Driven by his raging emotions, the young man strode down the park path toward the person he had been searching for for more than a month. From the tension, everything before his eyes seemed slightly blurred, and his thoughts were confused, yet his determination to confront her remained unshaken. He did not know exactly what he would do during this long-awaited encounter; he only knew that somehow he had to pour out the anger that had gathered in his soul.

As he covered the last few meters, his heart began to pound wildly. For a second he thought he might faint from the monstrous stress.

And she had not even noticed him. She sat on the bench with her injured leg stretched out in front of her, busily tapping on her phone as if nothing else in the world mattered. Her thumbs moved briskly, typing some message.

He dropped heavily onto the bench, crossed his legs in an attempt to appear casual, and in a soft voice announced:

“You killed my wife.”

The woman raised her head in alarm. The sudden movement clearly sent a stab of pain through her neck, which was held rigid in an orthopedic collar. After a brief squint caused by the spasm, her eyes widened in a burst of fear. Under different circumstances he might have found her expression almost comical, but now he paid no attention to it. He waited for an answer—any answer.

With an instinctive motion the woman switched off her phone, then glanced at the crutches leaning against the bench, as if the absurd idea had crossed her mind that she might run away. She looked around, perhaps wondering whether she should cry out for help.

“You killed my wife,” the man repeated. Then he pulled a crumpled pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his jacket. It took him quite some time to extract one with his trembling fingers. He lit it and drew greedily on the smoke, waiting patiently for her reply.

She bit her lip, let out a faint groan, and said timidly:

“I’m sorry. It was an accident.”

He threw away the cigarette after only two drags and vented some of his anger by crushing it beneath the heel of his shoe. His face had turned red.