The Wasted Ten Years Chapter 03
Author: Nora Blythe
When I woke up in the hospital, Shannon was nowhere to be seen.
The doctor stood beside my bed, studying my chart with a furrowed brow.
“Where’s your family?”
I shook my head weakly.
Without another word, the doctor moved on to the next patient.
A young couple occupied the bed beside mine.
The girl kept fussing over the boy, chiding him for being careless, yet the love in her eyes was pure.
It was the same way Shannon used to look at me.
My phone on the bedside table buzzed again and again with anonymous messages.
Each message contained photos of Shannon and Micah getting matching tattoos, going bungee jumping, visiting a church together, and watching the Northern Lights.
Shannon was right. She was happier with Micah than she had ever been with me.
Then, another anonymous message came through.
[Mr. Stafford, being young has its advantages. Wouldn’t you agree?]
There was an unmistakable note of provocation in Micah’s words, and I had no way to argue with him.
It was not until the third day of my hospital stay that Shannon finally came to see me.
She sat beside my bed. She looked at me as if she wanted to say something, but she could not find the words.
“Micah’s still young and doesn’t know any better. Don’t hold it against him.”
Her very first words were in Micah’s defense.
The numbness in my heart gave way to a dull ache.
“Does it still hurt?”
She took my hand, seemingly trying to figure out how to explain herself.
“I forgot you can’t drink anymore, but you knew that yourself and still went through with it. Were you deliberately trying to make yourself suffer?”
When I remained silent, Shannon seemed to realize she had said the wrong thing.
She brushed her hair back in frustration, inadvertently revealing the red marks on her neck.
In the end, she let out a defeated sigh.
“I’m sorry.”
I pulled my hand away and averted my eyes, refusing to look at her again as an uneasy silence settled over the hospital room.
After that, Shannon seemed to become a different person.
Perhaps it was out of guilt, or perhaps her conscience had finally caught up with her. Either way, during my hospital stay, she never left my side, making sure I took my medication and personally preparing meals to help with my recovery.
For a while, it felt as though everything had returned to the way it used to be.
When a crisis struck the Jervis family, Shannon went from being the golden girl of the elite world to someone who lost everything in an instant.
As they were unable to repay their debts, her parents took their own lives in their home.
By the time I found Shannon, she had already tried to end her life.
Thankfully, she survived, and from that day on, I swore I would protect her for the rest of my life.
During the hardest years Shannon and I endured, we once stayed in a motel that cost only ten dollars a night and shared a can of soup for a meal.
Knowing how exhausted I was from delivering food to make a living, she secretly gave me the last piece of bread we had.
Back then, getting sick was our greatest fear because we could not afford medical care or even basic medicine.
Through the rusty window of that motel, Shannon would often stare at the endless traffic and towering buildings outside.
“Jude, we have to get out of here someday.”
Those were the words Shannon said more often than anything else.
Eventually, we did.
However, somewhere along the way, she changed.
That night, the dim light beside the hospital bed flickered softly.
As Shannon sat in the chair, dozing off, I watched her almost greedily before finally looking away.
No matter what, she had changed. She would not be able to keep this up for long, since her heart was no longer with me.
Sure enough, a single call from Micah was all it took to wake her.
She did not even bother to say a word to me before grabbing her coat and hurrying out of the hospital room.
