Every year, my husband and I head to the coast in the fall. This year, despite the skyrocketing travel costs and the hassle of COVID testing, I told Mark:
"We're going anyway. We can't let some pandemic break a decade of family tradition."
Mark appreciated the joke, but he turned me down. He said he was in the middle of a major project at work that promised a huge payout down the line. Since no one knew what the pandemic situation would look like by winter, he wanted to grind while the opportunity was there.
"Fine, if you don't want to go, stay here," I said, and I booked myself a solo trip to a resort in Cancun.
***
The vacation was wonderful, but somehow the dates for my return got mixed up. I might not have even specified them; usually, we went away for two full weeks, but this time I'd only booked a ten-day stay, so Mark must have done the math wrong.
My phone died on the flight back, so I couldn't call him from the airport to hitch a ride. I just grabbed an Uber and made my own way home.
When I walked into the house, I couldn't figure out what was going on. Music was blasting at full volume, and I could hear voices coming from our bedroom. I crept toward the door and peaked inside. There, on our bed, was my completely naked husband kissing a completely naked woman I'd never seen before.
"What are you doing?! What have you done?!" I screamed, my hysterical voice cutting right through the thumping speakers.
Mark bolted upright, blinking in shock, while the woman immediately began scrambling for her clothes. She moved fast, as if this wasn't her first time being caught in such a spot. Blind with rage and not thinking straight, I grabbed the first thing I saw on the nightstand and hurled it at Mark. It was a book—a heavy hardcover—and it caught him right on the temple with a sickening thud.
The woman was already at the front door, fumbling with the lock, and vanished out of the house. The book hit the floor, and to my horror, Mark turned pale and slumped off the bed onto the carpet. I rushed over to him; he was out cold. Panicking, I dialed 911.
The paramedics arrived and managed to stabilize him, but after diagnosing him with a pre-infarction condition, they rushed him straight to the hospital.
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