to him.
At one point, Eric kissed the side of my neck much harder than I expected.
I flinched and pulled back.
“Easy.”
He immediately stopped.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No… it was just a little too hard.”
We even laughed about it.
At the time, it seemed like nothing.
I had no idea that only minutes later, the entire night would end in panic.
I got up to get some water.
I took two steps.
Suddenly, a strange ringing filled my ears.
The room seemed to tilt.
“Eric…”
He turned.
“Linda?”
I reached for my neck.
Then my legs gave out.
Everything went black.
The next thing I remember was the steady beeping of a hospital monitor.
I opened my eyes.
There was oxygen tubing beneath my nose.
A doctor was standing beside me.
“What happened?”
He explained that
the fainting episode might have been connected to strong pressure around a sensitive area of my neck, with exhaustion and dehydration possibly making things worse.
My hand immediately went to my neck.
“Is there a mark?”
The doctor hesitated.
“Yes. And it will probably be visible for several days.”
My stomach dropped.
“Where is the man who was with me?”
“He called the ambulance.”
I closed my eyes.
But the doctor wasn’t finished.
He looked uncomfortable for a moment before saying,
“Ma’am… we also had to contact your family.”
My eyes flew open.
“Who?”
The doctor answered quietly.
“Your husband.”
My blood ran cold.
And then I heard footsteps outside my room.
They were coming closer.
The door handle began to move.
My hand instinctively covered the dark marks on my neck.
And I realized there was absolutely no way to hide what I had done.
