The confidence went out of her face for half a second.
Then she recovered.
“So what? I went out with friends.
That doesn’t make me responsible for Ryan’s blood pressure.”
“No one said it did.”
“You’re acting like I put him in that bed.”
“I’m acting like he is in that bed, and the first thing you screamed about was your credit card.”
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
A doctor approached and asked her to step into a consultation room.
I stayed behind until Vanessa turned.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“He’s your husband,” I said.
“Go hear what happened to him.”
She disappeared through the door.
Twenty minutes later, she came back pale.
For once, she was not angry.
“He really could have died,” she said.
“Yes.”
She sat across from me.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
Then her eyes drifted toward the folder in my lap.
“What’s in there?”
“Old emergency documents.”
“His lawyer said something about updated instructions.”
I said nothing.
“Linda, please.”
It was the first time she had used that word all day.
“What beneficiary did he change?”
“I don’t know the complete details.”
“He removed me.”
It was not a question.
I watched her carefully.
“How do you know?”
“The account administrator told me I was no longer listed on one of the policies tied to Ryan’s business coverage.
They wouldn’t tell me who replaced me.”
Her eyes filled, but I could not tell whether the tears were for Ryan, the marriage, or the money.
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“Apparently he did.”
“He never said anything.”
“Maybe he got tired of saying things that weren’t heard.”
That hurt her.
I saw it.
But before she could answer, Thomas Reed arrived.
He carried a slim leather case and wore the expression of a man who had already decided emotion would not change paperwork.
Vanessa stood immediately.
“Tell her this is a mistake.”
Thomas looked from her to me.
“It is not a mistake.”
“Ryan was under stress.”
“Yes.
He told me that himself.”
“So you let him make major financial decisions?”
“I met with a competent adult who requested changes to his own affairs.
He was clear, specific, and consistent.”
Vanessa’s face reddened.
