The last few days, Alec had been glued to work, catching up on everything he had missed. It had been a relief to feign sleep when she felt the mattress dip late at night. His heavy breathing would fill the room, and she’d blink at the wall for hours, a mix of feelings swirling in her gut too complex to pull apart and examine.

He’d booked a therapist for them not far from the hospital, within walking distance. A woman Cora had thankfully never met nor would likely ever have to see outside of their sessions. Alec had insisted he wouldn’t have time to make it to someone further from the hospital with his hours. This woman, who Cora had searched for on the internet, was apparently one of the best available.

She’d written three books. And too many journal articles to count. Surely, if anyone could help Cora piece something resembling a marriage back together, she could.

Maybe she would simply look at Cora and know what she’d done. This woman, Doctor Massey, had probably seen hundreds of cheaters.

The thought that she was going to vomit again overtook her, and she only just made it to the bathroom. Thankfully, the room was empty. The last thing she needed was pregnancy rumours.

Ten minutes later, Cora was walking down a street, marvelling at how the dark clouds from that morning had started to split apart with streaks of lightning. It was eerie with no thunder to accompany it. It only took a short walk to reach the psychologist’s office, but she was grateful to slip inside away from the odd weather. In the waiting room, teeth clean thanks to the toothbrush pinched from one of the wards, Cora tried to ignore the way her stomach still roiled. The room was bland. There weren’t even motivational posters on the wall. It seemed a little…trite. The paint was hospital-issue white. At three on the dot, the door opened, and Cora’s heart rate, which had finally started to slow, sped up again. She tried to ignore it.

Her therapist—Cora didn’t know why those words made her flinch—was smiling. Using the same kind of smile Cora wore sometimes with her patients. Her heart sped up more at the thought that, dear God, Cora was the patient. The patient of someone with perfect white teeth and perfectly neat hair. Her eyes searched the room, obviously expecting two people since this was couples therapy, yet her look didn’t falter when she caught Cora’s eye.

“Alec running late, then?”

It was at that moment that Cora remembered this woman would know Alec. Or at least of him. Probably the latter as Alec wouldn’t meet someone he knew privately, and of course Doctor Massey wouldn’t either. That would be seriously unethical.

“I imagine so.” Cora smoothed her skirt over her legs. “Though he’ll be here any minute, I’m sure.”