Her Substitute Groom

Connor Hughes

“Did you call me here to nag me? I thought you were sick?” She scoffed, dropping her handbag on the center table.

“Why did you choose him over me? You heard I was sick and still decided to stay with him. Why?” I was enraged for no good reason. The thought of Carl feeling comforted at the time she was with him was annoying the hell out of me. I wanted Carl to feel so lonely that he would be driven to the point of committing suicide, I didn’t want him to ever feel comforted for a second, but Janice was ruining everything for me and it was really annoying.

“You weren’t expecting me to have left him in the hospital alone when you had your other siblings coming over to stay with you, right? That’s crazy and wickedness,” she shrugged, and I scoffed angrily. I watched as she walked over to me and sat on the edge of the bed.

“How are you feeling now? Are you ok now?” The way she maintained a blank expression as if this wasn’t a big deal was one shit I couldn’t deal with. It was making me boil.

“Seriously? You are seriously doing this, Janice?” I couldn’t hold back my anger anymore, so I yelled at her, yanking her hand off me when she tried to touch me, and she scoffed.

“I was just trying to be nice to you. Not that I have any reason to, anyway,” she rolled her eyes and stood up.

“Even if my siblings were here, you could’ve still…”

“I could’ve still come over? Do you have a conscience at all? This is unfair, Connor! This is not fucking fair! I don’t know what transpired between you two in the past, and so far as I gathered, he already asked for forgiveness, how could you still be treating him like this?” She yelled at me, and I knotted my eyebrows in shock.

“None of you cared about him. You fucking did that to him for fuck’s sake. No matter what he did to you, I think you should be merciful and at least put yourself in his shoes. He is dying inside. You all literally cast him out of the family as if he was an outsider! Have you ever imagined the pain he has been through?” She was almost in tears, but that didn’t move me an inch. Even if I saw Carl at the brink of death, if I saw him at gunpoint, I wouldn’t ever pity him let alone save his life. That was the last thing I would do.

“All you do is think about yourself. Everyone makes mistakes in life, and he already realized his, so why are you still being like this?” She yelled again. I wanted to be quiet even though her words were piercing through my heart like a dagger, but it was getting to me. ‘Forgiveness’ is the one word I always hated when it came to Carl. That was the last thing I would do for him. Forgiving him for what he has done was the last thing I would do.

“Just shut it, Janice. Fucking shut it!” I yelled at her and scoffed.

“What do you know? How dare you judge me when you don’t even know what happened? How dare you talk down on me when you don’t even know what he did to me?” I snapped at her, and she scoffed.

“Does it look like I care about what happened between you two? Do I look like I give a damn about whatever shit transpired between you two? All I’m saying is that the way you are treating Carl is not fair,” she insisted, and I scoffed, biting my lip. It hurts whenever someone judged me without knowing what that bastard did to me. It hurts, and I can’t take it. Not from anyone.

“You are no different from him, Connor, and that is the reality. If you are different from him, you would’ve forgiven him already. It’s crazy how you treat him, but you know what’s crazier? Watching your siblings treat him the same way and not saying anything about it. You are not worthy of being an elder brother, and if I had you as one, I would curse you every single day,” She further said and turned to leave.

“Are you going to him again?” I asked her, and she stopped. I watched as she slowly clenched her fingers tightly beside her.

“Are you going back to him because you miss him so much and can’t stay back here? I’m sick, do you realize that?” I asked her, and she took a deep breath, throwing her head back. I hated being like this around anyone, the least her, but I was vulnerable at this point and couldn’t even think straight. Tears brimmed in my eyes and found their way down my cheek. If only people would not see me as a bad person for getting my revenge, then that would’ve been fine with me. No matter how much I tried to be strong, no matter how I told myself that it was fine whenever someone was criticizing me without having an idea of what happened, I always ended up failing woefully.

“Huh? Are you crying?” Her eyes narrowed when she turned to face me, and I scoffed.

“Who said I was crying?” I rolled my eyes, quickly wiping my tears away.

“Whatever!” She huffed and finally left my room. Is she going to him? I asked myself, but sighed and lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

After I got enough rest, I headed into the bathroom and had a long and relaxing bath. I felt a bit more relieved than earlier. Walking back into the room with just a towel hanging around my waist, I stopped when I found Janice in the room, serving food on the center table. Here I was, thinking she left, but she was still here. Wow! I had no idea.

“I made you dinner. You should eat and sleep early today. I kept some in the refrigerator. You can ask your sister to warm it for you tomorrow for breakfast,” she said while picking up her handbag and fixing her wristwatch around her wrist.

“Where are you going?” I asked her, ignoring everything she said.

“I’m heading back to the hospital. Carl is alone there, and since your parents are not around, he is going to be left by himself,” she replied to me casually, then tucked her hair behind her ear.

“I will come to check on you tomorrow,” she uttered, heading to the door after.

“Don’t go,” I didn’t know when those words slipped out of my lips, but I really meant to say them. She could go anywhere, but having her going to stay with Carl was a bad idea. Something I would never allow.

“Why?” She raised her eyebrows as if she had no idea why I was doing this.

“Do I need to have a reason? I am your husband, so…” She pulled the door open and stepped out before I could finish, and I scoffed.

“Hey, are you really leaving?” I went after her, and pulled her back just when she was about to take the elevator, but she scoffed.

“I told you I need to go stay with Carl at the hospital. Your brother and sister and even your bodyguards are here with you, and it’ll be unfair if he is left to stay there alone. Your parents are not around, and…”

“Just stay here with me. I’m scared of sleeping alone,” I didn’t know when I turned into a whining person, but then, I couldn’t afford her going to stay with him. It’s creepy and annoying to even think of.

“Chase will sleep in the room with you, so let go of my hand,” she yanked my hand off and turned to leave, but I held her and dragged her into my room, slamming the door hard behind us and locking it after.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” She yelled at me when she tried to open the door and it didn’t work.

“The doctor said that I need someone to stay with me, so you should take care of me. Besides, we are married, so aren’t you supposed to take care of your sick husband?” I raised my eyebrows, crossing my arms on my chest, but she ran her fingers through her hair, obviously frustrated.

“Connor…”

“I need a head massage. I’m also finding it difficult to sleep, so you should put me to sleep,” I cut her off, going to sit on the bed.

“Ugh! It hurts,” I whined, rubbing my fingers gently on my forehead, and I heard her scoff…