My Husband Put My Sick Mother on an Air Mattress and Said He Made the Rules, but What I Did Next Changed Everything

He left.

Gabriel said: Sara.

I said: get out of this room.

He said: this is my house.

I said: Gabriel, I want you to get out of this room right now.

He looked at my face.

He left.

I helped my mother into the bed.

I got her the medications she had not taken.

I made her ginger tea.

I sat with her while she drank it.

She said: I shouldn’t have let him.

I said: Mom. You have cancer. You’re on chemotherapy. It is not your job to manage Gabriel’s behavior toward you.

She said: he’s your husband.

I said: yes.

She said: I don’t want to cause trouble between you.

I said: you’re not causing anything.

She said: he said it was important. The game.

She said: I didn’t want to be the reason for a fight.

I said: you are never the reason for the fight, Mom.

She said: I’m not sure Gabriel sees it that way.