Chapter 4 - The First Drink Came Before Travis
Landon initially assumed the tampering began because of the affair.
It made sense.
Camille wanted him sleepy.
Camille wanted privacy.
Travis came over secretly.
Simple.
Wrong.
Nora’s notes reached back further than Travis.
Much further.
The earliest unexplained episodes began almost seven months earlier.
At that time, as far as Landon knew, Camille had barely spoken to Travis.
The affair seemed to have started only three months ago.
That meant Travis was not the cause.
Landon searched old therapy messages.
Seven months earlier, he found the event that mattered.
His rehabilitation physician had written:
Promising motor return. Recommend progressive standing program. Patient may eventually achieve limited assisted ambulation.
Landon remembered reading that message aloud to Camille.
He remembered being ecstatic.
He remembered saying:
“If I can get strong enough, I want to stand at our wedding.”
Camille had smiled.
Then said:
“You know I don’t need that.”
At the time, he thought she meant she loved him either way.
Now he heard another possibility.
She didn’t want it.
Two nights after that appointment, Landon experienced his first severe unexplained setback.
He slept almost fourteen hours.
The next day he could barely activate his left leg.
Camille sat beside him while he cried and said:
“Maybe your body is telling you something.”
His progress improved again later.
Then worsened.
Improved.
Worsened.
Always inconsistently.
Nora compared the calendar with Camille’s overnight stays.
The pattern was strong enough to frighten both of them.
Landon sat silently for a long time.
“So this started before she was cheating.”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
Nora didn’t answer.
Neither of them knew yet.
But Landon understood something important.
The affair was not the mystery.
It was another symptom.
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Whatever Camille had been trying to preserve began the moment Landon’s body started giving him back pieces of independence.
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