Forced to Save Her Childhood Sweetheart

Outside the emergency room, I stood in my suit, clutching a velvet ring box.

The red light above pulsed like a warning, mocking me as my heart pounded in my chest. My hands trembled as the events of the day replayed in my mind.

Eleanor Hamm, my fiancée, had been glued to her childhood friend ever since he was ill.

On my birthday, she was too busy simmering soup for him to even wish me well. For our wedding, I planned every detail with my mom, from booking the venue to picking out the mints for the favor bags.

Eleanor didn't lift a finger. Her only focus was on Adrian Fuller's condition.

We'd been engaged for a year, but she wouldn't spare half a day to get our marriage certificate. I never complained, convincing myself she was just being a loyal friend. But today, she crossed a line I never imagined.

She had stridden up to the mic and announced the wedding was postponed because Adrian wanted to throw a wedding for his pet hamster.

She insisted the hamsters deserved our carefully planned venue and shoved me off the stage. The crowd's gasps, snickers, and pitying looks branded me a fool.

As I stumbled down, Adrian tripped me, sending me face-first into the dirt. Humiliation burned through me, but the worst was yet to come.

My mother, Cora Ingram, collapsed from a heart attack, overwhelmed by the spectacle. An ambulance rushed her away, and now she was fighting for her life in the ER.

Eleanor never showed up, still fussing over hamster vows. I called her, my anger barely contained. It took twelve tries before she answered.

"Eleanor, my mom is..."

"Oh, please. Your mom is just overreacting, like you. Adrian has been my best friend forever, and he's got kidney failure. He wanted to do something sweet for his hamster, which was a big deal. So, I pushed our wedding back a bit. Why do you guys have to make it a federal case?"

Ever since Adrian's diagnosis, she'd been more and more impatient with me, but my mom and I had only each other.

Now, with her life hanging in the balance, I had no one else to turn to.

"Eleanor, please, show some respect," I said, struggling to keep my voice steady.

"Eleanor, focus. The hamsters are about to exchange vows." Adrian's whiny voice crackled through the phone.

She hung up without another word. I called again, but she didn't answer.

This wasn't the first time she'd brushed me off, but the sting felt sharper now. My phone buzzed with group chat messages, each one a fresh wound.

[A wedding turned into a pet show? The groom got kicked to the curb. Talk about embarrassment.]

[Eleanor is straight-up humiliating Lincoln and his family. What's her game?]

[What else? She doesn't want to marry him, obviously. I couldn't even look when he ate dirt. Total disgrace.]

Every message was a reminder of the public shaming, stoking the fire of my resentment.

But before I could dwell on it, the doctor emerged, his face grim. "We did our best. You should say your goodbyes."

The world spun. I stumbled into the ER, the stench of antiseptic and blood hitting me like a wave. The surgical lights glared down, blinding me as tears burned my eyes.

"Lincoln, my sweet boy," Cora whispered, tears streaking her pale face. "You're on your own now."

Her hand reached for mine but fell limp before we could touch.

"Mom!" I grabbed her hand, my screams echoing in the sterile room.

She was gone, just like my dad. On his deathbed, he'd promised to watch over us from above, but he'd broken that vow.

Grief overwhelmed me. I vomited until my stomach was empty, my eyes too dry for more tears.

My best friend, Mike Fletcher, dropped everything and drove through the night from out of town to help me with the funeral.

As Cora's body disappeared in the crematorium flames, my heart shattered into a thousand pieces, each one burning away with her.

Eleanor didn't show up. I didn't call her again, just sent one text: [We're done, Eleanor.]

Then I blocked her on every platform.

Kneeling before Cora's portrait, I passed out from grief. Mike stayed by my side. "Be strong, Lincoln. Don't torture yourself. She wouldn't blame you. You're a victim, too."

But I wasn't blameless. If I hadn't pushed for this wedding, she would still be alive. She died worrying about me.

Eleanor stayed away even after the funeral. The next day, she finally showed up at the cemetery, looking pale and anxious.

Cora had been her teacher, taking her in when Eleanor's abusive father and neglectful mother failed her. Cora fed her, paid her tuition when her dad refused, and treated her like family.

I thought she'd come to mourn, so despite my anger, her presence stirred a flicker of pain in my chest.

But then, she started, "I told you Adrian was sick, so we pushed the wedding back. It's just a date. Do you really have to dump me and block me over something so trivial?"

My blood boiled. "Trivial? You turned our wedding into a circus. You humiliated me and killed my mom. There's blood between us. I'll never marry you!"