Challen and Addy

Chapter 13 (Challen): Stay Away From Me

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA

Walking into Addy's room, I felt like I didn't have the first clue how to approach my wife for fear she'd take one look at me and decide to throw me out. She was sitting up in bed, pale, but looking much stronger than she had when I'd seen her all those weeks ago. Her hair was in a single braid, over her shoulder, and her eyes weren't filled with the physical pain that had been there before, but another pain lurked there. The pain I'd put there.

"Hi, Addy," I said quietly, as I put my laptop bag down on a chair.

"Hey," she said, and there was neither warmth nor ice in her tone. There was just...nothing.

"You look good. The nurse said you wanted to see me."

"I did," she confirmed but then said nothing more.

"Do you need me to get you something?" I asked after the silence stretched out.

"No," she said. "That's not why I wanted to talk with you."

Again she didn't say anything else, so I decided to keep quiet and just let Addy say what she needed to say whenever she needed to. In the meantime, I watched her, feeling relieved just to be allowed in her room. Finally, after about ten minutes, she turned her head toward me.

"Why are you here, Challen?"

Since she'd asked me to come into her room, I knew she wasn't asking why I was here at this moment. So I walked closer to her bed to give her my answer.

"Because you're here. Because I wasn't where I needed to be before, not for a long time, Addy. But I'm working on fixing that now."

"Why?"

"Why wasn't I where I was supposed to be, or why am I trying to fix it?"

"Let's start with why you're trying to fix it since I have a pretty good idea why you weren't where you were supposed to be. In fact, I would have thought you'd have taken advantage of your extra free time to be with Jennifer. You weren't acting like a man who wanted to be married."

I was honestly surprised she'd called me in to talk about this since she hadn't wanted to talk to me in weeks.

"No, you're right. I hadn't been acting like a good husband, but even that shitty behavior of mine predated Jennifer. Since your accident, I haven't spent any time with her. I've been here at the hospital or at home. Occasionally at work, but only when necessary."

"I want to say something sarcastic about your limited time with Jennifer but I don't want to waste my breath on her."

"I wasted too much time on her already, Addy."

"You did, and you kept on spending my time with her, even when I pointed it out to you, so the only reason you're not hanging out with her anymore is guilt, Challen."

Gripping the bed rails on her bed, I met her eyes head on.

"It was guilt that opened my eyes, that's for damn sure. But if guilt can make you start reevaluating your life and all the wrong choices you've been making, then I'll take it. Guilt can be a friend as well as a foe."

"So, if you're reevaluating your wrong choices, are you telling me you've given up working out like a maniac?"

"Yes. I mean, I'll never stop working out completely, but I've cut way back. I run four days a week and lift weights three days a week. By myself," I added quickly when I saw her roll her eyes. "And no more than an hour a day."

"You know I'm never going to be your Jennifer, Challen. I'm never going to be you, for that matter, where I work out my emotions. I told you this a long time ago: I'm always going to take my emotions to the couch with a fuzzy blanket and Cheetos Puffs and ice cream. So I'm not sure why you think you can suddenly accept that about me."