Matt wakes up to a new, nightmarish reality.
Reality really sucks, at least mine does. What the hell am I supposed to do now? The woman that I love more than anything, and that I thought loved me the same, fucked my former best friend Jim. How the hell do we get past this? Can I get past this?
First thing I need to do is get healthy again, then go kick Jim’s ass. How dare that asshole? He was supposed to be my best friend. Instead, he takes the first chance he can while I was in a coma to nail my woman.
How am I supposed to get better when I can’t stand to be near the woman who SHOULD be the one helping me? I tried to get up the best I could, but only managed to sit up against the headboard. I probably wouldn’t be able to get out of bed and walk without falling down, so I had no choice but to ask for help. This shit was getting old fast.
“Jenn! Sidney! Could one of you come help me please?” I yelled out to the house. At first no one responded, and then I heard a muffled response from the hallway.
“Yeah, dad, I will be there in a second,” my daughter replied.
She came into the room, and I put my arm around her shoulders so she could help me up to go into my bathroom. As we were walking through the doorway, I looked to the hallway and saw my wife in tears, holding her hand over her mouth. I would have felt bad for her, but that was her damn fault.
My daughter helped me get onto the toilet and then left the room for a minute to let me finish up. When I was done, I pulled up my pants the best I could and flushed the toilet. Sidney came back in and helped me to the sink to wash my hands and face.
We walked together out to the living room where she helped me sit at the table, and went into the kitchen. Today was the first day of the rest of my screwed up life, and damn was I still tired.
“Honey could you brew me some… oh, never mind.” I was going to ask her to brew some coffee but she was already putting the grounds in the filter. “Thank you,” I said.
Once she got the pot going, she came in and sat down across from me. I could tell she wanted to say something but looked very uncomfortable.
“Sidney, yesterday must have been a tough day on you. Do you want to talk about it?”
She sat for a second looking at her hands on the table, and then looked up at me. “Dad, I want to stay with you. If you and mom split up, I want to stay here, with you.”
I didn’t know what to say. My heart filled up with some much needed love at that moment, and my eyes started to water a little. Hers did too.
“I really don’t know what is going to happen, but I will do whatever I can for you kids. You guys are my life.”
About that time my boys came into the room, and started getting cereal for breakfast. I sat drinking my coffee and my wife came out, dressed for work already. She still looked miserable, but smiled for the kids’ sake. She looked like she wanted to say something, but nothing came out. She finally sputtered out a quick, “I love you guys,” and then left the house.
As her car drove off, the kids all got ready for school, and Sidney helped me get situated back in my room. My mom was going to stop by, and help out during the day while the kids were at school.
While I lay in bed watching some movie, I started thinking about how shitty my life has been lately. I had nothing but time on my hands to get stuck in my own thoughts. I thought that I had a pretty good life up until that accident. I was married to the love of my life, and had three wonderful kids. Where did I go wrong?
Before I could get too wrapped up in things, I heard the front door shut and my mom yell out, “Matt, where are you? I’m here!”
“Back here mom, in bed.” I yelled back.
She came back and sat on the edge of the bed. “Honey, I know you are going through a tough time right now, but you will get better. I am here to help you too!”
She still didn’t know about Jennifer and what she did to me. When I didn’t respond right away she looked at me closer, like mom always does. She squinted a little, then asked, “What’s really bothering you? You look like someone just died.”
“My marriage probably did,” I managed to get out, before getting a little choked up. I wasn’t big into tears, but the pain was almost too much to bear.
“Jennifer cheated on me, mom. She confessed last night. I have no idea what I am going to do, but she broke my heart. The boys seem to be handling it ok, but Sidney is a mess. How could she do this to us?”
Mom took a minute and then said, “I’m so sorry honey. I never would have thought she would do something like this. I know you two love each other very much. You can see it when you look at each other. Honey, I don’t know what advice to give you, other than no matter what happens, your father and I will be here for you and the kids.”
She got up and kissed my forehead, then left the room for a bit. She told me she would make me some hot soup for lunch. Why is it that all mothers think a hot bowl of noodle soup will fix everything? I guess it can be a remedy for just about anything, including colds, comas, and a broken heart. She ended up making a really good soup actually, nice and warm. It made me feel better, even if only for a few minutes.
She came back to the room to get the bowl a bit later, and told me she would sit out in the living room watching some TV while I rest. I put my head on my pillow and before I knew it, I woke up to hear the front door shut.
I heard my mom talking, and I had to guess it was my wife home from work. “My son told me. I am very disappointed in you, Jennifer. Now, I have to get home to start dinner for my husband, but will be back at the same time tomorrow. Good night.”
The whole time, I hadn’t heard a peep out of my wife. The door shut as my mom left, and my wife came back to check on me. She still looked like death warmed over, and I felt like she looked. Man, if I could move around better, I would probably choke her out right now.