He's With Her When I Need Him

I'm admitted to the hospital for gastritis, but my boyfriend shoots to his feet after receiving a call. "Chelsea has a fever. I'll go check on her; I'll be right back!"

He runs off without waiting for me to say anything and doesn't return for the rest of the night.

That night, I see a short clip that Chelsea Calloway has shared. "I'm not afraid of any illness with you by my side."

I comment, "He is pretty good at caring for others."

Flipping his phone shut, my boyfriend, Cedric Whitley, hurriedly gave me a call.

"Madison, things aren't as they seem! I'm just accompanying Chelsea because she's all by herself. She'd be too pitiful if I left her alone, so I'm just here to keep her company for a while!"

"Yeah, I get it. You're friends, and this is what friends are supposed to do."

I cut off the call and lay back in the hospital bed, unable to catch a wink of sleep for the rest of the night.

Cedric and I had been in a relationship for three years. In the past three years, I had always been the one running after him.

Chelsea Calloway was his childhood friend, and according to Cedric, if there were anything going on between them, they'd have gotten together a long time ago, and he'd never have dated me in the first place.

However, I didn't quite understand why she was always coming between us. Shouldn't a relationship only be between two individuals?

After thinking things through, I sighed and looked up the offer letter in my email. I phrased my words properly and sent a reply. Then, I called Noah Aldridge, my manager, to inform him that I'd taken up the position abroad.

"Really? Madison, you're not kidding me, are you? Didn't you turn down the offer earlier on? Why the sudden change of mind?"

"No, Mr. Aldridge. I thought things through and decided that perhaps the new position in the overseas branch might be good exposure for me."

"Okay! Get yourself ready, and you'll set out in a month's time!"

I drew a deep breath after ending the call. Things were finally coming to an end.

…

It came as no surprise to me that Cedric stayed out the whole night. But I was no longer bothered by that.

When he visited me the next morning, he was still in the same set of clothes that he had on the day before. However, there was a faint scent of roses on him.

I never knew that visitors were allowed to take a shower in the hospital. This clearly wasn't the scent of shower gel that we used at home.

Perhaps it was guilt that got to him, but Cedric said, "I'm sorry. Chelsea suddenly had a headache yesterday, so I had to stay with her. Then, I accidentally dozed off. Please don't overthink things."

"It's alright. It's a tough job taking care of patients."

Cedric seemed taken aback by my words. He never expected me to be so calm.

"Uh, well, here's breakfast. Eat up!"

He opened up the container, revealing its contents. There was a peanut butter sandwich and a half-eaten energy bar. These were clearly leftovers.

I shook my head. "No thanks."

"Come on, I specially bought this sandwich for you on my way back! At least have a bite!"

Cedric took it out and attempted to feed it to me, but I still refused. That seemed to piss him off.

"Madison Lacey, are you being difficult on purpose? I went out of my way to get you breakfast and this attitude is what I get in return?"

When he finally slammed his hands on the table and got to his feet, I sighed and said, "I'm allergic to peanuts."

He instantly blanched and took a step back awkwardly. "I-I'm sorry. I… I forgot. What do you feel like having? I'll go buy it for you."

"No need. I ordered delivery. It should be here any time now."

I barely finished my sentence when the delivery man arrived.

After collecting my breakfast, I sat back in bed to finish it up. I felt much better with something in my stomach.

Cedric stared at me the whole time.

"What is it?" I asked, arching a brow.

"I feel like there's something different about you. Why aren't you mad?"

"Mad? About what? You apologized, didn't you? Besides, you didn't mean to do all that anyway."

"I…" He didn't seem to be able to find the right words to say, so he just stared at me dazedly for a while before shutting his mouth.

Just then, he got a call from Chelsea.

"Cedric, I don't feel too well. Can you come and keep me company?"

"Alright! I'll be there right away!"

When he hung up the call and noticed me, he said hesitantly, "She's alone. I'll just go check on her and come right back."

"That's exactly what you said last night, but you stayed out the whole night. I'm alone too, you know?" I fixed a steady gaze on him. "Cedric, you're my boyfriend. Can't you prioritize me for once?"

He was about to say something when his phone rang once again. This time, Chelsea sounded much weaker than she did just a while ago.

"Cedric, the doctor said that I might be suffering from pneumonia. What am I to do now?"

"Don't worry, Chelsea! I'll be right there!"

Then, turning to face me, he said with a frown, "I'm sure you're fine. You were able to order your own food delivery! I promise I'll be with you next time!" With that, he left without so much as a backward glance.

I clenched my fists tight.

There won't be a next time. I won't expect anything from you ever again.