The Risk Form I Signed Alone, The Wedding I Called Off Chapter 02

The Risk Form I Signed Alone, The Wedding I Called Off Chapter 02

The next morning, Bryce made porridge. A bowl of plain oatmeal. He set it in front of me. Next to it, he packed a container of lobster bisque.

He said, “The doctor said you’re on liquids only right now.”

I stared at the bisque. My favorite soup. The one I was violently allergic to.

I typed. [Who’s that for?]

“Hazel.” The name rolled off his tongue like it belonged there. “She cried so hard last night she made herself sick. She’s craving this.”

I typed. [I’m allergic to shellfish.]

“That’s why I didn’t give you any.”

[Did you stand in line for this?]

“Just grabbed it on my way in.”

I looked at the sticker on his cuff from The Claw House. That place was a forty-minute round trip from our apartment. He’d waited at least half an hour.

I stared down at my bowl. Just oats and water. He hadn’t even bothered with salt.

Bryce grabbed the pill bottle off the console table and shoved it in his bag. I reached out and blocked him. He frowned. “What now?”

I typed. [Those are my post-op meds.]

“Hazel’s doing her public statement today. She can’t afford a scratchy throat.”

[Neither can I.]

“I’ll buy you more.”

[The doctor prescribed these. You can’t get more today.]

He looked at me, his voice dropping. “Elara, are you seriously fighting me over a bottle of pills?”

I held my phone up to his face. [Yes. Because this is my life.]

He looked away. He put the pills in his bag anyway. “I’ll bring them back tonight.”

The door clicked shut. The apartment sank into silence. I sat at the dining table, staring at that bowl of oatmeal. My phone lit up. A message from Hazel. [Elara, Bryce is just sweet. Don’t read into it. Back when we were together, he took care of me the exact same way.]

I stared at the words back when we were together. My fingers froze. Bryce had told me Hazel was a childhood neighbor. A family friend. The girl next door he grew up with.

Turns out the girl next door had dated him. Had broken up with him. Had moved back to the States and now asked him to read her to sleep.

I screenshotted the message and sent it to Sasha. She called immediately. “I’m going to kill him.”

I typed. [Hospital first.]

Two in the afternoon. We picked up the results. Bryce didn’t show. I texted him. [You coming?]

Ten minutes later, he replied. [Hazel’s doing a soundcheck. Get the results yourself.]

I stared at the words get the results yourself. The doctor called me in. He flipped through the report, then looked at me. “Family with you?”

I typed. [No.]

He paused. “The final pathology confirms early-stage malignancy.”

Sasha burst into tears. I didn’t. The doctor handed me an admission form. “Secondary surgery as soon as possible.”

I nodded. My phone lit up again. Bryce sent a photo. Hazel sat in her studio, cradling my bottle of pills. Her caption: [Thanks to Bryce for saving the day.]

Bryce texted me: I’ll come keep you company tonight.

I sent him a photo of my admission form. No caption. A long pause. Then he called. I didn’t pick up. He texted: What does that mean?]

I typed. [It means what it says. [Malignant. Hospitalized.]

The typing indicator flickered. Stopped. Flickered again. Finally, he sent, [I’m on my way.]

Half an hour later. The door to my room swung open. Bryce walked in. And Hazel walked in behind him. She carried a thermos, eyes red-rimmed. “Elara, I was so worried.”

Sasha shot to her feet. “You were worried? What are you, a doctor or a jinx?”

Hazel’s face went pale. Bryce stepped in front of her. “Sasha, don’t be nasty.”

Sasha laughed. “Too nasty for you? Was what you did pretty?”

Bryce turned toward me, softening his voice. “Elara, I didn’t know it was this serious.”

I typed. [You didn’t know because you didn’t listen.]

He had nothing to say to that.

Hazel set the thermos down. “Bryce bought you some soup.”

Sasha opened it and looked inside. “Clam chowder.”

She slammed the lid back down. “Are you two here to visit a patient or to finish the job?”

Bryce’s face went tight. “Hazel didn’t know about your allergy.”

I typed. [You did.]

Those words hit him like a fist. He went completely silent.

I typed again. [Get out.]

Bryce didn’t move. “Elara, I’m staying.”

[Don’t.]

“You shouldn’t be alone right now.”

[I have Sasha.]

He glanced at her. “This is between us.”

I typed. [Not anymore. We canceled the wedding. You’re not my family.]

Hazel whispered through tears, “Is all of this because of me?”

I turned to her. I typed. [You’re not that important. Him being a piece of shit and you being cruel? Two separate things.]

The room went dead quiet. Bryce looked like I’d slapped him across the face.

I pressed the call button. A nurse came in. I handed her my phone. [Please make them leave.]

As he was being ushered out, Bryce kept saying, “Elara, don’t shut me out.”

I closed my eyes. I’d already shut the door a long time ago. He just never bothered to hear it close.