Sarai’s aunt scoffed. “You barely know her,” she said condescendingly.
“I’m her husband,” I argued.
“A mistake,” she replied. “One that is easily fixed.”
It took every piece of self-control my parents had instilled in me not to throw them out of my house then and there.
“We’re worried,” Isaac said, shooting his wife a look. “She doesn’t look good. Sleeping all day isn’t normal for her.”
“I know,” I replied, scratching at the hair on my face. I’d let it grow since my last day in the Army, and I already couldn’t understand how Bram let his get so long. It itched like crazy.
“Adinah and I are just worried because we can’t stay here to watch over her,” Isaac said kindly. “I know you’re trying your best.”
I nodded.
Shortly after, they left for their hotel, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew that her aunt and uncle were worried, but I hated that they believed that they knew what was best for Sarai. They acted as if there were a problem between us, like she would get better if they separated us, but I knew that wasn’t true. Sarai treated everyone with the same detachment.
I didn’t know what to do.
My stomach twisted with anxiety as I opened our bedroom door. Sarai was asleep. I didn’t turn on the light as I walked into the dark room, and I ended up tripping over her laptop bag as I moved across the room.
I glanced at Sarai as I lifted the bag and pulled out her laptop. I’d seen her sign into her accounts a thousand times, and it was easy to find her school emails, even though it made me feel like an asshole. Ignoring the guilt that settled in my stomach, I started snooping. I had to know how bad it was.
Scrolling through random updates and announcements, I started to feel a little relieved until I realized she hadn’t opened any of them. Near the bottom of the first page was an email from one of her professors. When I opened it, I let out a disappointed breath.
Sarai was falling way behind. She’d been going to classes, but she wasn’t turning in her work and her grades were dropping. I ran my hand over my face and read the email again.
“Shit,” I breathed as I closed the laptop and stuffed it back in her bag.
I walked back out of the room and closed the door behind me. I was scared. When Sarai snapped out of this depression, she was going to be absolutely devastated. She’d worked so goddamn hard.
I pulled my phone out as I dropped to the couch.
“Hey, Mom,” I said when she answered.
“Hi, son,” she replied. “Is everything okay?”
“I can’t call you on a Wednesday night?”
“You can call me anytime,” she said. “You just usually don’t. What’s wrong? How’s Sarai?”
“She’s good,” I replied automatically. Then I laughed, because trying to hide how depressed my wife had become was completely idiotic. “Actually, she won’t get out of bed.”
“Oh, Alex,” my mom murmured. “I’m sorry. Has she been to the doctor?”
“Yeah, but they don’t notice anything wrong, and she won’t let me go with her.”
“I—” She paused. “Honey, I don’t know what advice to give you. I know that counseling helps, seeing a psychologist.”
“She won’t go. When I brought it up, she brushed me off,” I said. “I’m just not sure what to do. I’ve been applying for jobs, but I haven’t found anything yet, so I’m just kind of sitting around the apartment while she goes to work and school. When she’s home, she barely talks to me.”
“At least she’s still going to work and school,” my mom said. “That’s something.”
“I looked through her email account tonight because I realized I hadn’t seen her doing homework in a while.”
“Alex,” Mom scolded. “That’s not okay.”
“She’s falling behind, Mom,” I replied, not getting into the ethics discussion. Honestly, I’d snoop and look through everything she owned if I thought it would help. “She might be going to class, but she’s not doing any of the work.”
“Shit,” my mom murmured.
“I think I should just bring her home,” I said, the words coming out of nowhere. As soon as I finished speaking, though, I realized how right the idea seemed. Sarai’s aunt and uncle were leaving in two days, and then it would just be us again, living like a couple of roommates with nothing to say to each other.
I needed to find a way to change things, a way to shock her into living again. And if I was being honest, I needed my family.
“You want to bring her here?” my mom asked.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Can we stay with you?”
“Of course,” she said. “But before you make any plans, I think you should discuss it with Sarai, son. She might be having a hard time, but that doesn’t give you the right to make decisions for her or look through her computer.”