The smell of antiseptic burned Alicia's nostrils, pulling her from a thick, dreamless fog. A dull, throbbing pain was centered in her head, a relentless drumbeat against her skull. She let out a low groan, the sound scraping against her raw throat.
"Welcome back."
A woman in pale blue scrubs, her name tag reading 'Nurse Miller,' smiled down at her. "You gave us a bit of a scare. You have a mild concussion and some significant soft tissue damage, but you're going to be okay. You're very lucky."
Alicia stared at the acoustic tile ceiling, the words washing over her without meaning. Lucky. The word felt like a joke. She felt nothing, just a vast, hollow emptiness where her feelings used to be.
"What time is it?" she asked, her voice a dry rasp.
"A little after eight in the morning."
Eight in the morning. A whole night had passed. A night spent in a hospital bed, and he hadn't come. He hadn't even called. The last ember of hope, the one she hadn't even known was still glowing, finally winked out, leaving nothing but cold, gray ash.
She wasn't waiting anymore.
"I want to leave," she said, the words flat and devoid of emotion. She pushed herself up, ignoring the wave of dizziness that made the room spin.
Nurse Miller's professional smile faltered. "Honey, you can't. The doctor wants to keep you for observation for at least twenty-four hours. You took a serious hit to the head."
"I'm leaving," Alicia repeated, her tone leaving no room for argument. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, the thin hospital gown doing little to ward off the chill in the room.
The nurse sighed, seeing the unshakeable resolve in Alicia's eyes. "Alright. But you'll have to sign a discharge form against medical advice."
Minutes later, clutching a plastic bag with her blood-stained clothes, Alicia walked stiffly out of the room. The hospital corridor was quiet, smelling of floor wax and sickness. As she passed another room, she heard a man's voice, loud and cheerful.
"Yeah, she's gone! Died in that pile-up on the FDR last night. Can you believe my luck? The insurance payout is going to be huge, and the house is all mine!"
Alicia stopped dead. Her head turned slowly, her eyes locking on a man in a cheap suit, grinning into his phone. Mr. White. The name on the patient board next to the door.
His joy, so grotesque and obscene, resonated with the cold fury that had been crystallizing in her gut. It was the same casual cruelty, the same utter disregard for a life intertwined with his own. All the rage she felt for Julian, a rage so immense it had no voice, suddenly found a target.
She walked towards him. He glanced up, his smile faltering as he saw the look on her face. He didn't have time to react.
Alicia drew back her hand and slapped him.
The sound was sharp and loud, a crack of thunder in the quiet hallway. It echoed. The man staggered back, his phone clattering to the floor. He stared at her, his hand pressed to his reddening cheek, his mouth agape in disbelief.
Alicia's own hand throbbed, but the pain was grounding. Her eyes were chips of ice.
"Have some decency for your wife's soul, you piece of scum," she said, her voice low and shaking with a power she didn't know she possessed.
She didn't wait for a response. She turned and walked away, her back straight, leaving him sputtering in her wake.
The automatic doors of the hospital slid open, and the bright morning sun hit her like a physical blow. It hurt her eyes, but it also burned away the last of the fog. She was awake. For the first time in years, she was truly, painfully awake.
She pulled her phone from the plastic bag. The screen was cracked, but it turned on. Her thumb scrolled past Julian's name, past the call log that showed his unanswered call from the night before, and stopped on the second name in her contacts. Sarah Hayes.
Sarah picked up on the first ring. "Alicia? Oh my God, I heard about the accident! Are you okay? I've been calling you and Julian all night, no one was answering-"
"Sarah," Alicia cut her off, her voice eerily calm. "I need a divorce lawyer. The best one you can find."
The line went silent. Alicia could hear Sarah's sharp intake of breath, a sound of pure shock. But her friend didn't ask why. She didn't ask what happened.
"I'm on it," Sarah said, her voice now crisp and efficient. "I'll have a list of names and their contact info in your inbox in thirty minutes."
"Thank you," Alicia said, and hung up.
She raised her hand, hailing a yellow cab. It pulled up to the curb, its brakes squealing.
She opened the door and slid inside, the worn vinyl of the seat cool against her skin.
"Where to, lady?" the driver asked, looking at her in the rearview mirror, his eyes lingering on the crude bandage on her forehead.
Alicia gave him the address of the penthouse on the Upper East Side. The place she had once, foolishly, called home.
