Page 149 - It Ends with Us

tend ernes s. I try to forget wha t ha ppened in the kitchen, but it’s

ev er ythi ng right no w.
He pushed me away from hi m.
R yle pushe d me.
For fif teen sec ond s, I saw a side of hi m tha t was n’t hi m. Tha t wasn’t
me. I laughed at hi m when I sho uld ha ve been conc erned . He sho ved
me whe n he sho uld ha ve nev er touched me. I pushed hi m away and

caused hi m to cut hi s ha nd .
It was awful. The who le thi ng , the ent ire fif teen sec ond s it lasted ,
was absolutel y awful. I nev er want to thi nk about it again.
He still ha s the rag balled up in hi s ha nd and it’s soaked with
blood. I push agains t hi s ches t.
“I’ll be right back,” I tel l hi m. He kisses me one more time and
rolls off of me. I walk to the bathro om and close the door. I look in

the mirro r and gasp.
Blood. In my hair, on my cheek s, on my body. It’s all hi s blood. I
grab a rag and try to wash some off, and then I look und er the sink
for the firs t aid kit. I ha ve no idea ho w bad hi s ha nd is. First he
burned it, then he sliced it open. Not ev en an ho ur after he was just
tel ling me ho w important thi s surger y was to hi m.

No more wine. We’re never al lowed vintag e wine ag ai n.
I grab the box from und er the sink and open the bed room door.
He’s walking back int o the bed room from the kitchen with a small
bag of ice. He ho lds it up, “For your ey e, ” he says.
I ho ld up the firs t aid kit. “For your ha nd .”
We both smile and then sit back down on the bed . He lea ns agains t
the hea dboard whi le I pull his ha nd to my lap. The who le time I’m

dres sing hi s wound , he’s ho lding the bag of ice agains t my ey e.
I squeez e some ant isep tic cream ont o my fing er and dab it agains t
the burns on hi s fing ers . They don’t look as bad as I thought they
might be, so that’s a rel ief . “Can you prev ent it from blister ing ?” I ask
hi m.
He sha kes hi s hea d. “Not if it’s sec ond -deg ree. ”

I want to ask hi m if he can still per form the surger y if hi s fing ers
ha ve blisters on them come Mond ay, but I don’t bring it up. I’m sure
tha t’s on the foref ront of hi s mind right no w.
“Do you want me to put some on your cut?”