My husband said a quiet weekend in the mountains would help us reconnect. By the time we reached the trail, I realized he had brought me there for a very different reason. My husband Mike took me on a “make-up weekend” to save our marriage, and left me injured on a mountain.
Still, I knew something was off.
Then two weeks ago, he came home acting almost gentle. He kissed my forehead and said, “I booked us a weekend in the mountains.”
I blinked.
“What?”I should say this clearly: I wanted to believe him. When your marriage feels like it is slipping through your hands, hope can make you stupid.
So I said yes.
I still hesitated.
“I’m not really a hiker.”
Mike smiled. “That’s why I picked an easy one.”
That was a lie.
***
That day, we parked near the trailhead. I looked up at the map and said, “This doesn’t look easy.”
Mike waved it off.
“It’s moderate.
There’s an overlook at the top. Romantic. Trust me, babe.”
I almost said I wanted to do a shorter trail.
I should have.
But I was tired of every disagreement turning into proof that I was ruining things. So I swallowed it and went with my husband.
“Come on,” he said. “You can do better than this.”
“Well, try faster.”
At one point I asked for water.
Mike handed me the bottle, then took it back after one sip.
“Don’t overdo it. We still have a way to go.”
I stared at him. “Are you serious?”
That tone.
Calm.
Condescending. Like I was a child.
I should have turned around then, but we were already far enough in that going back alone felt worse. So I kept going.
Then I stepped wrong on a loose patch of rock, and my ankle rolled hard.
I screamed. I went down immediately. The pain was instant and sharp.
My ankle started swelling almost right away.
Mike turned around, looked at me, and sighed. Actually sighed.
“Oh my God,” I said, clutching my leg. “I really hurt it.”
He crouched, touched my ankle once, then stood back up.
“Barely.”
“We’re close.”
I stared at him.
“Close to what?”
“The overlook.”
I laughed because I thought Mike was kidding. He wasn’t kidding. Mike got me up and half-walked, half-dragged me farther up the trail.
I was crying by then, partly from pain, partly from confusion.
