Chapter 2: Don't Call Me Brother
Tiana released Darius's wrist.
At least, she appeared to.
Her fingers loosened, but her hand remained close to his, resting against the cushion between them. The movement was so small that someone who didn't know her might have missed it.
Malcolm didn't.
He had spent months learning to read the smallest changes in people's faces. When your body could no longer do everything you wanted, you learned to notice what others did without thinking.
A nurse's hesitation before answering a question.
A doctor's glance toward the doorway.
The way Tiana smiled a second too quickly whenever he asked whether she was okay.
He had learned to recognize fear in people who were trying to hide it.
Tonight, he was learning to recognize guilt.
"Malcolm," Tiana began, "please don't look at me like that.""
He blinked slowly.
"Like what?""
"Like you hate me.""
"I haven't decided what I feel about you yet.""
Her face crumpled.
"How can you say that?""
"Because I'm trying to understand how the woman who slept beside me last night ended up kissing my best friend tonight.""
Darius rose halfway from the sofa.
"All right. That's enough.""
Malcolm turned his head.
"Sit down.""
The command surprised all three of them.
Darius straightened, his expression hardening.
"You don't get to order me around.""
"No," Malcolm replied.
"I don't. But you can stop pretending you're here to help me.""
Darius remained standing for another second before slowly settling back onto the sofa.
The gesture was small, but Malcolm recognized the calculation behind it. Darius wanted to look reasonable. He wanted to be the calm man caught in an unfortunate situation, the loyal friend trying to manage a difficult evening.
Malcolm had seen that expression on him during business negotiations and family arguments.
He had never expected to see it while Darius was sitting beside his girlfriend after kissing her.
"Let's be honest," Darius said.
"You haven't been yourself lately.""
Tiana turned sharply toward him.
"Darius—"
"No, let me finish."" He looked directly at Malcolm.
"You've been under pressure. You're in pain. You get frustrated over things that wouldn't have bothered you before. Sometimes you hear something and take it the wrong way.""
Malcolm stared at him.
"Are you trying to tell me I imagined the kiss?""
"I'm telling you that things aren't always as simple as they look.""
"I watched your mouth on hers.""
Darius's face reddened.
"You don't know what led up to it.""
"Then tell me.""
Darius opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Malcolm gave a small nod.
"That's what I thought.""
Tiana stood, taking two quick steps toward the wheelchair before stopping as if she wasn't sure whether she had the right to approach him.
"Baby, please. We can talk about this privately.""
"Privately?""
"Yes.""
"Why? So you can tell me something different when Darius isn't here to hear it?""
She shook her head.
"No. Because I love you.""
The words struck him harder than he expected.
Not because he believed them without question, but because he desperately wanted to.
He looked at her carefully. Her hair fell over one shoulder, and the diamond pendant he had given her for her birthday rested against her collarbone. He remembered saving for that necklace before his condition worsened, wanting to give her something beautiful because she had made his life beautiful.
She had cried when she opened the box.
She had kissed him and told him that no matter what happened, they would face it together.
Malcolm wondered whether she had already been lying to him then.
"When did you stop loving me?"" he asked.
Tiana stared at him.
"I didn't.""
"Then why him?""
"Because it wasn't supposed to happen like this.""
The answer escaped her before she could stop it.
All three of them heard it.
Malcolm felt his stomach tighten.
"Like what?""
She pressed her hands together.
"I didn't mean—"
"What did you mean, Tiana?""
"I meant that I never wanted you to find out this way.""
The room seemed to shrink around them.
Darius closed his eyes briefly.
Malcolm looked from one face to the other.
There it was.
Not an admission of how long the affair had lasted, not a confession of every lie, but a truth that could not be pushed back into the dark.
She hadn't denied that there was something to find out.
She had only regretted the moment of discovery.
Malcolm's hands trembled against the wheelchair's armrests. He pressed his palms down, trying to steady them.
"How long?""
Tiana's eyes filled with tears.
"Malcolm, please.""
"How long have you been sleeping with him?""
"We haven't—"
She stopped.
His gaze sharpened.
"We haven't what?""
Tiana wiped her cheeks.
"Not everything is what you think.""
"That sentence is getting old.""
Darius leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
"Look, man, I never planned to hurt you.""
Malcolm let out a breath that sounded almost like a laugh.
"You never planned to hurt me?""
"No.""
"Did you plan to kiss her?""
Darius looked away.
"Did you plan to put your hands on her?""
"Of course not.""
"Did you plan to come into my house and act like you belonged here?""
"I came because she called me.""
Malcolm looked at Tiana.
"You called him?""
She didn't answer.
"You called my best friend to come over tonight?""
"He was checking on me.""
"Checking on you.""
"Yes.""
"While I was upstairs?""
Tiana's eyes flickered toward the staircase.
That tiny movement told Malcolm she had considered the question before.
He felt the room tilt slightly. His breathing grew uneven, and he reached for the small bottle of water clipped beside his chair. His fingers slipped against the plastic.
Before he could grasp it, Tiana stepped forward.
"Here, let me help.""
"Don't.""
She froze.
The word had come out sharper than he intended, but he didn't take it back.
Her hand hung between them.
For months, he had depended on her help. She had brought him meals when he was too tired to eat at the table, arranged his medication beside his bed, and supported his shoulders when transferring him became difficult.
He had hated needing those things.
She had always insisted he didn't have to apologize.
Now the thought of allowing her to touch him made his skin feel too tight.
He managed to take the water himself and swallowed carefully.
Tiana lowered her hand.
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
"You can't just shut me out.""
Malcolm replaced the bottle.
"You shut me out first.""
"I was trying to survive, too!""
"And I told you that you could ask for help.""
"From whom?"" she demanded, her voice suddenly rising.
"You? You were fighting to get through every day. I couldn't tell you how scared I was because you were already scared. I couldn't tell you I was falling apart because I didn't want you to think you were a burden.""
Malcolm's expression changed.
For a moment, her words reached the part of him that still loved her. He could imagine the lonely hours she described. He could imagine her sitting awake beside his bed, frightened of what tomorrow might bring.
He knew that loving someone through an illness could be exhausting.
He knew that fear could turn people into strangers.
But he also knew that pain did not erase choice.
"You could have told me you were unhappy," he said.
"You could have told me you needed space. You could have told me you didn't want to be with me anymore.""
His voice cracked.
"You had a thousand ways to leave me without doing this.""
Tiana covered her mouth.
Darius looked down at his hands.
Malcolm continued, forcing himself to finish.
"You didn't have to make me the last person in my own life to know what was happening.""
No one spoke.
Then Darius said, "I should go.""
Malcolm looked at him.
"That might be the first sensible thing you've said tonight.""
Darius stood, reaching for his jacket.
Tiana immediately turned toward him.
"Wait.""
The word came too quickly.
Malcolm watched her face.
Darius hesitated, his jacket halfway over one arm.
"What's wrong?"" he asked her.
She looked at him, then at Malcolm.
"I just—"
She had no convincing explanation.
Darius finally pulled on the jacket and moved toward the hallway. At the doorway, he stopped and glanced back.
"Malcolm, I hope you know I never wanted this to happen.""
Malcolm's eyes remained fixed on him.
"You wanted it enough to do it.""
Darius's face tightened.
He left without another word.
The front door closed.
Tiana stood in the middle of the living room, crying silently.
For several seconds, Malcolm listened to the distant sound of Darius's footsteps on the porch.
Then came the sound of his car starting.
Tiana wiped her face and turned toward Malcolm.
"Now can we talk?""
He looked at the empty doorway.
Then he looked at her.
"About what?""
"About us.""
Malcolm's eyes returned to the hand she had just lifted to wipe away her tears.
The same hand that had been wrapped around Darius's wrist moments earlier.
He felt something inside him withdraw.
"That's the problem, Tiana," he whispered.
"I don't know if there is an us anymore.""
She moved toward him again.
"Please don't say that.""
He didn't answer.
May you like
Because he was beginning to understand that the most painful part of betrayal wasn't always what someone had done.
Sometimes it was realizing that they still expected you to protect them from the consequences.
