Chapter 6
The living room had been rearranged before I returned.
My wheelchair had been placed beside the sofa instead of near the downstairs bedroom prepared for my recovery.
The home-health equipment remained boxed in the hallway.
Family photographs had been moved.
A large portrait of Colin and Patricia now stood on the mantel where our wedding photograph had been.
The children waited near the staircase.
Aiden rushed toward me first.
The younger three followed, but Patricia stopped them.
“Give your mother room.”
They looked terrified to move.
I turned to Colin.
“Why are their bags packed?”
He rubbed his jaw.
“Mom thought it would be easier.”
“Easier for whom?”
Patricia answered.
“You need rehabilitation somewhere equipped for your condition.”
“This home is equipped.”
“It is not fair to make Colin become a nurse.”
“He isn’t becoming one. Professionals were hired.”
“You mean strangers.”
“The same professionals you canceled.”
Her eyes sharpened.
I had not been expected to know that.
Aiden stepped toward his siblings and brought them behind him.
Patricia told him not to interfere.
He ignored her.
Colin moved beside the fireplace, physically removing himself from the center of the argument while leaving his mother free to speak for him.
That was his oldest strategy.
Distance himself from the cruelty.
Accept its benefits.
Later, claim he never said the words.
I shifted my weight on the crutches.
Pain moved through my cast.
The blue folder felt heavier under my arm.
“Where exactly are you sending us?”
Patricia smiled without warmth.
“A furnished rehabilitation apartment.”
“And after recovery?”
“We will evaluate what is healthiest.”
The word evaluate told me everything.
She had already imagined herself with authority over whether I returned.
I looked toward Colin.
He studied the floor.
Patricia faced him.
“My son cannot spend his life carrying you.”
Aiden moved before I could.
He stood between us, one arm extended.
“Then we don’t need either of you.”
My heart broke with pride and shame.
Pride because he protected us.
Shame because adults had placed him in a position where he believed he had to.
I lowered his arm.
“This is not your fight.”
He looked at me.
“Yes, it is.”
I kept him beside me and opened the folder.
May you like
Then I forced Colin to choose aloud.
Read the full story 👉 Colin had spent years letting Patricia speak for him, but the agreement required him to reveal whether he accepted what she was doing.
