Tyler looked genuinely sh0cked. “Taking advantage? Hannah, she’s being tormented by her ex. She needs support.”

“She has a therapist. And parents nearby.”

“But she trusts me,” he said, as if that trust outweighed our vows.

Rain poured the next Thursday as I left for a work dinner. My phone sat in the cup holder, silent, while I rehearsed excuses for his inevitable absence. At Fifth and Madison, a truck damned through a red light. My last thought before impact was, He isn’t stopping.

The crash folded metal into bone. My wedding ring shimmered with bl00d I couldn’t comprehend as mine.

I woke under the yellowed ceiling tiles of Riverside General. Dr. Webb shoved my dislocated shoulder back into place with a jolt that split me open. Patricia, a nurse with tired, kind eyes, hovered near.