The Stuck Klein Blue

Frederick's POV

Footsteps stopped beside my bed, and I looked up to see Irene Arlington.

It had been five years since I last saw her.

She was not as emotional as I had imagined. She looked at me with a complicated expression.

Her mouth opened as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, all she managed to say was, “Are you in any pain? Let me get the doctor.”

My throat was dry. I wanted to speak, but no words came out.

I could only manage to shake my head slowly.

The room was quiet until the door swung open and a lighthearted voice floated in.

“Ms. Arlington, didn’t you say you were taking me to pick out a birthday gift?”

A young man barged in.

When his eyes met mine, the smile on his face froze.

He then looked at Irene hesitantly.

She seemed awkward. She avoided his gaze and said to me, “He’s my assistant, Peter Lande.”

Peter was clearly unhappy when she said that. His eyes welled up with tears, but he said nothing.

I lowered my gaze. I felt a sharp ache in my heart.

Peter looked and acted exactly like I used to. He was young and cheerful. He had a boyish charm whenever his smile revealed his snaggle tooth.

He was exactly the type Irene liked most.

She looked like she had had enough of the tense atmosphere, so she pulled Peter out of there.

Shortly after, several doctors walked in.

They ran all kinds of tests on me.

Even though I was awake, the frost had done a number on my legs.

Standing on my own two feet again would be next to impossible.

I was not surprised by the outcome.

Back then, I had not expected to survive after the snowy mountain incident.

In the days that followed, Irene dutifully arrived at the hospital to keep me company. She massaged my legs and cut apples for me.

However, she spoke very little.

Whenever I tried to strike up a conversation, she listened quietly but did not respond much.

She kept to a fixed schedule. The second the sun went down, she would head out.

When I asked her to stay, she said, “I still have work to take care of. I’ll come see you tomorrow.”

The hospital room door clicked shut behind her.

I stared out the window at the fading sunlight.

I could hear the nurses’ chatter outside the room.

“Hey, did you hear? That guy who’d been in a vegetative state for five years finally woke up.”

“I honestly never thought he’d pull through. Wasn’t his wife about to euthanize him?”

My fingers moved a little on top of the blanket.

Over the past few days, I had barely had a chance to find out what had happened to Irene over the last five years. She had not answered a single one of my questions.

“You guys haven’t heard? His wife is very rich. She’s been paying for the best medicine money can buy this whole time. IVs, tube feeding—she spared no expense. All in all, she’s spent millions of dollars on him.”

The voice sounded envious. But then, it changed.

“But she has someone new now. That’s why she wanted to euthanize him.”

When they mentioned that, Peter’s face flashed through my mind.

I had known for a while. Even so, how could a person just walk away from a twenty-year relationship?

On the day I was discharged, Irene picked me up.

I stared at her, and on some strange impulse, I asked, “Can you let Peter go?”

She was physically supporting me. I felt her body stiffen at my question.

However, she did not answer. She simply changed the subject, like she always did.

“The weather is nice today. How about I take you out to get some sun before we go home?”

I grabbed her wrist and looked into her eyes.

“Irene, what are you so afraid of? Didn’t you say he’s just your assistant?”

The smile on her face vanished completely.

She yanked her hand back and distanced herself.

She took a deep breath and said, “Frederick, I never asked you to save me five years ago.

“I’ve done more than enough for you all these years. I’ve wasted my money and my best years on you.

“If… If I’d known it’d come to this, I’d rather we’d both died on that mountain.”

I was so shocked that my breath came in ragged gasps.

When she saw how lost I looked, her anger fizzled out.

“Peter isn’t my assistant. I’ve been with him for three years.”

She then said hoarsely, “It’s his birthday today. I’m going to celebrate it with him.

“The driver will take you home.”

She said those last words briskly and walked away. The way she hurried off made it obvious that she felt guilty.