He Lost Me The Day He Chose Her

Chapter 2

"Again."

I pushed away the caregiver's waiting hand and gripped the parallel bars once more.

My knees were swollen from repeated falls, and my incontinence brief was soaked. The caregiver wrapped a blanket around my waist, her voice tight with alarm. "Ms. Bennett, your doctor never told you to push this hard."

"My scheduled training time isn't over."

Clenching my teeth, I forced myself upright. My legs held for only a few seconds before folding beneath me. My knees slammed into the mat, and sweat rolled from my chin onto the back of my hand.

The doorway remained empty.

My phone, however, kept receiving pictures.

Tessa stood at the water's edge, saying she had nearly drowned as a child. In the next picture, Ethan had rolled up his pants and was leading her into the ocean. Her entire body was pressed against his.

Tessa: It's my birthday. I only wanted him here while I faced my fear.

In the final picture, a shell had cut her foot. Ethan carried her toward shore on his back, his face tense with worry.

I turned off my phone and reached for the bars again.

The first time I got out of bed after the crash, I had fallen at his feet. Tessa called him at that exact moment. I called his name twice, but he simply told the caregiver, "Help her up," and went into the hallway.

He had heard me.

He simply had not looked back.

Late that night, Ethan arrived with soup and flowers. He crouched to examine my knees, reproaching in his voice. "How did you hurt yourself this badly? Couldn't you have waited for me?"

"The doctor sets my training schedule."

I brushed his hand aside and asked directly, "You promised you'd come. Why did you break your word?"

"It was Tessa's first birthday since her father died. She broke down at the beach, and I was afraid she would hurt herself."

"So you abandoned me here."

"You had doctors and caregivers." He paused. "I was the only person she had."

As I stared at him, the pressure lodged in my chest abruptly lifted.

"The first time I got out of bed, you abandoned me for her too. Ethan, you know every single time that I need you."

His phone rang before he could answer.

Tessa was crying on the other end. "Ethan, my foot hurts. I don't want to be alone."

He stood to leave.

I grabbed his sleeve, but my arms were weak from training, and my hand quickly began to slip.

"Stay tonight."

He looked down at my hand, conflict written across his face. 8 years earlier, when our company's survival had hung by a thread, I had been hospitalized with a fever. He canceled an important meeting and told me that nothing mattered more than I did.

Now he pried my fingers loose one at a time.

"I'll make sure she's all right, then come back. Claire, don't make me choose between you."

After the door closed, I asked the caregiver to take away the flowers.

"Could you find out what I need to do to transfer to another rehabilitation center?"

By 3 a.m., he still had not returned.

Instead, Tessa called me from his phone. Rapid breathing filled the receiver, followed by her frightened, tearful voice.

"Ethan, hold me tighter. I'm scared."

I hung up and silenced his number.