After Losing Her Husband, a Woman Learned from a Nurse That Another Woman Had Been Visiting Him for Several Weeks – A Few Days Later, the Visitor Came to Her House and Said, ‘So You Don’t Know What He Left You, Do You?

She went quiet.

Then hope dies, and the bills stay.

I already sold my jewelry.

***

A week after the funeral, I returned to the hospital for Jack’s belongings.

A nurse named Rachel handed me a bag. “I’m so sorry, Claire.”

“Thank you.”

His watch.
Charger.
Toiletries.
A paperback.

And a gray women’s cardigan.

The bills stay.

“This isn’t mine.”

Rachel looked at the cardigan. “I thought it belonged to the woman who visited him.”

“What woman?”

“I assumed she was family.”

“Jack didn’t have family.”

A gray women’s cardigan.

“I’m sorry.”

“How often was she here?”

“Several times. Sometimes she stayed a few hours.”

“What did she look like?”

“Dark hair. Early forties.”

Jack didn’t have family.

“Did they argue?”

“Not that I saw.”

“What did they do?”

“Mostly talked. There were usually papers everywhere.”

“Papers?”

She stayed a few hours.

“Yes.”

I remembered the documents in Jack’s jacket.

“Can I see the security footage?”

“I can’t show you hospital surveillance.”

“Then tell me who she was.”

There were usually papers everywhere.

“I don’t know her name.”

After several conversations with hospital staff, I finally saw the footage.

“I’ve never seen her before.”