I didn’t respond.
I walked into the hallway.
Then toward the stairs.
“George…”
“Keep watching.”
I reached the top step.
My body suddenly swayed.
And then I started to fall forward.
George rushed toward me.
He caught me by my right arm and shoulder and pulled me backward with all his strength.
I collapsed against him.
The video shook as he reached for the phone.
I stopped breathing.
My hand instinctively touched the bruise.
“That’s where this came from?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you lie this morning?”
George lowered his eyes.
“Because this wasn’t the first time.”
I stared at him.
“What do you mean?”
He took the phone again.
“
There are three more videos.”
According to George, nearly a month earlier, he had woken up and found me standing in the kitchen in the middle of the night.
My eyes had been open, but I hadn’t answered him properly.
The following morning, I remembered nothing.
A week later, it happened again.
That time, he found me near the back door.
After the second incident, George had secretly called our family doctor.
He had been told that if it happened again, recording the episode could help doctors understand what was going on.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whispered.
George sat down.
“Because three months ago, you told Sarah that the thing you feared most about getting older was losing control of yourself. I heard you.”
I remembered that conversation.
I had forgotten George was nearby.
“I thought it might happen once and never again,” he continued. “Then it happened
twice. I kept telling myself I would tell you after I knew what it was.”
“And this morning?”
“When I saw the bruise, I knew it was from my hand. I knew how it looked. I panicked.”
The next morning, Dr. Collins watched the videos.
His expression immediately became serious.
He ordered additional tests and reviewed every medication I had recently started.
By the end of the week, we finally had an explanation.
A recent change in one of my medications appeared to be contributing to nighttime confusion and unusual sleep behavior, while another factor was making me bruise more easily than before.
My treatment was adjusted, and the episodes stopped.
But one question still bothered me.
That evening, I asked George to show me every recording before deleting them.
He handed me the phone.
