Chapter Four — The Hospital
I’ve described the immediate scene at the hospital — Adrienne’s fury, my measured refusal to engage with it, Malcolm’s appearance on crutches, his pointed question that left Adrienne visibly shaken. What I haven’t yet described is what happened in the minutes immediately following, once Adrienne’s composure finally, completely collapsed.
“Malcolm, please,” she said, her voice cracking, “let’s talk about this privately.”
“I already looked through your bag while you were in the bathroom,” Malcolm said, his voice flat with exhaustion and something considerably harder underneath it. “I wasn’t looking for evidence of the affair. I already had that. I was looking for your phone charger. What I found instead were documents that have absolutely nothing to do with an affair, Adrienne. Bank statements. Wire transfer records. Documents with Mrs. Cole’s husband’s signature on them, and yours.”
I felt my entire understanding of the situation shift in that instant, the affair itself suddenly feeling like the smaller piece of a considerably larger betrayal I hadn’t yet fully understood.
“What documents?” I asked, my carefully maintained composure finally cracking slightly.
Malcolm reached into a bag beside his hospital bed and pulled out a thick manila envelope. “I think you need to see these yourself, Mrs. Cole. I think you need to see exactly what your husband and my wife have actually been doing together, beyond whatever’s been happening in the back seat of his car.”
