Chapter 4: The Honeymoon Was Only the Beginning
"What did you do?""
Vanessa stood in the corridor, gripping her phone so tightly that her knuckles had turned pale. Her white wedding gown spread across the polished floor, and the diamond bracelet her mother had given her glittered beneath the hallway lights.
I slipped my phone into my pocket.
"I canceled the honeymoon.""
For a moment, she didn't move.
Then she laughed.
It wasn't the carefree laugh I'd heard at the pool. This one was sharp and disbelieving, as though she assumed I was playing some elaborate joke on her.
"You canceled what?""
"The Maui reservation. All twelve days.""
Her mouth fell open.
"Daniel, are you out of your mind?""
"No.""
"Do you have any idea how much that trip cost?""
"Yes. I paid the deposit.""
She stepped closer.
"We've been planning this for months!""
"I know.""
"We're supposed to leave Monday morning!""
"I know that, too.""
She stared at me, searching my face for the familiar signs of surrender. Usually, when she became upset, I would lower my voice, explain myself, and eventually find some compromise that allowed her to feel she had won.
Not this time.
"You're punishing me," she said.
"I'm making a decision about a trip I no longer want to take.""
"Because of Emily?""
"Because of what happened.""
"She's fine!""
"How do you know?""
Vanessa looked away.
I waited.
She glanced back at me and adjusted the neckline of her gown.
"Because Marcus texted me. He said she was being examined.""
That surprised me.
"You spoke to Marcus?""
"No. He posted something in the wedding group chat.""
"What did he say?""
"That she's stable and they're waiting to hear from the doctor.""
"And you thought that meant she was fine?""
Vanessa exhaled impatiently.
"Daniel, I am not a doctor. I don't know what you want from me.""
"I wanted you to care that you hurt her.""
Her expression hardened.
"I did not deliberately injure your sister.""
"You deliberately pushed her.""
"That is not the same thing!""
"How is it different?""
She opened her mouth, but no answer came.
For a second, I thought she might finally acknowledge what she'd done.
Instead, she looked toward the ballroom.
"People are going to notice we're gone. My mother has already asked where you are. The photographer wants the portraits, and the reception is about to start.""
I glanced at my watch.
"We can still have the reception.""
Her eyes narrowed.
"What does that mean?""
"It means I'm not going to stand here arguing while Emily is at a clinic. I'm going to check on my sister.""
"And leave me alone at my own reception?""
"Our reception.""
She flinched.
It was a small correction, but it seemed to irritate her more than the cancellation itself.
"Fine," she snapped.
"Go play the hero. But don't expect me to forget that you embarrassed me in front of everyone.""
I looked at her for a long moment.
"You're worried about being embarrassed?""
"Yes, Daniel! Because I care about how people see me. I'm not going to apologize for that.""
"I never asked you to apologize for caring about your reputation.""
"You certainly act like you did.""
"I asked you to apologize for hurting Emily.""
Vanessa turned away.
"I already apologized.""
"You told her you were sorry she got upset.""
"That's an apology!""
"No. That's a way to make what you did sound like her fault.""
She spun back toward me.
"Do you know what your problem is? You always make everything so serious. You can't let anything go. Someone makes a mistake, and suddenly you turn it into a moral crisis.""
I thought about the pool.
Emily's pink dress disappearing beneath the water.
The desperate hands reaching for the deck.
My sister coughing as she tried to breathe.
Then I looked at Vanessa's immaculate gown.
"Some mistakes have consequences," I said.
I walked away before she could answer.
Behind me, she called my name twice.
I didn't turn around.
The clinic was a fifteen-minute drive from the resort. Marcus had sent me the address, and I drove there with the windows down because the car still smelled faintly of the cologne I'd sprayed on that morning.
At a red light, I caught sight of my wedding ring.
I twisted it once around my finger.
Then I stopped.
I wasn't going to make a decision about my marriage at a traffic light. Emily had asked me to make my own decision, not one driven by anger or embarrassment.
But I could no longer pretend that the woman I had married had simply made an innocent mistake.
When I arrived, Marcus was waiting outside the examination room.
He had taken off his suit jacket and loosened his tie. His hair was damp at the temples, and he held two paper cups of coffee he clearly hadn't touched.
"How is she?"" I asked.
"She's getting checked out. The doctor wants imaging because the pain increased after the fall.""
My stomach tightened.
"Did she hit her head?""
"She says she doesn't think so. The guys at the pool helped her out quickly.""
I rubbed my forehead.
"I should have been there.""
Marcus gave me a hard look.
"Daniel, you were at your own wedding. You didn't push her.""
"I know.""
"Then stop taking responsibility for something Vanessa did.""
I looked through the narrow window in the examination-room door.
Emily sat on the bed with a fresh towel around her shoulders. Her wet hair had been pulled back into a loose ponytail, and a nurse was speaking to her while checking her arm.
She looked exhausted.
I opened the door quietly.
"Hey, Em.""
She looked up.
For the first time since the pool, she smiled.
"Look at you. Still wearing the tux.""
"I thought about changing into something less formal, but I didn't want to disappoint the medical staff.""
She laughed softly, then winced.
"Don't make me laugh. Everything hurts.""
I crossed the room and pulled a chair beside her bed.
"I'm sorry.""
She sighed.
"Daniel.""
"I know you said I didn't do it. I'm still sorry you had to go through that.""
She reached for my hand with her left one.
"Did you go back to the reception?""
"For a minute.""
"And?""
"I canceled Maui.""
Her eyebrows rose.
"You did what?""
"The honeymoon.""
She stared at me.
"Daniel, you can't cancel a twelve-day trip because I fell into a pool.""
"I didn't cancel it because you fell into a pool.""
"Then why?""
I took a breath.
"Because of how Vanessa reacted when it happened. Because she knew about your arm. Because she laughed. Because even after you were hurt, she was more worried about her photographs than whether you were okay.""
Emily looked down at our hands.
"Maybe she panicked.""
"Maybe.""
"People do stupid things when they're under pressure.""
"I know.""
She studied me.
"But?""
"But I can't keep explaining away things that hurt people just because the person doing them is upset.""
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
I squeezed her hand.
"Hey. Don't cry.""
"I'm not crying because of the honeymoon.""
"Then why?""
"Because you've spent so much of your life trying to make everybody happy. I was scared you'd do that today, too.""
I had no answer.
A few minutes later, the doctor returned with the preliminary findings. Emily had aggravated the injury to her arm, and the team wanted additional evaluation before deciding whether any further treatment was necessary. They advised her to keep the arm supported and avoid using it until the specialist reviewed the results.
It wasn't the worst outcome we could have feared, but it was enough to make the afternoon feel even uglier.
I helped arrange her ride home with Marcus.
Then I stepped into the hallway and called Vanessa.
She answered immediately.
"Finally. Where are you?""
"At the clinic.""
"How is she?""
The question came so abruptly that I almost believed she was concerned.
"Her injury has been aggravated. They're checking whether she needs additional treatment.""
Vanessa was silent for a beat.
Then she asked, "Is she coming back to the reception?""
I closed my eyes.
"No.""
"Well, that's unfortunate.""
I gripped the phone.
"Unfortunate?""
"What do you want me to say? I'm sorry she got hurt. Obviously, I didn't want that to happen.""
"You could start by saying you shouldn't have pushed her.""
"I already told you I made a mistake.""
"Then say it.""
Her voice dropped.
"Daniel, I'm not doing this over the phone.""
"Why not?""
"Because people can hear me.""
I stared at the wall.
There it was again.
Not concern for Emily.
Not regret over the shove.
Fear that someone might hear her admitting what she'd done.
I ended the call without another word.
As I returned to Emily's room, a notification appeared on my screen from the wedding group's shared photo album.
Someone had uploaded a picture taken moments before the incident.
Vanessa stood in her white gown, smiling toward the camera.
Emily was beside her, one hand held protectively against her injured arm.
I opened the next photograph.
It showed the exact moment before the shove.
Vanessa's hands were already raised.
And in the background, half-hidden behind a floral arrangement, the resort photographer's assistant was pointing a video camera directly at them.
I enlarged the image.
The camera had captured everything.
Including the expression on Vanessa's face.
She wasn't smiling.
May you like
She looked angry.
And suddenly, I wondered whether the pool incident had been an impulsive mistake at all.
