I crept down the hall, desperate for a moment to breathe. As I passed Joshua’s office, I heard his voice—low, strained.
“I can’t keep lying to her. She thinks I wanted a family with her…”
My hand flew to my mouth.
I moved closer, heart pounding.
“But I didn’t adopt the boys because of this,” he said, his voice breaking.
Silence.
Then a rough sob.
“I can’t do this, Dr. Samson. I can’t watch her figure it out after I’m gone.
She deserves more than that. But if I tell her… she’ll fall apart. She gave up her whole life for this.
I just… I just wanted to know she wouldn’t be alone.”
My legs went weak.
Joshua was crying. “How long did you say, Doc?”
A pause.
“A year? That’s all I have left?”
The silence stretched, then he broke down again.
I stumbled back, gripping the banister, trying to breathe.
He had known.
He had let me quit my job, build a life, become a mother—knowing he might not be there to stay in it.
He didn’t trust me to face the truth with him.
He decided for me.
I wanted to scream.
