Chapter 17: Fifteen Years Later

Chapter 17: Fifteen Years Later

When the wooden roofs of our cabins began to show in the distance through the sea mist, he stopped his pace, gently let go of my hand, and looked me straight in the eye. His hoarse and deep voice broke the pact of silence:

"My wounds are only scarred thanks to you... How are you?"

I froze. The impact of his question hit my soul center. I felt a lump in my throat and my eyes moistened again, but this time not from sadness. After fifteen years of marriage, fifteen years where all the attention, care, and questions revolved around Anthony's projects, moods, and goals, it was the first time anyone had genuinely stopped to ask me how I was doing. Anthony never cared how I felt as long as his clothes were ironed and his food hot.

I swallowed hard, sought clean air, and answered him with the truth I felt in my bones:

"Every day I am beginning to live again. The scars will always remain, but we will have to learn to live with them until they are no longer felt... Why do you say thanks to me? I asked him, trying to confirm the suspicion that had haunted me since the first day at the beach.

He cracked that little sideways smile that curled his lips, a smile that this time completely lit up his blue eyes. He looked at me with a clean tenderness and spoke the words that I already knew in the depths of my being:

"Because in you... I saw my own reflection.