I found out by accident.
The surgery went well.
Recovery did not.
Clara, meanwhile, started looking better fast. That was the weird thing about her illness. For months she had these stretches where she still seemed mostly like herself. Enough energy to go out, smile, dress up, act normal. Then she would crash and look awful. Then rally again. By the time of the transplant, she was at her worst.
Now I know it also explained how she managed to carry on an affair while getting sicker.
The message preview was from Clara.
I found out by accident.
About five weeks after surgery, I was in the kitchen when a phone buzzed on the counter. Evan and I had the same phone and almost the same case because he had ordered two identical ones months earlier and joked that now we were one of those annoying married couples.
Our daughter’s school had been sending messages that week about a field trip form, so when the phone buzzed, I grabbed it without looking, assuming it was mine.
I honestly thought I was reading it wrong.
It wasn’t mine.
It was Evan’s.
The message preview was from Clara.
“My love, when are we doing a hotel night again? I miss you.”
I honestly thought I was reading it wrong.
