Della

It felt a little strange to slip her key into the lock and push open her own front door, after being in Evie’s house. It might have been for just under twenty-four hours, but it felt right, good in a way it shouldn’t.

“Evie?” The apartment was silent. Della’s voice echoed through the little kitchen and down the small hall.

“In here,” Evie called.

Della shed the pair of black pumps she’d jammed her feet into and walked down the hall to her room. Evie stood, wearing only a robe wrapped around herself, naked, shapely legs sticking out from below it, perusing Della’s closet.

“You’re not going to find anything in there that you like.”

“Yah. Tell me about it. All this stuff is cheap garbage that came from thrift stores.”

Della rolled her eyes. “You know that I like retro and vintage style. You also know that I work for fifteen dollars an hour because you used to work at the light store too.”

“I know you have bad fashion sense.”

“I’ll bring you some stuff from your closet, okay?” Della flopped down on the bed. “Think of how I feel having to jam myself into uncomfortable, overpriced clothing. All you own are blazers and blouses and skirts. And your shoes… how do you even walk in those things?”

“I like my wardrobe just fine, thanks. My shoes too. You get used to it.”

Della sighed. “Look. We shouldn’t be sitting here discussing fashion when your fiancé has just had two major meltdowns in less than twenty-four hours.”

“Sounds like Tom alright.” Evie turned and went back to digging through her wardrobe as though she just didn’t care at all. Della sat in stunned silence until her sister spun back around. “Look. I want you to just hurry and fix things or whatever it is you want to try and do so that I can get my life back.”

“Your life back?” Della echoed hollowly. She couldn’t believe how callous Evie was acting. She hadn’t seen this side of her sister before and she didn’t like it. “What are you talking about? You’re never going to be able to go back to that house. You might get your stuff back, but you aren’t getting your life back.”

“I mean my life. Mine. Not the life I shared with Tom before, during or after the accident. I’m done. Done with it all. Now you know what I was talking about when I said I don’t trust him to be by himself. I don’t want anything to happen to him, but I’m so damn tired of playing nursemaid to a man who can’t even help himself.”

“He tore your whole kitchen apart yesterday. Banged your fridge up and smashed all your dishes, so don’t think you’re getting those back.” It gave Della a strange sense of satisfaction to watch the rage twist her sister’s features. She didn’t like the way Evie talked about Tommy. Or the way she was now caught up in the middle.

“What are you talking about? Tore it up how?” Evie rushed over to the side of the bed and plopped down heavily beside Della. Her light blue eyes searched Della’s face.

“Well, that was meltdown number one. I don’t even know what happened. I walked in on him. He was drunk, but I doubt that was the source of the issue.”

“Of course not. And when is he not drunk? He’s been that way ever since he left the hospital.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I did tell you. I thought you could see for yourself. It’s obviously no use in trying to describe someone like that. No one would believe me.”

“It was awful. He cut his hand and knees on all the glass.”

“And my kitchen?”

“It will need some repairs. I’ll see that it gets done.”

Eve leaned back and sighed. Della wasn’t sure why her sister even cared about a kitchen and a house that was no longer hers. She wanted to walk out. Unless she wanted to try and take the house from Tom? Maybe that was her aim. A sudden, uncontrolled fury rose up in Della’s chest. She hated that her sister skimmed over the fact that her fiancé, or soon to be ex-fiancé had hurt himself and asked about something inanimate instead. Della made a silent vow to pick out a dishes set that she knew her sister was sure to hate.

“Good. I need some money. I need to transfer from my bank account to yours. I’ll make the transfer if you give me my wallet back for a second.”

“It’s in my purse on the table,” Della answered hollowly. “You can do it in a minute.”

“Alright.”

Della turned and took Evie’s hand, surprising her. “I need to know if the doctors in the hospital ever diagnosed Tom with PTSD. Did they ever say anything about that? I think some of this, at least the rages, the night terrors, obviously stems from that. I want someone to help him but I don’t know any of his medical history.”

“You know about as much as I do. There was one doctor. He did say something about PTSD but Tom wouldn’t listen to anything he said. He didn’t listen to anything anyone said. You have no idea how tiring it was to be in there with a man who didn’t even want to live.”

Yes, I’m sure it was real tiring for you. She felt bad as soon as the thought entered her head. Her sister wasn’t a bad person. Just the opposite, Evie was a good woman. She truly cared about those around her and she cared enough about Thomas to actually come to Della and voice her doubts about his health if she left.

Della’s nerves were just frayed. She tried to remind herself that her sister had put up with this for a year in the hospital. She’d sat in with Thomas quite often herself, but it wasn’t the same. He’d never showed her the same face he showed Evie.

“I just have one other question.” Della hesitated. How could she even consider asking it?

Eve shrugged. “Go ahead. Anything you want to know can’t be worse than what you’ve already seen.” She winced herself and Della figured that her sister didn’t need a play by play of what had happened. She’d seen it, or similar behavior, before.

“Why did you fall out of love? I mean, you said you wanted to leave Tom before the accident.”

“I… I don’t know. I can’t explain it really. It’s just- one day you think you love someone and one day you don’t. Or maybe it’s all the days in between that make a difference. I can’t really say. I just know that I loved him less and less. I didn’t want him around. I was happier by myself, doing my own thing. Working at the jewelry place, having my own friends, doing things with them. The sex was…. I don’t know. Sorry. I shouldn’t tell you things like that. It just wasn’t the same and I didn’t want it to be. I was okay with leaving. You just know sometimes that something has reached its end. Burned itself out.”

Burned itself out. Della would have given anything to be in her sister’s position and Evie sat there calmly, telling her that love just burned itself out for no reason at all.

Half of Della wanted to throttle her sister and the other half of her wanted to weep. Weep for everything that was never hers, for everything that Evie had and didn’t want, for the man she’d thrown away.

“We’re going out to buy dishes this afternoon. That’s my major accomplishment of the day.”

Evie’s mouth fell open. “Are you serious? You’re getting him to leave the house? That is a big accomplishment, even if it’s just for dishes. Wow. I’m impressed.” She could have just left it at that. Could have just offered a big smile and her congratulations, but she had to take it one step too far. “Good. I’m glad. Maybe you’re right and you really can get through to him. You always were more patient than me and you don’t have all the negative history to remember and try and slog through. That’s a bonus. Anyway, you’re just one step closer to leaving him and then, like I said, I can get my life back.”

Della barely refrained from shaking her head. She couldn’t defend Thomas without giving away how she felt. She could only stand there and nod and wait for her sister to go and get her damn purse so she could do the transfer and leave. No matter how brief the exchange was, it couldn’t happen fast enough.