By the end of the week, I understood that waiting wasn't going to settle anything between Nora and me.
The hospital would conduct its review.
The lawyer would process my refusal.
Nora would decide what she believed.
I couldn't control any of those things.
But I could ask her to speak with me again.
I called her from the shop during a quiet moment.
She answered after several rings.
"I don't want another argument," she said.
"Neither do I."
"Then what do you want?"
"I want to return Alicia's things."
There was a pause.
"What things?"
"The scarf and the bandage ring. They're in the box with the lawyer's letter."
Nora didn't answer immediately.
Then she said she wanted them back.
I told her I would bring them.
There was something else I needed to ask.
"I also want you to tell the hospital what you actually saw."
Her voice sharpened.
"I'm not withdrawing my complaint."
"I'm not asking you to."
"Then what are you asking?"
I looked through the shop window at a car passing on the road.
"You were there when we married. You knew it wasn't a romantic relationship. You helped with the ceremony. I want you to tell the reviewer those things, even if you still believe the marriage was wrong."
She was quiet.
I could imagine her standing in her kitchen, holding the phone and trying to decide whether talking to me would make anything easier.
"I don't know if I can help you," she said.
"You don't have to help me. I want you to say what you know."
"And what if I still think you took advantage of her?"
"Then say that, too."
She let out a breath.
"Saturday. Come to my place."
I thanked her.
She ended the call before I could say anything else.
That evening, I opened the box at home.
The white scarf was folded beneath the lawyer's notice.
The bandage ring rested beside it.
I lifted the scarf carefully.
It was ordinary fabric, soft from being handled, with a faint crease near one edge where Nora had adjusted it during the wedding.
I remembered her fingers smoothing the material near Alicia's ear.
I remembered Alicia pretending she couldn't keep still.
The memory made my throat tighten.
I set the scarf down and checked the lawyer's documents.
The refusal had been signed and sent, but I kept a copy of the paperwork. I wanted Nora to see that I had followed through on what I told her.
I placed the documents in a folder.
Then I put the scarf and ring back into the box.
I didn't want to arrive at Nora's house looking as if I were presenting evidence in a trial.
I wanted to speak honestly.
I also wanted her to understand that I wasn't going to ask her to pretend the marriage had been appropriate.
On Saturday, I drove to her home with the box on the passenger seat.
I had rehearsed what I planned to say.
Most of it disappeared from my mind when she opened the door.
She looked tired.
I suspected she hadn't been sleeping well, though I had no right to assume I understood what she was feeling.
She stepped aside to let me in.
We sat at her kitchen table.
I placed the box between us.
For a moment, neither of us touched it.
Then I lifted the lid.
The scarf was on top.
Nora reached for it and ran her fingers along the edge.
She didn't look at me.
I took the bandage ring from the box and placed it beside her hand.
She picked it up carefully.
"It's so small," she said.
I nodded.
She turned it between her fingers.
I could see her remembering the ceremony, too.
I had no idea whether those memories comforted her or made her angrier.
She put the ring down and closed the box.
"I'm not apologizing for reporting you."
"I understand."
"Do you?"
"I think you had reasons to be concerned."
She looked up.
"Reasons? Lucas, you were her doctor."
"Yes."
"You knew how sick she was. You knew she didn't have much time. And you married her."
I felt my face grow warm.
"I know."
"Then how can you sit here and talk about reasons?"
I took a breath.
"Because I don't think you were wrong to ask questions. I think you were wrong to decide you knew why I did it."
Her expression tightened.
"You expect me to believe that the inheritance had nothing to do with it?"
"I didn't know about it."
"How would I know that?"
"You wouldn't, not just from what I'm telling you."
She looked down at the box.
I continued before I could lose my nerve.
"I was responsible for my decision. Alicia asked me to marry her, but she didn't make me do it. I could have said no. I could have spoken to Dr. Patel before agreeing. I didn't."
Nora's fingers stopped moving.
"So you admit you took advantage of her."
"No. I admit I made a bad decision. Those aren't the same thing."
"To me, they look very similar."
I didn't argue.
I had come there hoping to make her see a distinction that mattered to me.
But I knew why the distinction wasn't enough for her.
She had buried her sister.
Then she had found out that her sister's final act had involved giving money to the doctor who married her.
I couldn't expect her to hear my explanation without feeling the weight of those facts.
I slid the folder across the table.
"These are the papers showing that I refused the inheritance."
She opened the folder and read the documents.
Her eyes moved over the dates.
"This doesn't prove you didn't know beforehand."
"No. It shows when I found out and what I did afterward."
She closed the folder.
"Do you want me to tell the hospital you're innocent?"
"No."
She looked surprised.
"I want you to tell them what happened. You knew about the wedding. You helped with it. You know I wasn't pretending to have a romantic relationship with Alicia. And you don't know that I expected money."
Her jaw tightened.
"People will say I'm defending you."
"You can tell them you still think I was wrong to marry her."
I waited.
"I won't ask you to change your mind about that."
Nora looked away.
For the first time since I had arrived, she seemed uncertain about what to say.
Then she pushed the folder back toward me.
"You should leave."
I nodded.
I had hoped the meeting would make things easier, but I hadn't expected forgiveness.
I gathered the documents and stood.
As I reached the door, I glanced back at the box.
Nora had opened it again.
She was touching the scarf, holding the fabric in both hands.
I wanted to tell her that Alicia had been happy during the ceremony.
I wanted to reassure her that we had both wanted to do something good for Alicia, even if I had made a mistake.
But I couldn't promise her that our intentions had been enough.
So I left without saying anything else.
Click here to continue reading: PART 8: Nora Refused to Call Me Innocent, Yet Her Statement Finally Described What She Had Witnessed Instead of What She Feared Had Happened
I Thought One Small Act of Kindness Could Change Her Final Days, Until I Realized I Had Never Asked What It Might Cost Me
Part 7 of 12
