Ch. 7
Sitting side by side, Burke tactfully laced his arm over Cristina's shoulders as she curled up in the couch.

There knew they were a couple that coped better without words.

The residual shock in Burke's candid statement still permeated the staleness in the room. Cristina was hungry for the story, although she dared not ask. It was beyond her intelligent mind how the Mama's boy would have ever wanted his mother dead.

"It isn't what you thought, but probably close enough." Burke rubbed his nose and continued. "My Mama is a strong-willed woman. She's been very hard on herself and my father. But we sort of encouraged it I guess, and things grew out of control."

A mixture of curiosity and confusion continued to flush through Cristina's body.

"I can never imagine losing my Mama, although we almost lost her to cancer when I was a kid."

Gloom obscured Burke's face, even though it had been such a long time. It's as if he's reliving his childhood horror.

It would be a lie to say that Cristina had anything more than a sense of civility towards Jane Burke, but as her man revealed his past with such tender openness, she couldn't resist moving her head closer to his heart, just like what she did when Eugene Foote died.

"So, yes, Cristina, I know how you felt about your father when he passed away, even though I never told you about my mother last time. I know how hard it is for a child to imagine losing a parent."

"But didn't you just say you wanted her dead?"

"Partly because she was a strong woman and it broke our heart seeing her losing her hair, her brow, and everything she held dearly to, partly because she was so obsessed with the remaining control she had over her life and her family that it led to something really unfortunate."

"What do you mean?" Cristina sat up straight and tightened her brows.

"We didn't stop her when she grew excessively suspicious and jealous over anyone who tried to help." Burke clasped his hands and lowered his head. "All we wanted was to please her, considering she might die any day."

"But she didn't die."

"No. But when my dad's secretary Josephine died, I really did wonder why my Mama wasn't."

To that, Cristina felt completely lost. Things were never what they seemed. It's hard to believe the loving 3-people family she saw at Burke's hospital bed had been through that much trauma in the past.