Fragments of Love

On my way to the hospital for a prenatal check-up, I tripped and fell and lost the baby. For three long days, Charlie Peterson was nowhere to be found.

When I called him for one last time, he still decisively hung up on me. Later, I saw him in his female student's Instagram post.

In her post, he was busily fixing bathroom pipes, scrubbing her toilet and even remodeling her bedroom in her dorm.

The female student happily made a "yeah" sign and added the text, "A man's greatest charm is his ability to solve problems, what should I do? I will love Mr. Paterson, my teacher, for the rest of my life.”

Under her post, Charlie even took some time to respond and wrote, “Then love me forever. I’ll love you forever too. As long as I’m around, you’ll never have to lift a finger for anything.”

I liked the post calmly. Later, Charlie finally remembered to call me back, but the first thing he said was, "Sorry, I can't accompany you for the prenatal check-up this time. I've still got something to do."

I packed my belongings, left the untouched engagement gifts in the house and responded calmly, "That's fine. Just do your business."

Then I added, "Charlie … if you can't figure out what to do, you don't have to do it …Oh and our wedding? Let's just call it off."

The attending doctor said to me, "Bed number nineteen, Patient Rose Jennings. You’re cleared to leave this afternoon. Remember, after a miscarriage, use good contraceptive methods to avoid pregnancy for two years. Also, avoid eating spicy or irritating foods for a month. Come back in a month for a follow-up to check your uterine lining and recovery.”

Then she said, "Oh, right. You still have moderate inflammation. So, you have to maintain your hygiene daily, especially before and after intimacy with your boyfriend."

"Alright," I answered.

The leading doctor prescribed the medicine and explained the time and dosage to be taken.

I listened to her explanation carefully but I was upset.

Before I left the hospital, I tried to call Charlie one last time. Yet, after it rang for a long time, he hung up on me, again. This was not the first time he had done this.

I think I was a masochist because I opened Charlie's female student's Instagram and scrolled through her posts.

There were nine pictures of him. In there, he had taken off his shirt and with his back facing the camera, he knelt on one knee and fixed the clogged sewer pipe. He even held a toilet brush and lowered his head to earnestly clean the toilet for Miranda Miller. The man had changed the single dormitory room into a couple apartments and bought his luggage to move in there.

The student was so happy and put in a "yeah" emoji and added a text that said, "A man's greatest charm is his ability to solve problems, what should I do? I'm going to love my teacher, Mr. Peterson for the rest of my life.”

Underneath, Charlie even took the time to write a comment and it said, "Then love me forever. I’ll love you forever too. As long as I’m around, you’ll never have to lift a finger to do anything.”

Her friends filled the comments with heart emojis and blessings.

I smiled. If only the man in the picture was not my boyfriend, I might have congratulated them too.

What a shame.

Charlie was not just my boyfriend, but he was also a well-known favorite teacher of the college. Miranda was part of the first batch of art major students that he taught after he became the dean of the college.

How far would Charlie pamper Miranda? Well, take this trip for example.

When Miranda was sent to an off-campus location for her sophomore-year fieldwork by the college, he worried she could not adjust to the accommodations of that place. So, he bought the most expensive, last-minute ticket to fly over there to remodel and clean her dorm.

Before that, he was already fretting about her meals and sleep schedule. He was so distraught that he postponed accompanying me to my prenatal check-up.

The irony was that when he was bending over backward for her, I was lying in a hospital because I miscarried our baby after tripping over an electric scooter on the way to have prenatal checkups alone.