I Erased Our Marriage Timeline novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: Early

Nobody moved for a second.

Then a girl with a skateboard said, "Holy shit," and three phones came up.

Esteban looked down at me.

His face changed.

He looked at the curb, then at his own open hand.

He reached down.

"Marisol, get up. Let me see."

"Don't."

I got my good knee under me and stood on my own.

My palms were full of grit.

I held them away from my jeans so I wouldn't make it worse.

There were maybe twenty students watching now, and a campus security guard walking fast from the booth.

I made myself say it loud enough for all of them.

"Don't ever put your hands on me again."

His mouth opened.

"I mean it. Not my wrist. Not my arm. Not ever."

The security guard reached us. "Ma'am, are you okay? Do you know this man?"

Esteban's jaw worked.

In five years nobody had ever looked at him like that.

Like he was the dangerous one.

"I know him," I said. "He was just leaving."

"I'm not leaving her bleeding on a sidewalk."

"Then answer one question," I said. "Why did you think I wanted Jocelyn at a doctor?"

He frowned. "You said a school physical."

"It isn't for me." My voice cracked and I let it. "Her left leg has hurt for a month. She thinks it's a pulled muscle. Make her get it scanned. Bone, not muscle. Please."

He stared at me for a long time.

Something moved behind his eyes.

"Are you sick?" he said, very quietly. "Is that what this is?"

"No. I'm fine. She might not be."

He went to his car and came back with the first-aid kit his company puts in every vehicle.

He held it out.

He didn't try to touch me again.

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