Her Stolen Art, His Broken Promises

Every movement was a struggle. The nurses would help me walk the hospital

e brought me my favorite foods, which I couldn't eat. He read to me from books I didn

grating noise in my ears. Each act of kindness was a performance,

e ending. I saw the actor on the screen, but

he decided it was time to mov

is expression serio

t's looking like they never will." He sighed dramatically. "I've been th

anding? I al

ued, avoiding my eyes. "There's a way t

od ran

who?" I asked, my

. I've talked to Chloe. She feels just awful about what happened on her watch, at an event

Chloe, the woman who kicked me and stole from me, w

sign a piece of paper that would erase their crime and label it a "m

his. The small movemen

" I

hung in the air between u

d. A flash of annoyance crossed hi

nizing. "This is the best way forward for everyone. It's a clean brea

his betrayal wasn't just in the act itself, but in this calm, rational attempt to sweep it under the r

I had for the man I thought he was died. It evaporate

rgiveness. There wou

move on. I w

peated, my voice

e since I'd woken up in this hospital, I let him see a

finality of a heart that had been irrevocably broken and was now bein

s over. But my stor