So this was what it felt like, to have no defense anyone would believe.
The pain in my body, the kind I could barely stand, crested in that exact moment.
Any other time, Phineas would have rushed to hold me, doing whatever he could to ease it until the doctor arrived.
Now he didn't even seem to notice. My suffering meant nothing to him.
"I don't want to fight with you."
"Just calm down on your own. I'm going to call Mona. She gets scared by herself."
Before he could leave the room, I stopped him.
"I get scared too."
Every single moment the illness tore at me, I was afraid.
Phineas paused, just barely, and turned back in the dim light of the hallway, as if there was something he wanted to say.
His phone cut him off.
The screen showed Mona's name.
He picked up, his brow knotting as he listened, and walked out of the ward without looking back.
He left only one line behind. "Beryl, stop making a scene. Whatever it is, it can wait until I'm back."
I leaned against the headboard, the words I wanted to say lodged in my throat.
Everything in front of me blurred.
The tears came down like rain.
I had never once doubted that Phineas truly loved me.
But I had forgotten that a true heart can change in an instant.
I sat up and calmly tore the plane ticket I'd bought for Phineas into pieces.
Along with the love I'd once felt for him, and the last tear I would ever shed over him, I left it all behind in Searborough.
Once a nurse helped me change my clothes, I dragged my suitcase out and took a cab to the airport.
On my phone, Phineas's messages kept popping up, one after another.
"Something came up on Mona's end."
"I'll come back once I've sorted out her situation. Just wait for me like before, be good and wait, okay?"
Looking at the words flashing on the screen, I lowered my eyes and blocked every one of Phineas's contacts.
I would not stand in place and wait obediently for him to come back.
And I had no need to be saved by him.
I was flying to a foreign country, racing toward a new life of my own.
