Fire of Caveat - Part 13

When Nicholas walks into the house, he has to calm himself not to lose his temper. Ruth is sitting in front of the television as usual, smoking. The last thing she is supposed to do. He can see she is tipsy. He looks at the table next to her, there is cigarettes and a box of medication on it and she is well into the end of her second bottle of wine already.
Her wig is lying on the floor and her bare head looks shiny in the dim light in the room. She had a pink blanked over her and she was wearing a pair of new light blue pyjamas.
He walked over to the couch and gently touched her shoulder: “Hey babe, how are you doing? Do you feel okay? You know you are not supposed to smoke and drink, love….”
She didn’t look at him. She took another sip of her wine, turned the television softer and grimaced: “What do you care Nick? You can’t wait for me to die. I can see the way you and Michelle look at each other. All that lust is hanging in your office like smock in a rain forest, waiting for the next rainstorm to start….”
Nicholas through his hands in the air, irritated with her tantrums: “O, heck Ruth! Not that again!”
She looked over her shoulder. He was standing at the bar, pouring himself a glass of red wine. “Come on Nicholas, you know as well as I do, she doesn’t need to see a psychiatrist anymore. If she does, it just means you suck at your job, or Michelle needs to be in an institution for the mentally insane….”
Nicholas stopped pouring his wine. He stepped backward whilst putting his hands on the table: “Ruth why do you blame the rest of the world for you condition? That is not going to cure you. You are just giving up. All you do is sit, drink and take your meds… “
Ruth jumped up furious: She threw her glass against the wall. The crystal shattered into pieces. The wine splashed on the wall like raindrops against a window, dripping down and creating puddles flowing into a river of red blood on the tiles.
“Don’t use your psycho psychology on me. I want to see how you cope with cancer eating you from inside, feeling like an alien want to burst out of you!”
Nicholas eyes turned a gentle grey. “I’m sorry my love. I know it is difficult, but you are here now, you are alive now..... make the best of it........"
Ruth smirked at him: “Maybe if someone had a husband who stood by her, loved and cherished her, yes then there would be something to fight for!” She looked at him coldly: “it is not worth fighting for your dear life, when your husband can’t wait to move his lover into your house.”
Nicholas stood there looking at her. He didn’t know what to say and he didn’t have the energy to think of something. He refilled his glass of wine and walked outside. He looked up at the sky. It was a moonlit night, the stars were shining bright, flowing into the lights of the city as if they were woven into one.
He was thinking of Michelle, his feelings for her. He never felt like this for any other woman before, not even Ruth. He is madly in love with Michelle……
He married Ruth more out of convenience than anything else. It was convenient for him, her dad, for her. He loves Ruth, as much as he would love a sister. His feelings for her never grew deeper into the love of a husband for his wife. He felt sorry for her now, he cares about her.
No one want to say it out loud, but they know it’s too late, there is nothing they can do for Ruth. They are trying to, but it isn’t working anymore. Ruth knows this and she doesn’t know how to cope. He doesn’t know what she expects of him.
He looked at his watch, it was already after eleven. He wondered if Michelle was in bed, what she was wearing……He wish he could phone her now……

What happens next? When is Jolene coming out of jail?