Souls Remember What Matters — Corey Gibson 24
Chapter 24 – Like A Stranger
DARIUS
The hospital fluorescent lights had given me a headache that pounded behind my eyes as I finally walked through our front door. Dawn was breaking through the windows, casting everything in a gray, exhausted light that matched how I felt inside.
I’d spent the entire night in that sterile waiting room, then by Vivienne’s bedside once they’d stabilized her. The doctors said it was severe dehydration combined with her medication, nothing immediately life–threatening, but they wanted to keep her for observation.
Every hour that ticked by, I’d thought about Sera. About how I’d left her in our bed, vulnerable and wanting, to rush to another woman’s side. About the look on her face when I’d grabbed my clothes and walked out on what could have been the beginning of us finding our way back to each other.
I was an ass. A complete and total ass.
My feet felt heavy as I climbed the stairs to our bedroom. The door was closed, and I could hear the shower running. Part of me wanted to knock, to slip inside and try to explain, but I knew I didn’t deserve that kind of reception after what I’d done.
Instead, I went to Luna’s room to check on her. She was still sleeping, her dark hair spread across her pillow, one arm wrapped around her favorite stuffed elephant. She looked so peaceful, so innocent, completely unaware of the mess her father had made of everything.
I kissed her forehead gently and headed back to the hallway. The shower had stopped, and I could hear movement in our bedroom. My heart started pounding as I approached the door.
I knocked softly. “Sera? Can we talk?”
Silence.
I knocked again, a little louder this time. “Sera, please. I know you’re angry, and you have every right to be. But let me explain-”
The door opened abruptly, and Sera stood there fully dressed in jeans and a simple sweater, her hair still damp from the shower. Her face was completely calm, almost serene, and that scared me more than if she’d been screaming.
“Oh, you’re back,” she said, her voice flat and uninterested. “How is she?”
“She’s… she’s fine. Stable. They’re keeping her for observation.” I searched her face for any emotion, any sign that she cared about my answer or about me being there. “Sera, about last night—”
“What about it?” She stepped past me into the hallway, like I was just an obstacle in her path.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for leaving you like that. The way I left was-”
“Was what you had to do.” She shrugged, adjusting her sweater. “She needed you, and you went to her. It’s fine.
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But it wasn’t fine. I could see it in the careful way she held herself, in how she wouldn’t quite meet my eyes. The
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distance between us felt like an ocean.
“It’s not fine, and you know it,” I said, following her down the stairs. “We were… we were finally connecting again, and I ruined it.”
“You didn’t ruin anything.” Her voice was so calm it made my chest ache. “Nothing happened. We got carried away for a minute, but nothing actually happened.”
The dismissive way she said it, like our moment together had meant nothing, hit me harder than any screaming fit would have. I wanted her to be angry. I wanted her to yell at me, to throw something, to show me that what we’d almost shared had mattered to her.
Instead, she was treating me like a stranger.
“Sera-”
“Daddy!” Luna’s voice interrupted us as she came bouncing down the stairs in her pajamas. “You’re home! Where did you go so early?”
I crouched down to catch her as she launched herself into my arms. “I had to help a friend who wasn’t feeling well, princess. But I’m home now.”
“Is your friend okay?” Luna’s big eyes were full of concern.
“She will be.” I glanced at Sera, who was watching us with that same carefully neutral expression. “What do you want to do today, baby girl?”
“I want to see Miss Vivienne!” Luna clapped her hands excitedly. “Mommy told me she’s in the hospital, and I want to bring her flowers to make her feel better.”
My stomach dropped. I looked at Sera again, and she was still watching us, waiting to see how I’d handle this.
“Well,” I said carefully, “Miss Vivienne needs to rest today. Maybe we could do something else? We could go to the playground, or the zoo, or-”
“But I want to see her!” Luna’s bottom lip started to quiver. “She reads me stories and teaches me piano songs. I want to make sure she’s not scared.”
The guilt twisted in my chest. Luna genuinely cared about Vivienne, and I couldn’t fault a four–year–old for having a kind heart. But the thought of taking my family to visit the woman who’s health was putting a strain on mine and Sera’s relationship made me feel sick.
“Maybe another day, princess. This isn’t like last time, her state might be quite scary for-”
“I’m not scared!” Luna crossed her arms defiantly. “And you always say we should help people when they’re sick. Don’t you care about Miss Vivienne anymore?”
The question caught me off guard, leaving me at a loss for words. How could I explain to my daughter that caring about someone didn’t mean dropping everything for them? That sometimes caring meant setting boundaries?
“Of course I care about her,” I said weakly.
“Then why can’t we visit her?” Luna’s eyes filled with tears. “Mommy said we could go after breakfast. You said
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Chapter 24 Like A Stranger
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we should always keep our promises.”
I looked at Sera in panic. She’d promised Luna we could visit Vivienne? After everything that happened last night?
“We’ll go,” Sera said calmly, like we were discussing the weather. “After Luna eats breakfast and gets dressed.”
“But-“I started to protest.
“Luna, go pick out something pretty to wear for our hospital visit,” Sera said, ignoring me completely. “And brush your teeth.”
“Yay!” Luna bounced up and down before running back upstairs.
I stared at Sera, trying to understand what game she was playing. “Why would you promise her that? After last night, I thought-”
“You thought what?” She turned to face me fully for the first time since I’d come home. “That I’d be petty enough to use a four–year–old’s feelings to get back at you?”
“No, I-”
“Vivienne is sick. Luna cares about her. It’s the right thing to do.” Sera walked toward the kitchen, then paused and looked back at me. “Unless you have a problem with your wife and daughter visiting your… friend.”
The way she said ‘friend‘ made it clear she knew exactly what kind of position this put me in. If I objected, I’d look guilty. If I didn’t object. Nothing was going on but after last night…i feared something might happen, like what happened at the back garden on Sera’s birthday.
“I don’t have a problem with it,” I lied.
“Good.” Sera continued toward the kitchen. “Luna will want pancakes before we go. She always does when she’s excited about something.”
I followed her, watching as she moved around the kitchen with mechanical efficiency. Getting out the pancake mix, heating the griddle, humming softly to herself like this was any other morning.
And I had to stand there and watch, I wasn’t sure what to say, how to fix this. We’d made a breakthrough yesterday and now it was back to what it used to be since she came back from New York.
I watched her cook, standing in the corner foolishly, hoping she would say something, anything.
“Daddy! Mommy! Look!” Luna came running into the kitchen wearing a bright yellow dress with flowers on it.” Do I look pretty enough to visit Miss Vivienne?”
“You look beautiful, princess,” I said, my heart breaking a little at her innocent excitement.
“Miss Vivienne is going to love that dress,” Sera added, setting a plate of heart–shaped pancakes in front of Luna. “Eat up so we can go see her.”
As I watched my daughter eat breakfast and chatter about the flowers she wanted to pick for Vivienne, I realized that Sera had outmaneuvered me completely. She was being the perfect wife, the perfect mother, agreeing to everything with grace and kindness.
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