142

142
 Dr. Knight

Truth or lie? I was totally shocked when I heard Nathan just spit it out like that. My mind was racing, trying to process what my son had said so innocently. He was just a kid after all, and from his wide-eyed expression, it looked like he didn't mean to say it—almost as if Angela had warned him repeatedly not to mention anything about it to me.

"Dad, is something wrong?" Nathan asked, noticing my shocked face. "You look really weird right now."

I didn't want to show Nathan that I had heard him clearly. I tried to keep my face neutral, hiding the storm of emotions building inside me. "No, nothing's wrong, buddy. I'm just surprised to see Pamela here, that's all."

But Nathan seemed like he wanted me to know more—like there was a weight on his small shoulders that he needed to release. He fidgeted in his seat, looking between me and Pamela with nervous eyes.

He sighed deeply, pulling at my jacket sleeve to turn my attention back to him and said with a serious voice, "Dad, mom made a horrible mistake. She did something really bad to this lady."

"What kind of bad thing, Nathan?" I asked quietly, then quickly shook my head. "Actually, don't say anything now. Pamela needs some rest. We'll talk about this later, okay?" I patted his head and smiled weakly, trying to reassure him. But inside, my mind was completely blown, racing with terrible possibilities.

I held Pamela's hands gently in mine, noticing how thin and rough they had become, and asked her softly, "What happened to your eyes? How long have you been like this? Was it a sudden thing or gradual?"

She responded immediately, her voice trembling slightly as she spoke, "Car crash. Hit-and-run accident about two years ago. The driver never stopped or called for help. And since then I was thrown out onto the streets. Nobody cared about a blind woman with no money. I didn't get any proper treatment at all. No one helped me, not even the social services I tried to contact."

"Didn't you have any family or friends who could help?" I asked, feeling a growing knot in my stomach.

That was horrible and awful to hear, completely shocking to learn what happened to people in the streets. I couldn't believe our society could be so cruel and indifferent. Where were the police officers when she needed them? Where was any sense of justice or compassion, for God's sake?! It made me angry just thinking about how she had been left to suffer alone.

"The system failed you completely," I said, shaking my head in disbelief.

I drove the car slowly through the evening traffic, deliberately taking a longer route. I needed more time to know everything that had happened to her in the last few years. I wanted to understand her story completely. Though I didn't have romantic feelings for her anymore and honestly never truly had, I still had a heart beating in my chest. I couldn't just ignore someone suffering like this, especially someone from my past.

"Pamela, tell me everything in detail, if you don't mind," I said gently. "I know this might be difficult to talk about, but I want to help. I don't want to bother you with painful memories, but what about that guy—what was his name? The one you left me for? I thought you both got married or something." Yes, that's what I had always believed happened after our divorce.

"We were engaged for a while," she started, her voice breaking slightly. But then she choked me with her next words, speaking so softly I almost missed it: "But Bella paid him to leave me. She gave him money to disappear and leave me with nothing."

"Fuck! Damn!" I groaned loudly, gripping the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white. "Are you absolutely certain about this? How did you find out?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"He told me himself before he left," she said quietly. "He laughed about it—said your ex had made him a better offer than I ever could."

I was completely shocked by what had apparently happened with Bella and Angela! Had I been trapped in some twisted game all this time without ever getting the chance to figure out their true natures? Had I been blind to who they really were? The women I thought I knew seemed like strangers now.

That revelation also made me suspicious about Pamela's words too. I needed proof before jumping to conclusions. So I changed direction and drove toward my hospital to check on her eyes first. Yes, I couldn't easily accept that Angela was a psychopathic killer and Bella was a manipulative liar without verifying at least some parts of this story!

"Where are we going now?" Pamela asked, sensing the change in direction.

"To get you some help," I replied firmly. "I need to know exactly what we're dealing with."

And I did exactly that. I took her to my hospital and asked the nurses to guide her carefully to an examination room. I spoke privately with one of my most trusted ophthalmologist colleagues and asked him to thoroughly check her eyes and give me an honest assessment.

"Do a complete workup, Mark. I need to know if there's any chance of recovery," I told him.

And after several tests, the diagnosis confirmed it—the girl was truly blind. The damage to her optic nerves was severe and likely permanent. Looking at her medical chart broke my heart all over again.

She was too young for this fate! Almost twenty-five years old, with her whole life ahead of her, now plunged into darkness.

I wrapped my arms around her waist after the hour-long checkup, and walked her slowly back to the car. She leaned into me slightly, seeming surprised by the contact.

"You're being so kind," she said with genuine surprise in her voice. "Wow! I never thought that the one who would help me would be you of all people! I never imagined you would wrap your arms around me like this after everything. I look like a beggar and dirt covers my clothes. I thought you might get ashamed to be seen with someone like me in your fancy hospital."

I placed a soft kiss on her forehead, feeling a strange mix of guilt and determination. "I'm cleaning up my past mess, Pamela. I'm dirty too with a lot of sins. Helping you is the least I can do after everything."

"You don't owe me anything," she whispered.

"Maybe not," I replied, "but it's the right thing to do."

I took her to my house, making sure to call both Bella and Angela on my way there. I wanted them both to be waiting when we arrived. I needed answers, and I needed them now.

But I also asked Nathan to send his mother, Angela, a text message. The boy obeyed me instantly, though I could see the worry in his eyes as he typed out: \[Mom, dad figured out what you had done. He's coming now.\]

"Did I do good?" he asked nervously after sending it.

I thanked my son with a gentle squeeze on his shoulder. "I'm so proud of you, son. That was very brave."

Nathan looked up at me with tears forming in his eyes. "But dad! Please. Don't hurt my mom. She's not mentally stable. I know she did bad things, but I love her. She's still my mom."

His words hit me hard, good enough to put me on the right path. I was trying to clean up my past mistakes, and I had to be wise and calm about it. Everyone involved in this mess needed my help somehow, even Angela and Bella. Revenge wouldn't solve anything.

"I won't hurt her," I promised. "We're going to figure this out together."

I drove fast to the house, heart pounding, only to park the car and see Angela rushing out with a suitcase. I jumped out of my car and blocked her path. "Where do you think you're going? Running away already?"

Angela gasped loudly, visibly shivered, and her eyes darted toward Pamela sitting in my passenger seat. "I didn't do it on purpose. I mean—she deserved that after what she did. She played with your heart and threw you away. She didn't deserve to be with you or anyone!"

I gripped Angela's hand roughly, perhaps too roughly, but my anger was bubbling over. "Now you've proven to me that you really need to go to a mental asylum. You need serious help, Angela. This isn't normal behavior."

Angela started screaming hysterically, tears streaming down her face. "No, no, please! Don't send me away! I did it for us! For you and me and Nathan! Please understand!"

Bella came running out of the house then, surprisingly echoing Angela's justifications in almost the exact same way. "Pamela deserved worse than what she got! She played you, Angelo! She was going to hurt you again! We were protecting you!"

I barked angrily, unable to contain my frustration any longer. "No one played or toyed with me! I did it to all of you! Why can't any of you understand that? I'm the sinner here. I'm the one who hurt everyone! I couldn't share my heart with any of you, but I shared my body without caring about the consequences!"

They both stared at me, stunned into momentary silence. But it was as if I hadn't said anything meaningful to them at all. They just continued arguing their case, defending their actions.

I realized in that moment that I had only added one more woman to this toxic household—that was all I'd accomplished. One more person to get caught in this web of dysfunction.

I really felt suffocated standing there between them. It hit me like a ton of bricks—I didn't like or love any of them romantically anymore. I found myself asking, "What am I doing? I don't want any of them. Not like this."

That realization was hell to acknowledge, but it was absolutely true.

I knew I couldn't trust Bella or Angela to stay with Pamela in the same house. It would be dangerous for everyone involved. I even considered calling the police to report what had happened, to get some official protection.

But looking at my son's frightened face—the child I didn't want to lose or traumatize further—and then at Pamela who needed immediate help and proper medical treatment... I knew I had to get both of them out of this house right away, before things escalated even further.

"Get in the car, Nathan," I said firmly. "We're leaving now."

I jumped back to my car, ignoring Bella and Angela calling after me desperately. I started the engine and drove away fast, tires squealing on the pavement.

Nathan and Pamela both turned to me with confused expressions. "Where are we going?" they asked almost in unison.

That was the million-dollar question! Where should I take them? I needed a safe place away from Bella and Angela, somewhere we could all take a breath and figure out our next steps. But where in the world could that be?

"Somewhere safe," I answered, even though I had no idea where that might be. "We need to start over."