From 2007 through 2008, lucsmith was very active on Literotica. He wrote long stories and short ones. One of the short ones was called The Pain of Forbidden Lust. He realized that his ending might
leave some readers feeling unfulfilled. He invited
anyone that felt that way to come up with a New Ending. This is my attempt to honor his invitation. You must read his story before this continuation will make any sense.
This was a challenge for me because I felt that I had to be true to the goal of the author. That goal was to approach Nancy's affair using
forgiveness with retribution
. I am a believer in forgiveness and second chances, but the things that Nancy said and the length of the affair bothered me. She seemed to have a flippant attitude at the end of his story. I read the definition of 'forgive' on Dictionary.com. It seemed to me that true forgiveness would preclude retribution. Like I said, a challenge.
"How are we going to celebrate this? This deserves a big celebration, don't you think?"
Yeah, right. Celebration.
When I saw Nancy in that hospital bed, I wished that I had played things differently. I should have confronted her right after I received that email. I should have shown her that picture and demanded an explanation. Maybe I could have prevented things from escalating to what might prove to be "beyond the point of no return."
Nancy was being kept sedated to the point where any meaningful conversation was fruitless. I was supposed to be working some Saturday overtime today, but instead, here I am at the bedside of my wife in a hospital. I tried to forget about what got us here, but that was hard to do.
I couldn't help but remember that world-ending email. When I first read it, I thought it was probably a lie. When I saw the attached picture, I knew that it was true. I recognized her and the clothes that she was wearing. I immediately called Sam Downey, the head of security for our firm. Sam is a good friend of mine. We met for lunch, and I showed him the email and the picture. He found it difficult to believe that Nancy would do such a thing, but he promised to use his connections to look into the matter and see what he could uncover.
I had read an e-book called
Following the Signs
on my Kindle. It gave the signs to look for if you suspected that your wife was cheating. Until that email, I had not noticed a single sign that Nancy was being untrue to me.
After receiving that email, I searched my memory for possible signs. There was only one thing that I could think of. She always wore one of two outfits to "girls-night-out." They both featured brownish slacks and a matching blouse. One set was a lighter brown than the other. It was more of a beige color. The blouses both featured flowers, but one had red flowers and one had purple flowers. Both blouses buttoned in front. I thought that they looked like shirts.
What I am thinking of now is the pants. They were more like sweatpants than slacks. They were loose fitting and held up with a drawstring. They were not what you would call sexy outfits. They were more like what you would wear to the gym. What I am considering now is why she wore them. I'm thinking it was probably because they were easy to take off.
She was good enough at covering her affair that if that email had not been sent, I would still be blissfully ignorant of her infidelity. It was that email that ultimately resulted in her being in that hospital bed.
They kept Nancy in the hospital until Sunday afternoon. Dr. Jackson, our family doctor, had taken over her case. After church on Sunday, he came to examine her and sign her release papers. Before he did that, he took me and the girls to the lounge for a conversation.
He told us that Nancy had suffered a panic attack. The acute phase was over. He had talked to Nancy and found out what had precipitated her panic attack. He knew the problem was far from over because she was blaming herself for wrecking her marriage and destroying her family.
He wanted to hear how we felt about what she had done. He listened to everything we had to say. It was apparent that we were angry but also devastated. He said that our problem was beyond his expertise and that he was referring us to Doctor Shelly Mason, a psychiatrist that specialized in marriage problems.
He asked if I could take off work on Monday and take Nancy to see Dr. Mason at 9am. She had an office in the medical building next to the hospital. I said that I would make that happen.
He asked us to try to avoid any mention of our problem when we got Nancy home. He said to just try to act as normally as possible. He suggested that we try to do a pleasant task together like playing a game or visiting a park.
He said that we needed to face the problem, of course, but we should wait to do that under the supervision of Dr. Mason.
When we got home, Nancy said that we needed to talk. I told her that we would do that, but not today. "Today we just want to be thankful that you are out of the hospital and at home with your family. Let's do something fun."
Nancy agreed and said that she would like to get some exercise. "I am tired of laying around in a hospital bed. I need to move around and get my blood flowing again."
That worked out fine. We ended up taking a pleasant family hike along a beautiful trail.
When we got home, I told Nancy about our appointment with Dr. Mason tomorrow. She said, "I'm not sure that I am ready for that. I need to talk to you first, Ron. I need to know if there is any chance that you can forgive me or should I be preparing myself for a divorce?"
"That's what Dr. Mason can help us with. She is a specialist in marriage problems. She will help us figure everything out. Let's put our confidence in her. Dr. Jackson says that she is the best. Let's see what she can do for us, Nancy."
"Ok, Ron, but at some point, I desperately need to talk to you, not some doctor, about my despicable behavior. I must do that, Ron."
"I'm sure that Doctor Mason will guide us through that, Nancy, but until she does, let's just try not to focus on anything unpleasant."
Yes, we slept together Sunday night. Yes, we cuddled. No, we did not kiss. No, we obviously did not have sex.
I must admit that I wondered how Dr. Mason was able to work us into her schedule so quickly. Dr. Jackson had called her sometime over the weekend and here we are, sitting in her waiting room on Monday morning.
