Chapter 7 - THE VISITING ROOMThe high-security federal penitentiary was cold, gray, and smelled of industrial disinfectant.
I sat behind a thick pane of bulletproof glass in the visiting room, waiting.
A heavy steel door clicked open, and Jack was led inside by two armed guards. He was dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit, his hands chained to a heavy leather waist belt. The handsome, arrogant doctor who had ruled the hospital was completely gone. His face was hollow, dark circles bagged under his eyes, and his hair was shorn short.
He sat down heavily on the metal stool, picking up the plastic telephone receiver with shaking hands.
I picked up my receiver and placed it to my ear.
"Megan..." Jack whispered, his voice hoarse and broken. "You... you came."
"I came to deliver the final papers, Jack," I said, sliding a manila envelope through the narrow slot beneath the glass.
Jack glanced down at the document. PETITION FOR ABSOLUTE DIVORCE AND FULL CUSTODY.
A tear slipped down his bruised cheek. "Megan, please... don't do this. I know I destroyed everything. I know I was a fool. Chloe used me. My mother used me. I was blind!"
"You weren't blind, Jack," I corrected him softly. "You were greedy. You had a wife who adored you, children who worshipped you, and a career that could have saved lives. But it wasn't enough. You wanted the glamour, the younger woman, the fast money. You wanted to feel like a king without doing the work."
"I was stupid!" Jack sobbed, pressing his forehead against the cold glass. "I'm facing twenty-five years, Megan! I'm thirty-eight years old! My life is over! The other inmates... they know what I did. They hate me. Please, use your lawyers. Get me a plea deal! Reduce my sentence! For the sake of the kids!"
"The kids are doing wonderfully, Jack," I replied, my voice steady and unyielding. "Leo scored the highest grade in his advanced mathematics class yesterday. Maya made the varsity soccer team. They don't ask about you anymore."
Jack froze, looking up at me with raw agony in his eyes. "What... what did you tell them?"
"I told them the truth," I said. "I told them their father made choices that hurt people, and now he has to face the consequences. I will never let you corrupt them with your selfishness again."
"Megan, please!" Jack begged, banging his chained fists against the glass. "Don't leave me here! I can't survive in here! I'm a doctor!"
"You were a doctor, Jack," I said, standing up from my chair. "Now, you're just Inmate Number 88492."
I turned to walk away.
"MEGAN!" Jack screamed through the phone, his voice echoing frantically off the concrete walls. "WHY?! WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?!"
I paused, looking back over my shoulder one last time.
May you like
"Because, Jack," I said, "you forgot who built you."
I hung up the telephone receiver, turned my back on his screams, and walked out into the sunlight.
