After He Left Me Behind, My Wedding Ring Changed Hands Chapter 02

After He Left Me Behind, My Wedding Ring Changed Hands Chapter 02

After I hung up, I pulled the billing form toward me, signed my name—Mara Bennett—and completed the discharge paperwork.

The next day, I returned to Ravenport and took my parents in for checkups, worried that two days of panic might have taken a toll on them.

But at the outpatient clinic, I ran into Reid supporting Elise as she walked.

Reid looked genuinely surprised when he saw me.

“Mara? What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at my parents’ place?”

I almost laughed. So not only had he not cared, his parents hadn’t even wondered why I had never shown up.

“I didn’t go.”

His face darkened. He didn’t seem to care that my parents were standing right beside me before he started lecturing me as though I were obviously in the wrong.

“Are you seriously sulking over this?”

“Mara, how old are you? Didn’t I already explain that I left because Elise was in a car accident? Who do you think you’re punishing with that attitude?”

With a frown, he took Elise by the hand and walked away.

I stood frozen in the middle of the lobby as people stared.

My parents sighed. “Are you really going to marry him?”

I watched Reid walk away, still hovering protectively around Elise, and let out a humorless laugh.

“No. I’m not marrying him. I applied for a fully funded study-abroad program yesterday, and I got accepted.”

Mom’s blood pressure was a little high, so the doctor wanted to keep her for observation for a few days. After we got her admitted, I was walking down the hall when I stopped outside one of the rooms.

Inside, Elise was fussing that the medicine tasted awful while Reid patiently coaxed her.

“Come on. You need to take it if you want to get better.”

Elise shook her head and refused.

Reid sighed. “Drink it, okay? When you’re out of here, I’ll take you on a trip.”

Elise brightened immediately, and Reid looked relieved.

I watched the tender scene in silence. All I could think about was how stern he had always been whenever I was sick and wanted even a little comfort.

He never tried to soothe me. He would just stare at me with a blank expression.

“Mara, it’s your body. You’re an adult. Stop making a fuss over nothing.”

“I’m not going to coddle you. Take it or don’t.”

Watching him soothe Elise now left me strangely disoriented.

So this was what Reid was like when he knew how to be gentle.

Too bad I, his actual girlfriend, apparently didn’t qualify.

After Elise finally took her medicine, she asked, “Should I apologize to Mara? You did leave her alone on that train because of me.”

Reid didn’t hesitate.

“For what?”

“She knows we’ve been friends since we were kids. If she’s jealous over something like that, she’s just being immature.”

I stood outside the room, and something inside me went colder with every word.

Good.

The more I heard him say things like that, the easier it would be to finally let go of him for good.