jessica had only taken that