Page 127 of Ashes
My brows furrowed. I wasn’t expecting anyone and if it was Jamal, the front desk would have told Isabella that it was my husband. Besides, he would have just called me if he was coming to see me.
“Do you know who it is?” I asked, wracking my mind to figure out who it might be.
“It was some older gentleman in a suit, but he didn’t mention his name. Just said that it was important.”
That’s weird.
I thanked Isabella and headed out of the unit, passing the automatic sliding doors to the waiting room. I scanned the area until my eyes landed on the only person who looked out of place.
He was standing alone in a corner, away from other patients, holding a briefcase with both hands in front of him. I walked over to him, anxiety tightening my nerves.
Tap.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
My drumming increased until I stood in front of the stranger.
“Dr. Bruni?” he asked, pushing his wire-framed glasses up his nose and extending his right hand to me.
“Yes?” I answered hesitantly, taking his hand in mine and shaking it.
He let go of my hand and cracked his briefcase open, then retrieved a stack of papers from it that he handed to me.
Taking it from him, I started scanning the words printed on it and my heart sank.
My brows drew together. “What’s this?” My voice came out like a whisper.
“I’m Jason Ellie, your husband’s lawyer,” he said, finally introducing himself. “Mr. Brown sent me to give you this,” he continued, but I still didn’t understand.
Shocked by what I was reading, my eyes flew up to Jamal’s supposed lawyer. “I—” I didn’t have words for what I was holding.
“I’m sorry,” Jason simply said before leaving me standing still in the middle of a waiting room.
My mind went into overdrive while my eyes went back to the papers as I flipped through them. My brain tried to make sense of the ink on those pieces of paper, but everything appeared like a jumbled mess in front of me.
I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe.
But the hurt I felt slowly morphed into anger.
What the fuck is this?
My grip tightened against the papers and I fisted them as I walked back into the emergency room, heading straightto my attending’s office. I knocked on the door twice before turning the knob and walking in.
“Sienna,” Dr. Wu said and I heard her typing slow. “Is everything okay?”
I looked over at where she was sitting at her desk, her fingers paused above her keyboard. “I was wondering if I could leave early?” I asked, needing to get to the bottom of this.
Her eyes filled with worry as she got up and hurriedly walked over to me. Her hands grabbed my forearms. “Are you feeling unwell? I knew you should have taken a few more days before coming back.”
I shook my head. “No, I feel okay. An emergency came up at home and I have to leave,” I explained, hoping she would believe me.
“Of course. I’ll have Dr. Adamos cover for you.”
“Thank you,” I replied quietly before leaving her office, closing the door behind me and heading for the staff locker room.
The journey back to the house felt like a blur and when I parked in the driveway, my eyes landed on the crumpled papers strewn across the passenger seat.
I grabbed the divorce papers and headed inside.
