No. This couldn’t be happening.
Suzie had been happy.
Hadn’t she?
Just then, a nurse walked in carrying a clipboard.
“Good morning, sir, here’s the discharge —”
“Where’s my wife?” I interrupted.
The nurse hesitated, biting her lip.
“She checked out this morning. She said you knew.”
My mind spun.
“She — where did she go?” I asked, holding up the note. “Did she say anything else? Was she upset?”
The nurse frowned slightly.
“She seemed fine. Just… quiet. Are you saying you didn’t know?”
I shook my head slowly.
“She said nothing… just left me this note.”
I left the hospital in a haze, cradling my daughters in my arms while the note remained crumpled tightly in my fist.
Suzie was gone.
My wife.
My partner.
The woman I believed I knew better than anyone.
She had vanished without warning.
All I had left were two tiny babies, a shattered future I no longer understood, and a message that pointed to my mother.
