The Riddle at Court Four

Elena stood at the edge of the padel court, the blue artificial turf blurring beneath her tears. She gripped the bottle of vitamin D supplements in her pocket—his doctor's orders, another thing he'd forgotten, another thing she'd carried for both of them. Inside the glass walls, Marco laughed at something his opponent said, head thrown back, racquet loose in his hand. He looked like a stranger.

Three months of chemo. That's what it was supposed to be. Three months and then they'd try again. But he'd stopped treatment two weeks ago and hadn't told her. She'd found the appointment cancellation notice tucked inside a stack of unopened mail, beneath flyers for grocery discounts and reminders about his car registration.

He'd become a sphinx to her—enigmatic, unreadable, his silence loaded with riddles she was too exhausted to solve. When she asked how he was feeling, he'd say "fine" and turn away. When she tried to discuss the future, he'd make jokes about living forever. The man who once shared every thought, every fear, every dream had retreated behind a wall of calm inscrutability, and she didn't know how to scale it anymore.

Their friends thought they were perfect. The couple who met at university, survived long-distance, built careers they loved, bought the apartment with the balcony where they drank wine and watched the sunset. They were supposed to be trying for a baby this year. That was the plan.

Marco caught her eye through the glass and waved, his smile faltering when he saw her face. He said something to his opponent and started toward the door, and Elena felt her heart crack open all over again. The vitamins in her pocket felt heavy, absurd—tiny capsules of hope in a situation that had long since exhausted the supply.

"Lena?" He pushed through the door, sweat on his forehead, concern in his eyes. For a moment, the sphinx slipped, and she saw him again—her husband, scared and human and trying to be brave for both of them.

"I know you stopped the treatments," she said, and watched his face collapse. "I found the letter."