Chapter 2 A HEART LEFT ALONE

The lights in the hospital were a little too bright for me. I sat there, watching the nurse clean my hand, and I was trying not to flinch at the stings from the cuts I had yesterday, during the Isabel "Tantrum moment".

It wasn't just the pain in my hand that hurt, though. My heart was aching, more deeply than I could handle. I came on my own to the hospital, and Jake, my own husband, didn't even know I was here or care enough to be here with me while I was getting treated, his only concern was Isabel.

She had only been there a few days, and she had already given me so much trouble.

I called him so many times this morning, hoping he'd pick, but unsurprisingly he didn't. My calls went ignored, and my texts were unread.

I couldn't stop thinking that he didn't care even a little bit, he became so wrapped up with Isabel, his sister-in-law, that he'd forgotten all about me, his wife.

I had always believed a husband should be there for his wife anytime she needed him, I felt he had even forgotten about me at this point.

The moment I thought things could still get worse than they already were and I had no one to be on my side, I heard a familiar voice. And the owner of that voice liked to cause trouble.

Eva, my best friend, is here now. She immediately noticed my injured hand and the tired look on my face. Her expression turned from concern to anger.

"Sarah, this isn't right," Eva said, shaking her head. "I hate seeing him treat you this way. You deserve so much better than this or him."

The amount of tears I was stopping from coming out as she spoke, could fill a pot at this point. "Eva I'm so tired... I don't know what to think anymore.

He's been grieving his brother and Isabel... She's grieving too. I thought he just needed time to work through it, to lean on her for support. But now..." I paused, unsure of how to explain the hollowness that had replaced our marriage.

Eva's face twisted with frustration. "Sarah, come on. You know she's using him. The way she's always clinging to him, said she wants others to think she's more than a sister in law. She's making him choose her over you, and he's letting her!"

I closed my eyes, her words striking a painful truth I hadn't wanted to face. Eva was right; I'd noticed how Isabel always seemed to cling to Jake, acting fragile and helpless whenever he was around. And Jake had been there for her every single time, ignoring me in the process.

It was worse than that, though. On my birthday, Jake had left me alone because Isabel had called him, saying she was too scared to stay by herself. I had spent that night alone, blowing out the candles by myself, telling myself that Jake would make it up to me. Then there was our wedding anniversary. I'd planned a special dinner, lit by candles and everything. It was supposed to be our night. But, as always, Isabel showed up, and suddenly our intimate evening became a dinner for three. She even insisted on going to a fancy restaurant, and by the end of it, Jake left me to pay the bill while he led her out, his hand resting gently on hers as if they were the ones married.

Thinking about these moments again felt like reopening an old wound. My heart was cracking under the weight of these memories. I looked at Eva, who was watching me with pity and a hint of anger.

"I tried so hard to believe he'd change," I whispered. "I thought... I thought maybe he'd remember that I'm his wife. But every day, it feels like he's drifting further away."

Eva gripped my hand, her voice gentle but firm. " Even if the both of them are grieving, it doesn't give them the right to treat you like this, and that Isabel, I'm sure she has a plan of pushing you out cause you're soft. I know one thing, and it's that you deserve to be treated with respect."

Just when I was about to defend them again, I looked up and saw Jake coming toward us, his face filled with worry. My heart leaped in my chest, with thoughts like, maybe he was finally here to check for me, to show how much he really cared.

But then, my heart was shattered like glass, into a million pieces. I saw who he was holding in his arms. He held her so gently, treating her like a baby..... Isabel. Her face resting on his chest, looking pale and a little pitiful.

She held onto him tightly, looking as if she couldn't stand. Jake's eyes looked worried, and all his focus was entirely on her, it felt like to him, she was the most important thing In the world.

I swallowed hard, calling out softly, "Jake..."

However, he completely ignored me. He had all his attention on Isabel as he carried her to a hospital bed, carefully laying her down and covering her with a blanket. He gently moved her hair away from her face, speaking calming words in a soft voice. I watched as he devoted all his love and focus on her, causing my heart to break further as he continued to ignore me.

With Eva's hand on my shoulder for support, she quietly whispered, "He didn't even see you or hear you." she sighed heavily. "How can he be so blind?"

I didn't respond. I couldn't. All I could do was observe Jake as he tended to Isabel, the way he held her hand, the way he looked at her as if she was the only person in the world that mattered at the moment. It was a look I had not felt for quite a while.