He Ignored My Plea, I Cut Ties

Seven hours after I lost consciousness, my fiancé still hadn't shown up at the hospital. Then someone tagged me on social media. Emily Ross. All I had was a little period pain, but he insisted on bringing me to the hospital. Thank you@Thea Walker, for training my ex into such a perfect gentleman. She posted a photo of my fiancé, Luke Stone, arranging flowers in her hospital room. The man I'd been unable to reach for seven hours had been in the very same hospital as me the whole time. I closed my eyes. What a joke. Seven hours earlier, I'd just gotten off my shift at the hospital when a psychiatric patient swung an IV pole and smashed it into the back of my head. Blood poured down my neck. Right before I blacked out, I called Luke. I prayed he'd come over. Later, one of my coworkers told me that when they wheeled me into the emergency room, I was still clutching my phone. Call duration was 8 seconds. He heard my desperate plea for 8 whole seconds. And he still chose to stay with Emily because of her cramps. At three in the morning, the doctor came to check on me. "Has your fiancé arrived yet?" Yeah. He'd arrived. Just not for me. He was with another woman. I wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of my eyes and opened my call history. Over the past five years, I'd called Luke 968 times without getting an answer. Meanwhile, he'd never missed a single call from Emily. A man who was always unreachable wasn't worth keeping. I dragged myself out of bed and headed to my supervisor's office. "Is there still room on the UN medical mission to West Ardin?" If I was ending this relationship, I was ending it for good. I deleted every way I had of contacting Luke. ***** "Thea, are you home?" At ten the next morning, loud banging echoed through my front door. Luke. I pulled the blanket over my head and kept pretending to sleep. "Thea, open the door! You're making me worry." A few minutes later, the property manager called me nervously. The neighbors had complained about the noise, and he wanted to know if I knew the man outside. I took a deep breath, got out of bed, and opened the door. Luke looked like he'd rushed straight over. He still carried the sharp scent of hospital disinfectant. The first thing he did was look me over from head to toe. Only after confirming I was okay did he finally let out a relieved sigh. "Thank God you're fine." The wound was hidden beneath my hair, so it wasn't obvious unless someone looked closely. "When I got to the hospital, they told me you'd already been discharged." I looked at him without much expression. "So why are you here?" "I couldn't get through to your phone. I was worried." Luke reached over and gently ruffled my hair. "Sorry. Something important came up yesterday, so I couldn't make it to the hospital." His touch was light, but it still tugged at the stitches beneath my hair. Pain shot through my scalp. I frowned and stepped away. "What was so important?" "Emily had a stomachache." He paused for a few seconds before adding, "You know how she is. She has zero pain tolerance. I had to take her to the hospital." Zero pain tolerance? Funny. So did I. "What happened to the guy who attacked you?" His eyes turned cold. "Want me to take care of him?" When Luke said "take care of him", he meant killing him. For a mafia boss, taking a life was easier than breathing. I shook my head. "He's mentally ill. Let the police handle it." Luke reached into the bag he'd brought and handed me a bottle of iron supplements and a bottle of fish oil. Both were supposed to help replenish blood. I looked at them in surprise. "You bought these?" "Yeah. Emily asked me to bring them over. She had a bunch left, so I figured you could have the leftovers." He said it so casually. "You actually run errands like this for her?" "Yeah, but don't get the wrong idea. She gets really cranky when she's on her period. If I don't buy them, she won't take them." Buying her menstrual supplements. Taking her to the hospital for period cramps. Luke had never done any of that for me. Only Emily could make a man as cold and detached as Luke break his own rules. I accepted the bottles. Then my eyes landed on his shirt collar. A bright lipstick stain stood out against the white fabric. I recognized the shade instantly. Emily's favorite. "What's that on your shirt?" Without even realizing it, his voice softened with affection. "Emily accidentally got lipstick on it." He rubbed at the stain with his thumb. "She felt better after the IV, then insisted on dancing around the room. She tripped and crashed right into me." The lipstick smeared beneath his fingers. The bright red blurred into a dark crimson blotch. It looked like a wound that had never been properly cleaned. "Aren't you going to change your shirt?" "Nah. I've gotta head back to the hospital anyway." Luke hesitated for a moment before adding, "She's there by herself. Someone needs to drive her home after her IV is finished." He had countless men working for him. Yet he insisted on driving her himself. Luke turned and walked into the bathroom. A moment later, the faucet came on. Water rushed loudly into the sink. He was scrubbing the lipstick stain with hand soap. As if washing it away could somehow erase whatever existed between him and Emily. Then a phone started ringing. Luke had left his phone on the entryway table. The screen lit up. Caller ID was Emily. A mocking smile tugged at the corner of my lips. "Your phone's ringing." "Who is it?" "Emily." Luke didn't hesitate for even a second. He rushed out of the bathroom, his wet fingers sliding across the screen as he answered. A girl's sweet, slightly pouty voice drifted through the speaker. "Why aren't you back yet? My IV's almost done." Luke's tone immediately softened. It was a voice I'd rarely ever heard him use. "My bad. I'm on my way." He didn't even bother hanging up. Still holding the phone, he headed straight for the front door. His damp shirt clung to his back, dark patches spreading across the fabric. Just before stepping outside, he suddenly remembered something and glanced back at me. "Oh, right. I'll text you the address for the bridal shop. Go try on your wedding dress when you have time." The wedding dress? There was no point anymore. I walked over to the mirror. Carefully, I brushed my hair aside and looked at the stitched wound on the back of my head. The spot Luke had touched started bleeding again. Luke always said my long hair was his favorite. I picked up a pair of scissors. Then I cut off my waist-length hair with my own hands.