When Asher regained consciousness, he was shocked to find himself lying in a hospital bed.
There was a warm bowl of chicken soup on the bedside table, and the familiar aroma immediately told him that Regina was the one who'd made it for him.
So, it really had been her voice that he'd heard and her hand he'd grasped last night when he was in his semi-conscious state.
Tears welled up in his eyes, threatening to spill over just as the hospital room door opened.
"The doctor prescribed some medication for your hangover," Regina said, holding a bag of medicine up.
Although there was a hint of concern in her eyes, her tone remained distant and formal as she continued, "If you find yourself unable to control your drinking in the future, at least remember to take these meds on time."
She didn't ask him why he'd been drinking, nor did she chide him for the trouble he'd caused her. It was as though she were merely offering him care and a polite reminder out of pure obligation.
In other words, she treated him now as she would any ordinary acquaintance—seemingly attentive, yet entirely devoid of the kind of concern or admonishment that stemmed from love.
Asher's lips moved. He wanted to say something, but he realized that he just didn't know what to say to her.
In less than two years, they had gone from lovers who shared everything in their lives with each other to a married couple who treated one another with the distance and formality of mere strangers and finally to this state of cold, silent estrangement.
It turned out that time really could change things he had once assumed were set in stone.
After a long silence, he said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you. And I'm sorry for the trouble."
He wanted to embrace her and tell her how much he'd missed her, but the shift in their relationship forced him to restrain his impulses, compelling him to learn to detach himself from her.
Regina said nothing. She simply rolled up her sleeves, spooned a mouthful of the soup, and held it to his lips.
"Eat it while it's hot. It's not good on your stomach once it's gone cold."
He looked at her as memories of the past came flooding back to him.
Whenever he was too lazy to eat, she would feed him just like this, also dressed in her favorite suit, as she always did.
Nothing seemed to have changed on the surface, but Asher knew that their hearts that once loved each other were now riddled with wounds.
Ultimately, he parted his lips and swallowed the familiar-tasting soup. Even though the food tasted good, he couldn't help but feel a sharp, bitter ache in his mouth. He chewed every mouthful slowly, as if doing so might make time itself move a little slower.
He was clinging to a greedy, desperate hope that this moment could stretch out forever and never end.
Just then, Regina's phone rang.
He caught a glimpse of the name on the screen. It was a call from Cody.
After Regina answered the call, she hurriedly set down the bowl of soup and hurried out of the hospital room after hearing something that he'd said.
As Asher watched her figure recede into the distance, he reached out instinctively as if he were trying to hold onto something, but he only ended up grasping air.
The bowl of soup tumbled from the table and shattered across the floor like a stark, silent testament to the fact that there was no way for things between them to end well.
At that moment, Asher's heart felt absolutely calm and still. He closed his eyes, reminding himself that it was time for him to face reality and learn how to let go.
…
Three days later, Asher went straight to the immigration office to submit his application the moment he was discharged from the hospital.
Still, he felt his heart trembling when he saw the word "Caroda" written on the immigration form.
Regina used to say that Caroda was a sunny place always bathed in sunshine, and it was a place where nobody would ever feel cold or alone.
So, once the divorce was finalized at the end of the month, he would head off on his own toward that sunshine she used to tell him about.
As he stepped out of the immigration office, a message popped up on his phone from a high school friend, Jerry Whitman.
"Asher, I'm getting married, and I'd love for you to be my best man! You were my best friend back in high school, so you've got to be there!"
An address was attached at the end of the text message.
After thinking about it for a bit, Asher decided to accept the invitation, thinking that he'd just treat it as a final farewell to everyone before he left.
…
Two days later, Asher arrived early at the hotel where the wedding was going to be held.
The moment Jerry spotted him, he rushed over and pulled him into a hug.
"Asher! I hadn't heard from you since you got married! I honestly didn't think you'd show up because I thought you'd already forgotten about us."
Asher simply offered a faint, polite smile by way of explanation, and they exchanged a few brief, nostalgic remarks about their high school days.
Shortly after, following Jerry's instructions, Asher changed into a black suit for the rehearsal. Jerry mentioned that the accompanying bridesmaid had already been arranged for him, and so, he just needed to go to the wedding venue to rehearse the entrance with her.
But when Asher pushed open the doors to the venue, he saw Regina standing there in a champagne-colored gown, her gaze unreadable as she looked at him.
For a fleeting moment, he felt a sense of disorientation. It was so profound that, for an instant, he actually believed that this was their own wedding.
Yet, in the very next second, her words pulled him abruptly from his fantasy.
"Let's just run through the sequence quickly and stop wasting each other's time."
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