Free Fleeting Moments by Bella Jewel

head. “I can’t be here anymore.”
    My heart pounds, reality washing over me. “No, I don’t think you can.”
    His face twists. “You’re not the same person I married, and until you get the help you need, I can’t do anything else.”
    “So much for better or for worse, right?” I mutter, trying to fight back my tears.
    He runs a hand through his hair. “You’re asking me to be okay with this, and I’m not. I’ve pushed for you to get help, but you refuse. I’ve tried to be there for you, but you won’t let me in. I can’t help you if you don’t want to be helped, and I also can’t sit around and watch you chase another man.”
    I shake my head, so hurt I can barely breathe. I know this is for the best, but to hear us both giving up so easily surprises me, and hurts me, and makes me realize I’m doing the right thing. We had a perfect marriage, but it was all on the surface. When it came down to the hard stuff, neither of us was willing to put in the good fight.
    This is for the best.
    “This is for the best,” I tell him. “For both of us.”
    “Promise me you’ll get help. I’m scared to leave you alone believing there is a man out there that isn’t real.”
    “He is real,” I pathetically argue.
    “He’s not,” he roars so loudly I flinch. “He’s not real. You need help.”
    “Gerard, we’re not doing this. Clearly neither of us is willing to put in the effort.”
    He stares at me sadly. “I thought you were the one. I was wrong.”
    That hurts. So bad.
    He turns, grabbing his keys and disappearing out the door, slamming it so loudly the windows shake.
    I lower down to the ground and sob.
    There goes the last of my life, breaking into a thousand tiny pieces.

CHAPTER 9
    M y phone rings and rings.
    I ignore it.
    It’s Gerard’s sister. Her place is where he would have gone. She hates me; she’s always hated me. She and Gerard are extremely close and when he married me, she felt like that was taken away from her. She automatically began to resent me, like it was my fault he fell in love. She’s never been nice to me, and she’ll thrive on this drama between us. She’ll be feeding it, too.
    I don’t have the patience to deal with her.
    I turn my phone off and throw it against the wall with a yell. I can’t take any of it anymore. I push to my feet and on shaky legs, I go into my bedroom, pulling out a suitcase. I pack a bag and find my car keys, then I lock up our house and leave, finding a hotel in the city. A place where no one can find me, where no one can bother me.
    I leave my phone on the ground at home.
    I need time. I need to figure my mind out, and the only way I can do that is to be away from it all.
    I settle into my hotel room, then pull out my laptop and check my emails. There is an email from the baseball stadium, telling me they can’t give out any information. Of course. After seeing him last night, my frustration levels have hit an all-time high.
    Doesn’t he understand that every time he leaves I’m going to search harder? I open a search bar and look up the religious group that caused all of this mess. I read articles and eventually find out where they’re located. Heath knew a bit about them; would he be there?
    I make a spur-of-the-moment decision and decide tonight, I’m going to see if I can find this place. It’s probably not the smartest choice I’ve ever made, but I want to know more, not just about the mysterious stranger who saved me, but the people who would take so many lives without even blinking. Until then, I need some rest. I curl up in bed and cry myself into a deep sleep. Gerard is the last thing on my mind as I drift off, and I’m sorry for him. I really am. I failed as a wife and partner.
    I wake early evening, and it takes a good few minutes for me to realize where I am. Disorientated, I sit up and glance around. I recall the day and my chest sinks. Right—my husband and I broke up and here I am. I glance at the time. It’s