Bad Dream
She forgot her wallet. It was sitting on the table near the front door and when she came back in to grab it, she heard a struggle. The sound of banging against wood and drywall coming from upstairs. She ascended with caution, afraid to find a burglar or escaped convict. Her worst fears played out with each step. Her husband would be dead or incapacitated. The intruder, on seeing her, would take a different prize. The thought brought her to tears, but she needed to know and kept going, taking each step and holding the railing in a death grip.
At the top of the landing, she heard the sound coming from their bedroom. What if he was with another woman? He'd been so distant lately. He hadn't touched her in months. She thought he was just tired from work, but what if those long nights at the office were nothing more than covers for his affairs? He didn’t look at her like he used to. She thought she’d married a good man, but instead, now, she could see the other woman in her mind’s eye. She was younger, prettier, thinner. The noise didn't sound like lovemaking and she thought it ridiculous, but still, she was angry, the very idea poison in her veins.
She stepped into the bedroom, ready to accuse and run out, but instead found him on the closet door. His leather belt was around his neck, the other end caught over the top of the shut door.
He kicked at everything around him, his arms going back and forth between reaching for her and trying to remove the leather noose. His face was blue and purple, his neck bruised the same colors.
She moved to help him, to save him but stopped. His arms reached out for her, but she came no closer. Tears streamed down his face as he gasped and choked to say something, but could not.
Not much longer, she thought. It'll be over soon. And it was. Tears trickled down her face and she walked out of the bedroom, thinking of when they first started dating. He was so good to her then and she thought they could grow together. And as she grew, he wilted and he was no longer the man she fell in love with. She picked up the phone and dialed 911. The operator answered and her anguish rushed through.
"911, what's your emergency?"
"My husband is dead!" she wailed.