Updated Feb 23, 2026 • ~7 min read
POV: Rory
St. Mary’s Hospital smells like disinfectant and despair.
I follow Dominic through the hallways. My heart is racing.
I’m about to meet Celeste.
The woman who has every right to my husband.
“Room 304,” Dominic says.
We stop outside the door.
Through the window, I can see her.
Celeste.
She’s beautiful.
That’s my first thought.
Dark skin. Natural curls pulled back. Delicate features. Even in a hospital gown, even thin from five years of immobility, she’s stunning.
My second thought: I’m the villain in her story.
“Are you ready?” Dominic asks.
“No. But let’s do it anyway.”
He opens the door.
Celeste looks up. Sees Dominic. Smiles.
“You came back.”
“I did. How are you feeling?”
“Better. Stronger. The physical therapist says I might be able to walk with assistance soon.” Her eyes shift to me. “Who’s this?”
Dominic hesitates.
I step forward.
“I’m Aurora. Rory. It’s… nice to meet you.”
“Are you a doctor?”
“No. I’m—”
“Celeste,” Dominic interrupts. “We need to talk. About something important.”
Celeste’s smile fades.
“You look serious. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. But there’s something you need to know. About the accident. About the time you were unconscious.”
“They told me. Five years. I know.”
“Right. And during those five years, a lot happened. I—I moved on with my life. I thought you were never going to wake up. The doctors said there was no hope.”
Celeste’s expression hardens.
“Moved on how?”
Silence.
“Dominic. Moved on how?”
“I started dating. Eventually. After two years of grieving. I met someone. This someone.”
He gestures to me.
Celeste stares. Processing.
“You’re dating him?”
“Not exactly,” I say quietly.
“Then what?”
I show her my left hand. The ring.
Her eyes go wide.
“No.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“No. No, that’s—you’re lying.”
“I’m not lying. We got married two years ago. I didn’t know about you. Dominic thought—we all thought—you were gone.”
Celeste looks at Dominic.
“Tell me she’s lying.”
“I can’t. Because she’s not.”
“You MARRIED her? While I was in a COMA?”
“You were brain dead. The doctors said—”
“I wasn’t dead! I was HERE! I was ALIVE!”
“I know that now—”
“You replaced me. You just—you moved on and replaced me like I never mattered!”
“That’s not—”
Celeste tries to sit up. Her legs won’t cooperate. She slams her fist on the bed.
“Five years. I was gone for five years and you couldn’t wait? You couldn’t hold on?”
“I grieved for you. For two years. I visited you every single day at first. Then every week. I sat by your bed and talked to you and hoped you’d wake up. But you didn’t. And everyone said you never would. So yes, eventually, I moved on. Because I had to. Because I couldn’t live in limbo forever.”
“So you married HER.”
The way she says “her” makes me feel two inches tall.
“I fell in love,” Dominic says. “Is that so wrong?”
“While you were married to ME? Yes! That’s wrong! That’s called CHEATING!”
“You were in a coma—”
“So that makes it okay? Because I wasn’t conscious, I don’t count?”
“That’s not what I’m saying—”
“Then what ARE you saying? That you gave up on me? That I wasn’t worth waiting for?”
“No. God, Celeste, no. You were worth everything. But I thought I’d lost you forever. I had to keep living.”
Celeste turns to me.
“And you. Did you know about me?”
“Not until yesterday. I found your obituary. Dominic told me about the accident. But I didn’t know you were still alive. Still his wife.”
“His LEGAL wife.”
“Yes.”
“So what does that make you?”
I swallow hard. “The woman he married while already married.”
“A home wrecker.”
“I didn’t know—”
“But you do now. So what—you’re going to fight me for him? Try to keep MY husband?”
“I don’t know. That’s partly why I’m here. To meet you. To understand the situation.”
“The situation is simple. He’s MY husband. We made vows. Forever. In sickness and health. This is sickness. And he broke those vows.”
“I thought you were dead,” Dominic repeats.
“But I’m NOT dead. I’m here. I’m awake. I’m his WIFE. And she—” Celeste points at me. “—is nothing.”
The word hits like a punch.
Nothing.
“Celeste, don’t,” Dominic says.
“Don’t what? Tell the truth? She’s not your wife. Not legally. I am. I looked it up this morning. Got a tablet. Researched. Our marriage is still valid. Hers isn’t. She’s nobody.”
I can feel tears building.
But I won’t cry. Not here. Not in front of her.
“You’re right,” I say quietly. “Legally, I might be nobody. But emotionally, I’m the woman he’s built a life with for three years. The woman he chose. The woman he loves now.”
“Because I wasn’t available to choose!”
“I know. And that’s terrible. What happened to you is awful and unfair. But punishing me won’t change that.”
“I’m not punishing you. I’m claiming what’s mine. MY husband. MY marriage. MY life that you stole.”
“I didn’t steal—”
“You DID. Maybe not intentionally. But the result is the same. You have my husband. My house. My future. Everything that should be mine.”
“The house is new,” Dominic says. “We bought it together. After you—after the accident.”
“So you just erased me. Completely. Started fresh with her.”
“I started over, yes. Because I thought you were gone.”
“Well I’m NOT gone. I’m here. And I want my life back.”
Silence.
Heavy, terrible silence.
“What do you want?” Dominic asks.
“I want HER—” Celeste points at me again. “—gone. Out of your life. Out of my marriage. I want you to divorce her or annul the marriage or whatever makes it disappear. And I want us to try again.”
“Celeste—”
“I’m your wife. You owe me that much.”
“I owe you honesty. And the honest truth is I love Rory.”
The words should make me happy.
Instead, they make everything worse.
Because I can see Celeste’s face crumple. See her realize that her husband—the man who promised forever—loves someone else.
“How long?” she whispers.
“What?”
“How long have you loved her?”
“I don’t know. It happened gradually—”
“Before or after you thought I was dead?”
“After. Long after.”
“But while I was still alive.”
“You were in a coma—”
“ALIVE. I was ALIVE. And you fell in love with someone else while I was still alive. That’s betrayal. That’s—”
She’s crying now. Hard, broken sobs.
“I’m sorry,” Dominic says. “I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t fix this. Sorry doesn’t give me back five years. Sorry doesn’t make you love me again.”
“I never stopped loving you—”
“But you love her MORE.”
He doesn’t deny it.
That’s answer enough.
Celeste looks at me.
“Get out.”
“What?”
“Get OUT. Out of this room. Out of my hospital. OUT OF MY LIFE.”
“Celeste, please—” Dominic tries.
“NO. I can’t—I can’t look at her. I can’t breathe with her here. GET HER OUT.”
A nurse rushes in.
“What’s happening? Celeste, your heart rate—”
“Make her LEAVE!”
The nurse looks at us. “I think you two should go.”
“We’re not done—” Dominic starts.
“You ARE done. OUT. Before I call security.”
Dominic takes my arm.
We leave.
Walk down the hallway while behind us, Celeste screams.
Not words. Just screams. Raw and broken and devastating.
The sound follows us all the way to the parking lot.
“That went well,” I say numbly.
Dominic doesn’t laugh.
We get in the car.
Drive home in silence.
And the whole time, all I can hear is Celeste’s voice:
“She’s nobody.”
“You stole my life.”
“Get her out.”
Maybe she’s right.
Maybe I am nobody.
Maybe I should get out.
END OF CHAPTER 6
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