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Moira kept me flat on that hospital bed for three days.
The bandages could come off, but the dozen-odd cuts on my arm weren't ready to have the stitches out.
In all that time, Marvin didn't show his face once.
After the doctor finished running through every instruction, I stopped by a law firm and had the divorce papers drawn up.
I was on my way out when Marvin suddenly called.
"You get discharged yet?"
"Yeah, just now."
"Oh, then head home. I've got a surprise for you."
Marvin was the one who opened the door when I got there.
He was smiling.
"I already changed the default address, and I bought a new water heater and had it installed."
"I even cooked you a big meal myself. You can't still be angry now, right?"
I didn't answer. My eyes had landed on the shoe cabinet, still hanging open.
Inside sat a pair of rose-red stilettos. Not mine.
A sound came from the dining room, and I turned to look.
Hilda Swanson was setting a bottle of red wine on the table, smiling as she greeted me.
"Kate, you're back? Go wash your hands and come eat."
She had on the women's set of those couple's pajamas, the ones I'd had my eye on before, the ones Marvin had supposedly sent to the wrong address.
They matched the men's set he was wearing.
As if the two of them were the married couple in this home, and I was just an outsider who'd dropped by.
Marvin explained, "Hildy's depression flared up recently. She keeps having nightmares, can't stand to be alone."
"It's not like this place is short on rooms. Just let her stay a few days. It's easier for me to look after her this way."
I ignored them both and walked toward the half-open door of the master bedroom.
The familiar wallpaper and bedding had been swapped out for the pink and blue Hilda liked.
The closet that used to be mine was full of her clothes, and our wedding photo had been replaced with an artistic portrait of her.
The designer cosmetics were still there, at least, though a third of them were gone.
I turned to Marvin, who'd followed me in. "A few days needs a whole redecoration? She gets the master bedroom. Where do I sleep?"
Marvin shut the door at once, terrified the person outside might hear and be upset.
His voice, deliberately lowered, was full of impatience. "The master bedroom's bigger, gets more sun. It's good for Hildy's health. Setting the room up the way she's used to helps keep her stable."
"Your things are already moved to the guest room. Sleep there for now. It's just a place to sleep. Do you really have to be so picky? Can't you show a little grace toward someone who's sick?"
Every sentence out of him was about Hilda, and he'd forgotten I'd only just been discharged myself.
From the moment I walked in until now, he hadn't asked once how my cuts were.
Even his finally agreeing to change the default address hadn't been for me.
It was only because Hilda was living here now.
"Marvin, let's get a div—"
I'd barely started to bring up divorce when there was a sudden knock at the door.
Hilda's frail little voice came through. "Marvin, aren't you done talking yet? I'm getting a little hungry..."
Marvin grabbed my wrist. "Kate, can we not fight? This dinner tonight is my way of making it up to you. Hildy didn't even dare pick up her chopsticks first, she was afraid you'd be upset."
"When you go out there, don't wear that long face like just now. Hildy's sensitive. Don't make her feel like some outsider living off other people's charity."
I didn't ask whether that wasn't exactly what she was.
I let Marvin steer me to the dining table anyway.
Looking at the spread of seafood, all of it Hilda's favorites, I didn't touch my chopsticks.
Marvin sat down right beside her and took the crab from her hands, prying it open for her, his voice gentle. "Let me. You little dummy, you can never remember you're not supposed to eat the heart of the crab, or your stomach will hurt."
"And don't drink the orange juice later. You know seafood and orange juice don't sit well together."
Hilda smiled sweetly. "Thank you, sweetheart. These past few years, taking care of my health, you've practically turned yourself into half a doctor."
The air froze in an instant.
Hilda covered her mouth a beat too late and looked at me with feigned apology. "Sorry, Kate. Back when Marvin and I were together, he used to help me just like this. I got used to calling him that. Slipped for a second and forgot to catch myself."
Before I could even say anything, Marvin got in first. "It's fine. Kate isn't the petty type."
I felt a sudden urge to laugh.
Right after we got married, I used to call Marvin sweetheart too.
But he'd frowned. "Kate, I don't care for a nickname that mushy. I'm a business owner now, after all. If someone heard it, it'd make me look unserious."
"Let's just do it the way we used to, call each other by name. It's better that way."
So it turned out his preferences could change depending on who the other person was.
Seeing that I wasn't moving, Marvin pushed the plate of spicy stir-fried crab toward me.
"What are you sitting there for? Eat. Or are you waiting for someone to feed you?"
I said, cuttingly, "Mr. Gilbert's practically half a doctor now. So how is it he doesn't know the cuts on my arm haven't healed, that I'm supposed to stay off spicy food and seafood?"
