I Broke Up With Him After The Concert Kiss Chapter 02
When I woke up, the sharp smell of disinfectant stung my nose.
I lay in a hospital bed, dizzy and disoriented.
A stranger had brought me here.
The room was empty, save for the steady drip of an IV.
Staring at the ceiling, memories from the past decade flashed through my mind.
My parents had died saving Lila.
That year, a runaway car swerved toward us. My parents pushed Lila out of the way, but they were struck and lay injured on the road.
Seven-year-old Lila knelt at my parents’ grave and swore she’d protect me for the rest of her life.
And she did. When kids called me an orphan, she was the first to throw a punch.
Her small face scraped and bruised, she’d still stop to comfort me first.
Later, when our house caught fire, she dragged me out through the flames, breathing in thick smoke.
She developed severe asthma because of it.
She’d truly risked her life for me.
Sophomore year, greedy relatives swarmed in to seize my family’s property.
Silas stood in front of me, shielding me from them.
They beat him with sticks, damaging the nerves in his right hand.
The gifted pianist never played again.
He’d walked the academic path with me ever since.
I owed them both lives, and a future.
That’s why I’d thought they were the most important people in the world.
How had it come to this?
It was filthy.
I pulled out the IV in my hand, slipped on my shoes, and walked out of the room.
At the nurse’s station, the nurse eyed me suspiciously as I checked out.
“Honey, where’s your family? Why are you doing this alone?”
I tightened my grip on the bill.
“They’re busy.”
Busy lying to me. Busy satisfying each other.
After paying, my phone lit up.
It was a post from Silas.
“The love of my life is right here.”
The photo was a still from the concert screen, of the three of us.
But Silas and Lila’s faces were clear, grinning and close.
I was only a blurry half-profile, like an afterthought.
I locked my phone and called my aunt abroad.
“Auntie, I’ve made up my mind.”
“I’ll go with you.”
She exhaled in relief, promising to book my flight right away.
After hanging up, I thought about the heirloom my mom had left me.
Lila had borrowed it the day of the graduation ceremony, saying she wanted good luck for her applications.
I had to get it back before I left.
I found Lila’s room number and walked over.
The door was ajar.
I reached for the handle, then froze.
The room reeked of something warm and intimate.
On the bed, Silas leaned close to Lila, sharing intimate embraces and soft kisses, neither willing to pull away.
