My Mother-in-law Tried To Poison My Chowder. I’m A Pharmacist, So I Knew Exactly What She Added. I Sent The “gift” To My Cheating Husband Instead.

Closing the Book

Leaving the detention center, I took a long deep breath.

I didn’t feel relieved, but I no longer felt as heavy as before.

Some things just need to be said clearly.

They don’t need a beautiful ending.

A week later my lawyer informed me that the insurance company would not be paying out the claim, citing evidence of intended fraud.

The joint assets would be divided according to the law after all related liabilities were settled.

I heard the news without sadness.

After everything, money was just something that came after human life.

That evening I sat alone in my room and opened my old suitcase.

I took out a sweater I had knitted for Nathan the winter before.

I ran my fingers over the stitches.

I didn’t cry.

I folded it neatly, put it in a bag, and took it out to the trash.

Some memories only keep you trapped if you hold on to them.

I went back inside, closed the door, and stood in front of the mirror.

The woman looking back at me was tired but her eyes were no longer panicked.

I realized I had walked through the darkest part.

Ahead of me were court dates, public opinion, and lonely days.

But I was no longer afraid because I knew I was walking on my own two feet.

The days leading up to the trial passed more slowly than I expected.

Time no longer rushed by in a torrent as it had when the tragedy first struck but dripped heavy and distinct.

Every morning I woke up at the same time, made tea for my dad, coffee for my mom, and went to work.

That rhythm wasn’t to forget but to keep myself from slipping out of ordinary life.

At the hospital I started being assigned night shifts again.

My department head called me in, speaking slowly as if afraid to hurt me.

“Laura, if you’re not ready I can arrange for you to stay on day shifts,”.

I shook my head.

“I can do it. I need to,”.

She looked at me for a moment then nodded without another word.

I knew she understood.

Some pain, if you keep avoiding it, will never pass.

One shift I ran into Ben Miller, the ER doctor who had been on duty the night Nathan was brought in.

Back then he was just a blurred face in a flurry of activity.

Now he stood before me, a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

“Laura, you don’t have to answer if you’re not comfortable, but I just wanted to say I’m very sorry about that night,”.

I was silent for a few seconds then replied, “It wasn’t your fault,”.

He exhaled as if relieved.

“I know, but some cases, no matter how long you’ve been in the profession, they just stick with you,”.

I looked at him and suddenly realized that everyone carries their own share of memories they’d rather not revisit.

I nodded.

“I understand,”.

That brief conversation made me think for a long time.

I wasn’t the only one caught in this vortex.

Others, intentionally or not, were all left with aftershocks.

At home my mother started mentioning the neighbors more often, not out of curiosity but out of concern.

“The people down the street have been staring at you lately,”.

I smiled faintly.

“They’ll get tired of it eventually, Mom,”.

She sighed.

“People’s words can be so cruel, dear,”.

I knew that, but I also knew I couldn’t live my whole life trying to please the eyes of others.

I just needed to live truthfully.