When I Died, My Husband Was with His Beloved First Love

My Husband, Alex Gordon, was called several times by our son, but always left it hung up.

“Dad, Mom is bleeding a lot. Can you come back soon?”

A string of voices was sent over and there was finally a reply.

“Call me when your mother’s really dead and I’ll come to collect her body.”

Alex probably never imagined that I wouldn’t make it through. His cruel words became reality. I disappeared, just as he had predicted, but in the end, he was the one left behind, pleading with me not to go, begging me not to leave him alone.

——

I fell onto the bed in my bedroom clutching the wound in my heart, the large swaths of red that kept welling up on my white shirt frightening my son, Kevin.

He reached out and pressed his hand tightly over my heart, his voice choking out of his mouth as he comforted me with.

“Mom, let me give you a heal, so you won’t get any pain...”

I reached out my clean left hand to caress my son's tearful face, wanting him not to cry but not being able to make a sound with trembling lips.

“Mommy, I'll turn on the video for Daddy, he will definitely come back to save you.”

Kevin took the phone from my hand but he suddenly realized that he didn't know how to turn it on.

“Mom, help me open the phone, I'll open the video for Dad.”

Kevin’s sobs came in broken, jagged fragments, his voice barely forming coherent words. I gritted my teeth, enduring the sharp pain as my wound tugged, and turned on the phone.

When Kevin saw the familiar avatar appear on the screen, his sobbing slowly began to calm. For a long moment, he sat there, taking shallow breaths, then, over and over, he opened the video to Alex, desperate for some connection, some comfort amidst the chaos.

Once, twice, three times, Kevin's video was hung up. His red eyes were full of tears, reaching out to hold my pale, powerless hand and kept shaking his head. Yeah, however, he was only five years old and he simply didn't know what to do.

The bitterness inside kept spreading to my heart. I wanted to reach out and rub Kevin's short hair, but I didn't have the strength either.

“Mommy, Daddy isn’t answering the video. I’ll send him a voice message,” the little one whimpered, his words trembling as sobs gathered in his throat.

It took him a long time to piece the words together before finally, in a fragile voice, he managed, “Daddy, Mommy is bleeding a lot. Can you come back soon?”

A string of voice was sent over and Alex finally replied, “Why are you listening to your mom? Lying to me with her, aren't you!”

Kevin froze listening to the grumpy voice on the screen, his whole body froze in place. Picking up his cell phone again, he stumbled and sent another voice over.

“I'm not lying, Dad. Mom is really bleeding a lot. Save her, okay?”

Kevin’s pleading tone echoed in my ears, each word tightening the knot of pain in my chest. Hot tears streamed down my face, but Alex’s words cut through everything else.

“Isabel, isn’t it enough that you’ve caused a scene by yourself? Now you’ve even taught Kevin to join in. Don’t you think you’ve humiliated us enough already?”

Alex's questionable words were like poison quenching my wounds again, making me struggle every second in a sea of fire and knives.

Since when did we actually get so tired of being together?

Kevin looked at my struggling and agonizing appearance. How could he not hold back the tears in his eyes? He reddened his eyes and wailed.

“Dad, I beg you, save Mom, okay? Please save mom….”

Kevin cried for a long time, but I caught a glimpse of the red exclamation mark next to this message he sent.

I looked at Kevin hugging his cell phone and snuggling beside me as he cried his heart out, wanting so much to hold him in my arms and comfort him gently.

But my voice couldn't even make a sound, my trembling hands could no longer lift. Meanwhile, Kevin was crying so hard, but there was no one to coax him anymore.

My hands kept lifting, only to fall back to the floor, over and over, until all strength left my body. The bright light on the ceiling slowly dimmed, fading into darkness.

In that moment, I knew—my Kevin would grow up without a mother.

The thug who had burst in had driven the knife deep into my heart, freezing my age at twenty-eight, forever.