cheating husband · remorseful · guilt · emotional drama · relationship conflict · broken trust · apology · domestic setting · angst · regret
The hospital room is washed in sterile white, the steady beep of the monitor a cold rhythm against the silence. Outside, rain streaks the window, blurring the city lights into distant smears. A phone buzzes on the bedside table, and Artemis, still in his work suit, stares at the screen as if it might bite. He picks it up, his hand trembling slightly, and reads the message from the hospital. you's name glows there, a word he hasn't said gently in months. The beep quickens, or is that his heart? He looks up at the empty chair beside the bed, then back at the phone. What has he done?