Chapter 7
That night, under Trinity’s pitiful pleading, Nathan didn’t go home.
He leaned against the window in a stairwell, smoking a cigarette while repeatedly calling the landline at the house.
The line was busy. Nathan couldn’t get through.
Irritated, he called Jake. “Are you absolutely sure the villa’s phone can only receive calls and not make them?”
Jake’s voice on the other end was firm. “Mr. Heath, I’m certain.”
Nathan took a deep drag of his cigarette, his voice turning cold. “Go there tomorrow and find out why the line’s been busy all
night.”
I didn’t know what was going through Nathan’s mind, but he kept calling. He stayed awake the entire night.
Early the next morning, a doctor came in and gently shook Trinity awake. “It’s almost time for your surgery. Are you ready?”
Trinity grabbed Mom’s hand, nodding eagerly.
Right before she was wheeled into the operating room, she reached out and tugged at Nathan’s sleeve, her voice soft. “Nate, if I make it through this, will you promise me one thing?”
Nathan ruffled her hair, his eyes filled with indulgence. “Sure. Hell, I’ll promise you a hundred things if you want.”
Trinity beamed, her face lighting up with joy as the doctors wheeled her into the operating room.
Nathan clasped his hands together, just like Mom, and silently prayed for her surgery to go well and for Trinity to live a long and
healthy life.
I studied his face, and suddenly, this man who had been with me for eight years felt like a stranger.
I remembered a time when Nathan and I had visited a famous chapel known for its blessings. I had asked him to light a candle and pray that we would grow old together, but he had refused without hesitation.
“I don’t believe in that stuff.”
But now, here he was.
A man who wouldn’t even humor me with a prayer for our future was suddenly praying piously, all for Trinity.
It was laughable.
I had been pacing in boredom outside the operating room when suddenly I felt my body bei
