They were just two broken people, sitting in a white room, understanding that some wounds don’t heal with a simple apology.
The following days were a series of statements, medical visits, and awkward silences. Paige was charged with assault and attempted poisoning.
Her defense spoke of pain, trauma, and a broken heart. But the judge was clear that pain does not give one the right to destroy another life.
Gwen did not go to prison, but she lost something that for her was worse, which was the place she believed she had in her brother’s life. Before returning to Petoskey, she went to the hospital.
She stood at the door of the room, not daring to go in. “Nora,” she said, her voice breaking. “I’m not asking for your forgiveness. I just wanted to tell you that I’m ashamed of myself.”
Nora looked at her from the bed. She said nothing for several seconds.
Then she replied, “Shame doesn’t bring back the night I spent thinking my husband hated me.”
Gwen put a hand to her chest. “I know.”
“Then live with that,” Nora said. “I’m going to try to live with mine.”
Gwen left crying. Liam accompanied her to the bus station.
There were no arguments or shouts. They hugged like siblings do when they no longer know whether to say goodbye for a few months or for a lifetime.
“Take care of her,” Gwen said.
Liam gritted his teeth. “I should have done that before.”
When Nora returned to the apartment, everything seemed the same, the table, the cups, the flowerpots, and the light curtains. But for her, nothing was the same.
The balcony was still there, cold and silent, with the memory of that night clinging to the glass. One afternoon she stood in front of the door.
Liam watched her from the kitchen. “I can’t live here,” she said without turning around. “Every time I see that balcony, I feel the lock clicking again.”
Liam put down the glass he was holding. “We’re leaving.”
“You don’t have to do it out of guilt,” she murmured.
“It’s not your fault,” he said. “It’s because this house is no longer a home for you.”
They moved to a small house in Kalamazoo, near a street where the mornings smelled of coffee, freshly baked bread, and damp mud after the rain. Nora brought her plants, while Liam brought only a few things, and the rest they sold or gave away.
