Three days.
\nThat\u2019s how long my mother had been missing.
\nThree days of frantic phone calls, sleepless nights, and endless dread. My mom, who is 67 and has Alzheimer\u2019s, had somehow wandered out of the house in the dead of the night while I was away, taking the kids to their summer camp.
\nThe camp was four hours away, and Nate, my husband, couldn\u2019t leave work. So, we decided that I would take the kids, drop them off, spend a night at a motel, and then drive back the next day.
\nI had left Mom in Nate\u2019s care, trusting him to watch her while I was gone.
\nBut that trust was shattered the second I got the call.
\nIt was Nate who called me to tell me that Mom was missing.
\n\u201cShe\u2019s gone, Claire!\u201d he said frantically on the phone. \u201cEdith! Your mom\u2026 I don\u2019t know how it happened or when. I just woke up, and she wasn\u2019t there.\u201d
\nThose words knocked the wind out of me. I sat at the edge of the motel bed, feeling like I couldn\u2019t breathe. At least my kids were safely away. I could drive home as fast as anything.
\nI threw my things into my overnight bag, gulped down my coffee, and ran. I needed to get home. I thought my mother was safe. Nate had opted to work from home just so that he could be there, ready and available if needed.
\nI thought she\u2019d been safe.
\nI was wrong.
\nFor three agonizing days, we searched everywhere. The police were involved, and hundreds of questions were asked and answered. Flyers were posted and a hotline was created.
\nBut it was as if she had vanished into thin air.\u00a0Just like that.
\nThe guilt ate me alive. I should have been there. I should have stayed home. Or I should have taken my mother with me. It would have meant more stops along the way, but she would have been with me.
\nI would have kept her safe.
\nBut how could I have known? Alzheimer\u2019s was a slow thief, robbing her of herself in pieces. I left her at home because her routine was one of the few things that kept her stable.
\nBut she\u2019d never wandered off like this before.
\nWhen the police pulled up to our house on the fourth morning, my heart leapt to my throat. I rushed to the window, seeing them guide my mother out of the backseat.
\nRelief washed over me, but when I glanced at Nate, his reaction wasn\u2019t what I expected at all.
\nInstead of looking relieved or glad, he looked\u2026 nervous.
\nThe unease settled in my stomach like a rock. But I pushed it down, chalking up Nate\u2019s behavior to guilt as well. He was probably stewing in his own guilt. He was supposed to be watching over Mom, but she had escaped on his watch.
\n\u201cI\u2019ll deal with him later,\u201d I muttered.
\nNate needed to know that as terrified as I had been, I didn\u2019t blame him. My mom was losing hold of her mind, and this was an accident.
\nRight?
\nI threw the door open just as the officers helped my mother up the steps. She looked disheveled, her clothes rumpled and her hair wild. Tears stung my eyes as I hugged her, the smell of the outdoors and three days of unwashed fear clinging to her.
\n\u201cClaire-bear,\u201d she said, calling me by the name she used my entire childhood. \u201cWhere have you been, baby? I was waiting all alone for you!\u201d
\n\u201cMom, where did you go?\u201d I whispered, holding her tight.
\nBut she barely acknowledged my words. Instead, she was staring over my shoulder, her eyes fixed on Nate.
\n\u201cMom?\u201d I said, stepping back. \u201cTalk to me?\u201d
\nShe ignored me and lifted a trembling hand, pointing directly at my husband.
\n\u201cYou need to arrest him,\u201d she said, her voice thin but sure.
\nIt felt like the air was sucked out of the room. Even the police officers exchanged glances, unsure of what to do.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d I asked. \u201cMom? Nate? What are you talking about?\u201d
\nShe kept pointing but turned to look at me. That\u2019s when it hit me\u2014she wasn\u2019t having an Alzheimer\u2019s moment. She was lucid. The look in her eyes made that clear.
\n\u201cThree days ago,\u201d she started to say. \u201cI saw him. I saw Nate in your bedroom with a woman.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d I whispered again.
\n\u201cI heard voices upstairs,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I forgot that you and the kids were gone. So, I thought that it was the kids playing. I just wanted to see what they were doing.\u201d
\nNate shifted uncomfortably.
\n\u201cClaire, she\u2019s confused. You know how your mom is. She\u2019s probably remembering something from years ago\u2026\u201d
\nBut Mom shook her head, her eyes wide and wild.
\n\u201cNo! I saw you! And I asked you to explain yourself. You tried to make me feel like I was stupid, Nathan! And you said that the woman was a homeless person who you were helping out for the night. Which homeless person wears red-bottomed shoes? And you told me to get out!\u201d
\n\u201cMom, what do you mean he told you to get out?\u201d I asked.
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t know where I was!\u201d she cried, tears now spilling down her face. \u201cHe told me that I didn\u2019t live there. That I lived with you and the kids, and this wasn\u2019t your home! He said I had to leave. I thought he was right\u2026 I was terrified.\u201d
\nThe living room was silent, save for Mom\u2019s ragged breathing.
\nThe officers shifted, awkward and unsure, and then one of them cleared his throat.
\n\u201cMa\u2019am, do you remember where you went after that?\u201d he asked.
\nShe shook her head, the light from her eyes dulling a bit. Her moment of lucidity was leaving slowly.
\n\u201cI walked away. I just opened the door and walked away\u2026\u201d
\nI felt dizzy, my pulse pounding in my ears. I turned to Nate, my mouth dry.
\n\u201cNate, tell me she\u2019s not\u2026 tell me that this didn\u2019t happen!\u201d
\nHe raised his hands.
\n\u201cClaire, come on,\u201d he said. \u201cShe\u2019s confused. She probably saw something on TV or while she was away.\u201d
\n\u201cTell me!\u201d I screamed.
\nThe police officers stood there, clearly trying not to get involved, but I could see the judgment in their eyes.
\nNate rubbed his face, sighing heavily.
\n\u201cFine,\u201d he muttered. \u201cLook, she came into the room. And yes, I had a visitor. But it was nothing, Claire. It wasn\u2019t anything serious. I didn\u2019t want to freak her out, so I told her that the woman was just someone we were helping.\u201d
\nI felt like I was going to be sick.
\n\u201cA visitor?\u201d I repeated. \u201cYou had a woman in our bedroom?\u201d
\n\u201cIt didn\u2019t mean anything!\u201d he said quickly, stepping toward me. \u201cClaire, it wasn\u2019t serious! I can explain myself!\u201d
\n\u201cShut up,\u201d I said. \u201cYou had an affair. And while I was gone, you took advantage of the situation. You lied to my sick mother because you knew that she was impressionable! You know she\u2019s vulnerable!\u201d
\nHe looked at his feet, guilt written all over his face, and that\u2019s when I knew. My entire marriage flashed before my eyes, and in that moment, I didn\u2019t see the man I\u2019d built a life with.
\nI saw a coward.
\nA man who let my mom, the woman I\u2019d fought so hard to care for, wander the streets for three days because he wanted to cover up his lie.
\nThe police officers cleared their throats.
\n\u201cMa\u2019am, we\u2026 uh, we don\u2019t have any evidence of a crime. It doesn\u2019t seem like there\u2019s anything we can do. There\u2019s nothing illegal going on. Just that you\u2019re married to a horrible man.\u201d
\n\u201cYou can leave. Thank you for bringing my mom back,\u201d I said.
\nAs they turned to leave, I turned to Nate.
\n\u201cI trusted you,\u201d I told him. \u201cNow, get out.\u201d
\nHe blinked, stunned.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\n\u201cI said get out, Nathaniel. Pack your things and go. I\u2019m done.\u201d
\n\u201cClaire, let\u2019s talk about this,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t what you think. We can work this out!\u201d
\n\u201cWe can\u2019t work it out. It\u2019s over. I\u2019ll call you after I pick up the kids,\u201d I said. \u201cYou can explain to them why you don\u2019t live here anymore.\u201d
\nHe tried again, but I wasn\u2019t listening. He muttered a few curses under his breath as he packed a bag. It wasn\u2019t until I heard the front door close that I let the tears spill down my cheeks.
\n\u201cCome on, Claire-bear,\u201d my mother said. \u201cLet\u2019s go make some tea and some chocolate cake, okay?\u201d
\nI looked at my mother and saw that the moment had passed. Her Alzheimer\u2019s had taken over again.
\n\u201cCome,\u201d she repeated, taking my hand. \u201cWe\u2019ll make it together.\u201d
\nI allowed her to lead. I had two weeks to figure out my feelings before my children came back from camp. Then it was going to be\u2026 devastating.
\nWhat would you have done?
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\nRead the full story\u00a0here.
\nThis work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
\nThe author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided \u201cas is,\u201d and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Three days. That\u2019s how long my mother had been missing. Three days of frantic phone calls, sleepless nights, and endless dread. My mom, who is 67 and has Alzheimer\u2019s, had somehow wandered out of the house in the dead of the night while I was away, taking the kids to their summer camp. The camp […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usenglishstory.bestlistproduct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usenglishstory.bestlistproduct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usenglishstory.bestlistproduct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usenglishstory.bestlistproduct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usenglishstory.bestlistproduct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usenglishstory.bestlistproduct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":450,"href":"https:\/\/usenglishstory.bestlistproduct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions\/450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usenglishstory.bestlistproduct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usenglishstory.bestlistproduct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usenglishstory.bestlistproduct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}