I stared at Caleb's lips moving,there was a deafening roar in my ears.
He patted my shoulder gently."The biopsy results aren't good.Stage IV cancer,inoperable.And the only conservative treatment left was chemotherapy."
My lips trembled,unable to utter any words.

In prison,it was normal for me to have my meals taken away by other inmates.
Cellmates spiked my food with bugs,excrement,even sharp shards.
My stomach issues worsened under this torment,and now,it was beyond treatment.
I clenched my hands,looking at Caleb."Can I apply for medical parole?"
He hesitated."Medical parole requires a family member to handle the paperwork.Do you have..."
I gave a bleak smile.

Aa an orphan raised in a children’s home,the only person I could contact was my husband hwo had betrayed me.
When the call connected,my breath caught in my throat.
Evelyn's sweet voice answered."Hello?Who's this?"
I glanced at the number—thirteen digits.

For last three years,I had hoped so much for this number to call me.
It was Nathan's,no mistake.
I heard my voice came out trembling."This is Sara Mitchell.I need to speak to Nathan."
Evelyn paused,then said provocatively,"Nathan's in the shower.I'll give him the phone.I bet you can't reach anyone else from prison."
My face remained calm,but tears already started to well in my eyes.
Nathan's annoyed voice came through."Sara,what do you want now?Heard I'm getting engaged to Evelyn and want to ruin it from prison?"
I took a deep breath,forcing calm."Nathan,I'm sick.I need a family member to apply for medical parole..."
Before I finished,Evelyn interrupted,tearfully."Nathan,Sara must’ve missed you so much.Even if she's lying,she just wants to see you."
Nathan snapped,"Sara,you're teaming up with the prison doctor to lie just to see me?You're pathetic.I never realized how petty and scheming you were."
When Caleb called again,Nathan's cold reply was,"Who cares if she lives or dies?Don't bother me with this anymore."
Twenty-four years knowing Nathan.
Eleven years together.
I thought I had sacrificed for great love by going to prison.
But I was just a joke.
At the start,Nathan would visit multiple stores only to buy my preferred tampons.
With only a hundred bucks,he'd spend ninety on me.
When we married,he wasn't wealthy.
We scraped by together.
Even if we had nothing,happiness was within our reach.
He promised to get me the shiniest diamond ring,to give me the biggest wedding other girls would envy.
Now,I was the only one clinging to those promises.
Nathan betrayed our love the moment he fell for Evelyn.
Perhaps my pitiful state or the fact that we went to the same college moved Caleb.
He contacted the warden,reporting my condition.
The warden made an exception,letting Caleb handle my medical parole and apply to have my sentence reduced.
The day I left prison early,Caleb gently straightened my clothes."I hope the girl who once spoke passionately on stage can live happily for the rest of her life."
But staring at the prison's high walls,I felt my heart,still loving Nathan,was trapped there forever.
Unable to escape.