After My Boyfriend and Best Friend Betrayed Me, Regret Haunted Them Nightly Chapter 05
Three years later, the plane glided smoothly above the Pacific Ocean.
I looked out the window at the twilight, my hand instinctively resting on my right arm.
The fractured bone from three years ago had healed well enough, though a dull ache still lingered whenever it rained.
After my injury back then, I accepted my German mentor Dr. Schmidt’s invitation to join his research team.
He had invited me long before that, but back then, I couldn’t part with my patients, Preston, and my friends.
Dragging a heavy suitcase home full of excitement, I was met with the simultaneous betrayal of the two most important people in my life.
During those three years in Germany, I turned myself into a precise, flawless machine.
Days were spent doing research with Dr. Schmidt at the hospital, evenings were for physical therapy at the rehab center, and late nights were spent grinding through medical literature until midnight.
I just couldn’t accept it.
After over a decade of hard studying, my life had an infinite future ahead. How could I accept letting it stop there?
Late at night, when my old injury flared up, I would stare at the ceiling until dawn.
If not for that baseball bat, if Preston had just picked up that call, would my life have turned out differently?
But there are no “ifs” in this world.
An urgent announcement suddenly cut through the cabin. I heard the head flight attendant calling, “Is there a doctor on board?”
My body reacted before my brain. I unbuckled my seatbelt and stood up without hesitation.
In the back of the first–class cabin, an elderly man clutched his chest, his face pale and grey, gasping for air.
“I’m a doctor.”
I knelt to check his pulse and pupils, motioning for the flight attendant to bring the emergency kit.
“Suspected acute myocardial infarction. Lay him flat immediately, give him oxygen, and administer sublingual nitroglycerin.”
The man’s wife sobbed, unable to speak, so I asked about his medical history while administering care.
The flight attendant held her hand, trying her best to soothe her.
When the plane made an emergency landing,
paramedics boarded with a stretcher, and I carried the IV bag, following them all the way into the ambulance.
The ambulance sped away with sirens blaring. Sitting inside, I watched the familiar streets pass by.
I hadn’t expected my first stop back, three years later, to be my former workplace–the Holt family hospital.
The harsh lights of the ER lobby were blinding. I calmly explained the in–flight situation to the ER doctor.
Once the patient was wheeled into the ICU, I let out a breath and turned to leave.
A familiar voice, thick with shock, called out behind me.
“Julissa? Is that you?”
I stopped in my tracks.
Preston stood there in a lab coat, his mask pulled down to his chin, holding a freshly printed ECG.
Three years had passed. He had grown much thinner, with dark circles under his eyes.
Breathing heavily, he stared at me, keeping a restrained distance of several steps.
“Where… where have you been these past three years?
You resigned without a word. I looked for you everywhere. You moved, changed your number, and no
one knew where you went.”
I remained silent, looking at him calmly.
An ER nurse rushed over in panic. “Dr. Holt, the patient has been transferred to the ICU.”
I gave a slight nod and stepped aside to clear the way.
Preston hesitated, unwilling to step away as the night breeze caught the hem of his coat.
“Wait, Julissa. Can you give me your number?”
“Your arm… how are you doing?”
I frowned and cut him off in a flat tone. “Your patient is
waiting. The golden window for MI thrombolysis is only two hours. Don’t waste time.”
Preston gritted his teeth and headed into the operating room without another word.
The autumn breeze seeped through my collar, and I tightened my cold fingers into fists.
It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would.
Time really could fade everything. Meeting an old ghost face–to–face, my heart didn’t miss a single beat.