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The Crash Left My Husband With the Mind of a Child
The Crash Left My Husband With the Mind of a Child
Author: Andy

Chapter 1

Author: Andy
“Boss, no shots.”

All six-foot-two of Adrian Crane lay balled up under the hospital blanket, a single tuft of hair sticking out.

The nurse held the tray, biting back a laugh.

I snapped the chart shut and aimed it at the lump under the covers. “Adrian. Out.”

The lump didn't move.

I leaned down to his ear. “Take the shot and you get a chicken leg.”

The blanket flew off.

The nurse moved fast, and the needle went in. His eyes flooded instantly and his mouth crumpled, but he held it in and didn't cry.

I felt amazing.

Once, when I was running a fever of a hundred and three, all he gave me was four cold words. “Call the family doctor.”

What goes around.

The doctor came in.

“Mrs. Crane, your husband's cognition has regressed temporarily. Recovery time is uncertain.”

“He's extremely insecure right now. Whatever you do, don't upset him.”

Uncertain?

I almost laughed out loud. “Take all the time he needs. I'm in no rush.”

I'd just stepped out for water when a voice like vinegar cut down the hallway.

“Romy Bell.”

Adrian's mother, Vivian Crane, came clicking down the corridor in her heels, her face screaming “you gold-digging nobody”.

“Adrian's going straight to the care home out past the city. The family can't let a man who's lost his mind run things.”

I smirked. Care home, sure. More like house arrest and a power grab.

“Mom, he’s just lost his memory, not dead.”

Her face dropped. “Watch your mouth. Hand him over, take your check, and crawl back to the Bells.”

“I'm not going.”

Inside the room, Adrian hugged a pillow. The second he saw Vivian, he shrank back in terror.

Something cold dropped in my stomach.

The Adrian who used to flip tables in the boardroom, and his first instinct was to be afraid of his own mother?

That wasn't right.

Vivian softened her voice. “Adrian. Come with Mommy.”

He shook his head so hard it blurred, darted behind me, and clamped onto the hem of my shirt.

“Only Boss.”

Vivian looked like she wanted to skin me alive. “Don't think you can milk this just because he's lost his mind.”

I smiled, sweet and shameless. “Relax, Mom. When I milk something, I always know exactly how much to take.”

She turned livid with rage.

That night, I took Adrian home to our marital house.

He walked in clutching the $9.99 pothos I'd bought on the way, holding it for dear life.

Walter, the butler, came to meet us, blinking. “Ma'am, what's the—”

I pointed at the plant. “The young master. His new son.”

Adrian corrected me, very serious. “He's my brother. Sprout.”

Walter shut his mouth at the speed of light.

I sat Adrian down on the couch and made up a set of house rules on the spot.

“One, call me Boss. Two, do what Boss says. Three, when Boss says divorce, you clap.”

Adrian blinked. “What's divorce?”

“It's when Boss takes the money and goes off to live the good life.”

“What about me?”

“You keep hugging your brother there.”

He thought it over for three solid seconds, then nodded gravely. “Okay. I'll clap for Boss.”

Looking at that clear, dumb little face, something sour slid through my chest for one second.

The next second, the front door slammed open.

Tessa Crane, my sister-in-law, came storming in, furious.

“Romy Bell. Hand over the company seal and the signing papers Adrian's holding. Don't think you're keeping it all.”

I clapped the rulebook shut. “He's barely out of the hospital, and you don't ask whether he's alive or dead, you ask for a seal. What filial family you are.”

Tessa raised her hand to slap me. “Drop the act. You married in for the money.”

I nodded, generous. “Obviously. Which is why I'm a professional. Unlike you people, choking on your own greed.”

She lost it, and the slap came down.

A throw pillow hit her in the face.

Adrian planted himself in front of me. “Bad guy. Nobody hurts Boss.”

Tessa stood there stunned, then shrieked and fled.

I stared at the broad shoulders in front of me.

Dumb, sure. But useful.

The next second he turned and held out a hand. “Boss, I saved you. Chicken leg now.”
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  • The Crash Left My Husband With the Mind of a Child   Chapter 10

    Six months later, my “Don't Ask” had opened a branch.The branch was called “Still Asking.”Customers loved it.They said one look at the owner and you knew there was a story.I'd say, “The story's not for sale. Wontons are eight bucks.”Danny came by to help sometimes.Frank Bell came looking for me once.I didn't see him.I had Danny pass along a message:“He gets whatever support he's legally owed. Affection's off the table.”Not every parent earns the right to a child's heart.I didn't go digging for news about the Cranes.But it drifted in anyway.Adrian cleaned out the Crane board.Vivian went abroad. Tessa's allowance card got cut off, and she started selling her luxury goods to get by.People still called her Auntie Sprout.Word was she hated pothos most of all.I listened for a while and laughed out loud.One day a special customer came into the shop.Walter.He stood in the doorway holding a big cardboard box.“Mrs—Miss Bell.”I wiped my hands on my apron.“Walter. What can I

  • The Crash Left My Husband With the Mind of a Child   Chapter 9

    Adrian settled into the town.He rented the second floor across the street.Every morning he lined up to buy wontons.The old folks watched the show at first, then started stirring the pot.“He looks pale today, give him two extra.”I said, “His face is expensive. The wontons aren't.”“He fixed my door lock yesterday.”I said, “Then you put him on payroll.”“He's so tall, one bowl won't fill him up.”I'd had it.“Whose relative is he, exactly?”An auntie smiled, eyes crinkling.“We're relatives of love.”I nearly bent the strainer in half.Adrian ate with his head down, the corner of his mouth twitching just slightly.My mother came to the town once.She was dressed too thin, crying. “Romy, I was wrong.”I looked at her red, frozen hands.It wasn't that it didn't hurt.But hurt or not, I couldn't hand myself back.I asked her, “If you had it to do over, would you sell me to Gerald?”Her crying stopped.The silence was the answer.I nodded.“Then you weren't wrong.”“You just lost your

  • The Crash Left My Husband With the Mind of a Child   Chapter 8

    Adrian came anyway.That day the town got hit with a downpour, mud splashing everywhere.I pushed up the shutter at dawn and there was a black umbrella standing by my foot.A sticky note hung on the handle.“Don't get rained on.”It was Adrian's handwriting.I took the umbrella in and hung it in the corner.By the lunch rush, the shop was loud and packed.A man in a suit was hunched in the corner, black mask on, having ordered an eight-dollar bowl of plain wontons.I carried it over.He kept his head down. “Thanks.”I stared at him.“Adrian.”He stiffened.I set the bowl down.“Keep pretending and I'll dump three spoons of vinegar in.”He pulled off the mask.He'd lost weight.There were shadows under his eyes.It was still that same infuriating face.The aunties in the shop went silent in an instant.Someone whispered, “This your ex?”I said, “No. Not divorced yet.”The auntie's eyes lit up.“Then there's still a shot.”I said, “No. There's no shot.”Adrian ate his wontons, head down.

  • The Crash Left My Husband With the Mind of a Child   Chapter 7

    I wanted to explain.I wanted to ask about the note, ask why he'd said nothing about any of it.But the way he looked at me, it was like he'd flipped through every page of the last few days and then burned each one.I was suddenly afraid.Afraid he'd snap back into the old, ice-cold Adrian.Afraid he'd ask about me using him to make money, dragging him around to apologize, putting him on livestreams.So I did the most cowardly, and most correct, thing of my life.I turned and ran.Out of the courthouse, into a cab, onto the train, all in one clean motion.My phone rang the whole way.I didn't pick up.Once I was aboard, I texted Walter.“Remember to water the pothos.”I thought about it and added one more line.“Remind him to eat.”Then I powered off the phone and pulled the SIM.Outside the window, a tall figure in a white shirt sprinted onto the platform.Through the glass, our eyes met.The train pulled out, and he didn't catch it.I sank back into my seat and finally cried.Very qu

  • The Crash Left My Husband With the Mind of a Child   Chapter 6

    Gerald didn't come at me in the open again.But the Crane family's nastiness started popping up one piece at a time.First I got reported for “operating illegally.”I turned the photo sessions into a private tea club and renamed the booking fee a “pothos-care sponsorship.”Then Tessa posted online, claiming I was exploiting my brain-damaged husband to cash in on pity.So I posted the receipts.Every dollar of income went into a dedicated account.The purpose was spelled out clearly:Medical costs. Caregiver costs. Security upgrades. Pothos repotting.The last item set the comments off.Adrian himself went on camera to explain.“Sprout grew up. He needs a bigger house.”It hit the top of trending instantly.[I'm crying, Sprout did nothing wrong, buy him a mansion.][Auntie Tessa, quit being bitter, you rank below a houseplant.]People chased Tessa around calling her “Auntie Sprout” until she deleted her account overnight.I laughed until my stomach hurt.Then I got down to business.Mr.

  • The Crash Left My Husband With the Mind of a Child   Chapter 5

    When I got there, the guard at the door stopped me.“Private venue.”I held up my phone and started a livestream.Title: [Rich simpleton kidnapped by his own uncle. Wife storming in to get him back.]By the time I burst into the club, the stream had over ten thousand people in it.I kicked open the door of the top private room.Inside, Gerald had Adrian by the wrist, trying to press a red thumbprint onto the transfer agreement for the Southbridge project.Adrian still clutched half a slice of cake, eyes rimmed red.He saw me like he was seeing a rescue. “Boss.”“Gerald.” My voice cracked like a whip.His face changed. “Romy Bell, you don't get a say in here. He has to sign this today.”“He's legally incompetent. His print is worthless paper.”I held up the phone and took a step closer.Gerald dropped his voice. “Don't forget, your dad's rotten debt is still in my hands. Stop him from signing and I'll have your dad in a cell tonight.”Half a day ago, I might have hesitated.Now I just l

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