27 “Ella, of course,” I said, beaming. “She’s right here!” “Hello again, Miss Reedle,” Ella called softly, seemingly embarrassed about the attention. “It has been a while, hasn’t it?” But my neighbor just kept her eyes on me. She looked like she wasn’t even seeing Ella and peered at me with confusion and concern as she said, “Alex, are you all right? What’s that spot on your head? Oh gracious… are you bleeding honey? What happened?” Confused, I looked back to Ella, but she seemed just as perplexed as I was. “Miss Reedle, what do you mean? I had a bit of an accident, but I’m fine. I’m just happy to have my wife back after all these months.” The old woman’s expression melted into something more like fear than confusion after I said that, and she shook her head at me. “You need to call someone, Alex. You’re not well.” But that’s where she was wrong, I was the best I had been in months. The Dealer, whoever he was, had given me a way to get back what I needed most. And despite Miss Reedle’s good intentions, I didn’t need her anymore. Sure, she had kept an eye out for me in the last few months, but my wife was home now. I didn’t need anyone else. We went inside without another word and locked the door behind us. And for the first time, the house felt warm again with her here. The glow had come back, the sparkle in her eyes had returned and it filled the house with light. I felt happy, felt completed. As the two of us sat down on the couch and started talking like we used to, started holding each other like we used to, I realized I really didn’t need anything else. It was almost evening when there was a knock at the door, and it was quickly followed by the undeniable voice of my coworker, James. “Alex, you home?” he called through the door, his voice a little shaky. “You never came back to the office, and when I drove up your neighbor said you weren’t looking very good. Is everything okay?” I thought about getting up and going over to talk to him, but then Ella nestled closer into my arms and shook her head, and I closed my eyes and ignored him. The gentle smell of
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