Chapter 2

Josh finally noticed the bandage on my right arm.

He couldn't help but laugh. "How did you manage to be just as careless as Susie? Now you're both dealing with injuries. No wonder the two of you are close."

Susie pretended to be annoyed. "I'm fine on my own. I don't need you. Go keep Tanya company."

I caught a brief flash of jealousy in her eyes.

Josh's tone turned icy.

"What are you talking about? I promised Mom I would take care of you until you fully recovered.

"Without me helping you these past few days, you could barely even get to the bathroom. Did you already forget that you fell in the shower last time?"

Susie quickly glanced at me and explained, "That's because you wouldn't let me take a shower."

I listened as they went back and forth.

In the end, I didn't want to ask anything else.

Suddenly, Susie lost her balance, and the ceramic bowl in her hand fell to the floor. I watched Josh instinctively reach out to catch Susie, and my heart ached.

"Josh, the nurse said Susie had already recovered and been discharged two weeks ago," I said quietly. "So, have you two been living together all this time?"

Susie looked at me nervously and pleaded, "Tanya, don't get the wrong idea. If you're upset, I'll stay away from him. Please don't be mad. You're still the most important person in my life."

I said nothing, but Josh's gaze suddenly hardened. "I promise that after next week, I won't say another word to Susie. Is that what you want?"

When he said that, tears spilled from Susie's eyes. She made it seem like I was the one making things difficult for them.

For some reason, my throat felt tight, and it was hard to breathe.

The love and friendship I had treasured suddenly felt ruined.

Betty had been listening from inside for a long time before realizing she had gotten the wrong idea about Susie and Josh. She came over and looked me up and down.

Then she politely explained, "Susie was hurt while saving me, so I asked Josh to take care of her. Please don't take it personally."

Josh nodded beside her. "Yeah. Mom's right. Susie saved Mom, so we owe her. Taking care of Susie is the least I can do. I promise you. This won't affect our wedding next week."

"No." I took off my wedding ring and threw it into the trash. "Josh, I don't want to get married anymore."

I turned to leave, but Susie hurried over and grabbed me. "Please don't be mad at me!"

As I struggled against her grip, my foot slipped, and I fell hard. My right hand landed on the broken pieces of the bowl. A sharp pain shot through my arm, and blood soaked most of the bandage.

Susie came over crying to help me up, then used my hand to slap herself across the face.

"Tanya, hit me if it'll make you feel better!"

Josh instinctively grabbed Susie's hand. "Susie, this isn't your fault."

He grabbed the first-aid kit and used tweezers to remove the pieces of ceramic from my hand.

Watching him work so carefully suddenly took me back to my senior year of high school.

Back then, I often fainted because of anemia and sometimes fell hard enough to split my head open. Josh would carry me on his back all the way to the hospital.

Later, he secretly changed his college plans and said he would study medicine so I would never get hurt again.

When I saw his medical school acceptance letter, I burst into tears.

"Josh, your dream was to make video games. How could you let go of your dreams for me?"

I told him I wasn't worth such a huge sacrifice.

Josh stroked my head and argued with me.

"You're my whole world. If I can't even help you when you're hurt, then what's the point of making great games?"

He really did become an excellent doctor.

But now, he was the one who had caused me so much hurt.

As Josh removed the ceramic pieces from my hand, he called the ER. "Hey, Larry. Tanya's hurt. I'll bring her over now. Yeah, thanks."

"There's no need to." I cut him off.

Josh insisted on taking me to the hospital. "Tanya, don't be stubborn!"

But just as we reached the door, Susie quietly cried out in pain.

Josh froze.

He looked back at Susie, then let go of my hand.