Where the Streets Have No Name
Chapter 72
Color drained from her face and she shrank away from him as if his words had struck her physically.
"H-how...?" She formed the lone word with difficulty, fear evident on her face.
"You hid from me the key fact that you're a closeted basket case! You neglected to mention, until it was too late, that you're crazy." He made a circling motion with his hand next to his right ear to drive the point home. "You even kept popping meds that you knew could hurt Ella.
"So, don't you dare wag your finger at me now, Carmen. I did nothing but try, and try, to make things easier for you. I bent over backwards to make you happy. I did everything in my power to get you the help you needed.
"It's not my fault that you refuse get better. It's not my fault you are a sorry excuse for a mother, and it's definitely not my fault you're a miserable human being." Edward was yelling at the cowering form on the bed, but he was far from being through.
"Well, you know what? I'm done with this. I'm through with your insane demands, and I'm through with this high-wire act. I'm through with you. If you can't get your shit together, if you won't even try to get well, then just leave," he said with icy finality.
"Don't... You don't mean that..." Carmen whispered pitifully.
"Oh, but I do, Carmen. You've made it abundantly clear that I can't make you happy. And you obviously can't even stand to be near Ella.
"Well, if I'm not enough - if our baby is not enough to make you want to get better - then it's best that you look for your inspiration someplace else. It's not like Ella will ever know the difference. I doubt she even knows that you're her mother."
By the time Edward ended his spiteful rant, Carmen was sobbing uncontrollably. In lieu of such a powerful outpouring of all his pent up rage, he felt exhausted and drained. He hadn't fully calmed down from the height of his fury, but he felt too tired to continue berating Carmen.
Push had finally come to shove, and something had to give.
He decided to spend the night on the rocking chair in Ella's nursery and let Carmen stew in her misery by herself. Some hard thinking was in order for her and damn if he would coddle her through this.
As he left the room, he thought he heard Carmen utter a few disjointed words.
"I-I'm s-sorry..."
He didn't turn back, still too annoyed to be assuaged with such a measly apology. Not knowing those would be the last spoken words he would ever hear from Carmen.
Thank you Lulabelle98, HeidiJoVT, and Dinx.