Secret Desire

Something wasn't right. As the fog of sleep lifted, Elizabeth realized she was not in her own bed-the rough sheets constricting her limbs felt foreign against her skin. A strong scent filled her nostrils, her head ached, and it was a struggle to lift her eyelids. Where was she?

Elizabeth instinctively reached for the ring. It was gone!

With effort, she managed to sit up. Her eyes adjusting to the semi-darkness, she could now make out billowing fabric surrounding the bed. Curtains?

Out of the shadows, a figure stumbled towards her.

"Luke, is that you?" she asked, surprised at the weakness of her own voice.

Now beside the bed, a deep male voice demanded, "What have you done?"

As her focus cleared, Elizabeth suddenly recognized Jeff, her husband, not Luke Knox, her secret lover for the past six months. Reeling for answers, her mind raced like a movie in rewind, trying to recall the past few hours.

Bewildered, Elizabeth mustered her reply, "What do you mean? How did I get here?"

As Jeff kneeled down beside Elizabeth, the glare of the table lamp reflected anguish in his eyes.

His face, hanging in the air with gray curtains as backdrop, immersed Elizabeth in guilt; her once hidden affair was going to be exposed in this dreary hospital room.

Almost whispering, Jeff's warm breath brushed Elizabeth's flushed cheeks. "Why don't you love us anymore? Why did you get involved with a man that almost killed you? And killed the baby inside you?"

The questions, posed with unexpected calm, frightened her. She remained paralyzed despite the urge to get up and move, pace. She rubbed her temples as the words echoed in her head. The affair began to play out in her mind.