At first, it was so gradual that I barely noticed. Daniel began staying later at the hospital. Then he started picking up extra shifts. There were more nights when he came home after the children were asleep, and eventually there were nights when he didn’t come home at all.
He always had an explanation.
The emergency department was short-staffed.
A complicated surgery had taken longer than expected.
A patient had arrived in critical condition.
I believed him because I had no reason not to.
What bothered me wasn’t the number of hours he worked. It was the way he seemed different when he finally came home.
Continue on the next page:
