After My Husband Left Me Alone with a Brain Injury I Stopped Waiting for Him to Come Back Chapter 05

After My Husband Left Me Alone with a Brain Injury I Stopped Waiting for Him to Come Back Chapter 05

“I was.”

“What did she say?”

Kevin opened his mouth, but for several seconds, nothing came out.

Then he finally said, “She said… her stomach hurt.”

“Why didn’t you come home?”

“She was always saying things like that.”

The officer looked down and made a note.

“Did she have a cognitive impairment?”

“Yes.”

“Could she feed herself, get water, or handle an emergency on her own?”

Kevin didn’t answer.

Erin suddenly burst into tears.

“Her cognitive abilities had regressed, but she could still manage some things on her own.”

The officer turned to her.

“Who switched off the main power at the smart panel beside the apartment door?”

Kevin’s head snapped up.

“I only brushed against the control on the panel by the door.”

“That switch controls the main power supply for the entire apartment.”

“I just… didn’t notice…”

Kevin hurried to explain.

“But the refrigerator is on a separate circuit.”

The officer frowned.

“Do you really think someone with cognitive impairment would realise that the refrigerator door hadn’t shut properly?”

“The refrigerator was left open for too long. The compressor overheated and shut down, and all the food inside spoiled. Do you know she ended up scooping water out of the toilet cistern just to have something to drink? We found a spoon in there with mould already growing on it.”

Kevin stared at the floor, unable to say a word.

the crash.

So he taught me to live like a child who knew only how to wait for him.

He made me depend on him until I was no longer capable of leaving, while he carried on living his life with

another woman.

Kevin suddenly looked up, as though he’d sensed something.

“Allison, are you still here?”

I stood right in front of him.

“I’m here.”

“You can hear me, can’t you?”

He reached out and wrapped his arms around empty air.

“Don’t go.”

“I wasn’t trying to leave.”

“I’ll make it up to you.”

I looked into his bloodshot eyes.

For the first time, this man felt like a complete stranger.

“But I don’t need that anymore.”

Of course, he couldn’t hear me.

“Yes.”

“There’s one more thing.”

The manager pulled out another maintenance record.

“The master power switch beside your apartment door has been pressed accidentally before. We advised you last year to have a protective cover fitted.”

Kevin said, “I know.”

He remembered.

So did I.

A maintenance worker had come by that day and told him, “Allison could hit it by accident. Best get a cover fitted as soon as possible.”

Kevin had nodded.

But he never did anything about it.

Because Erin suddenly said the baby needed to go to the clinic for his vaccinations.

Because something urgent came up at work.

Because he thought I would always be there waiting for him.

That evening, Kevin went to Erin’s house.

Her parents blocked him at the door.

“What are you doing here?”

“I want to see the baby.”

“You’ve no right to see him anymore.”

“I’m his father.”

“Allison is dead because of you, and you still think you can just carry on with your life?”

Kevin stood outside the door, looking as though he hadn’t slept properly in days.

“I’ll take responsibility.”

“Taking responsibility takes more than saying it.”

The sound of the baby crying came from inside the house.

Erin walked out with the child in her arms.