My BFF Betrayed Me with My Boyfriend! Now Neither of Them Will Leave Me Alone! Chapter 09
Simon’s father recovered far better than expected.
2 weeks later, he was transferred from the ICU to a regular ward.
Simon came to visit him every day.
Over time, Simon and I got to know each other.
He gave me a gentle smile, flashing even white teeth.
“I’m an attorney. If you ever face a medical malpractice lawsuit, Dr. Ellis, you can come to me. And if anyone ever harasses you…”
Simon rolled up his sleeve, revealing the defined muscles of his forearm.
“I can handle that too.”
The entire nurses’ station burst into laughter.
Even Peter couldn’t resist teasing me.
“Dr. Ellis, Simon really is a good man. His father is the patient, but he’s more punctual than the nurses.”
I only smiled.
Yet I could faintly sense that my heart, silent for so long, had stirred again.
On the day of his discharge, Simon’s father held my hand and refused to let go.
“Dr. Ellis, you saved my life. My entire family will always remember
—
what you did.”
I smiled softly.
“Taking care of patients is a doctor’s job.”
Simon stood behind the wheelchair and looked at me intently.
“Dr. Ellis, could I get your number? I’d like to take you to dinner.”
I froze.
He was so open and straightforward that, for a moment, I couldn’t find a reason to refuse.
After my night shift that day, Simon stood quietly in front of his car.
Beneath the moonlight, he smiled and waved at me.
After that, he occasionally came to the hospital.
Sometimes, he brought me a plate of hot lasagna.
Other times, he simply sat on a chair in the hallway and waited for my shift to end.
Even when he had work to handle, he kept his voice low while discussing business.
He looked a little harried, and somehow, it was funny.
The younger nurses exchanged knowing looks.
Then they told me with completely serious expressions, “Dr. Ellis, don’t say yes too quickly. Make him prove himself first.”
—
Another nurse rolled her eyes.
“Don’t listen to her, Dr. Ellis. She only wants Simon to keep coming because he brings us coffee every time.”
Peter would take the chart from my hands, sternly tell them to focus on work, and send me home.
Simon parked outside my apartment building, and I called out to him.
“You come here every day, but I’m always too busy to spend much time with you. Don’t you get bored?”
He thought about it before smiling and shaking his head.
“Waiting for you could never be boring.”
I didn’t agree to date him right away.
But I no longer refused his offers to drive me home.
Maybe I still couldn’t truly let go of the past and accept someone new.
But I wouldn’t remain trapped in my memories.
I still didn’t believe I had done anything wrong.
Everyone had their own choices to make.
All that mattered was that they took responsibility for themselves.
That winter, Evan and Karen finally separated for good.
Before Karen left, she came to see me one last time.
She had grown painfully thin.
—
She lowered her head and gave me a bitter smile.
“Thea, I know you can’t forgive me. But I still wanted to say goodbye. I’m leaving. I depended too much on other people before, whether it was Derek, Evan, or you.”
“From now on, I want to start over.”
“Whether you believe me or not, I sincerely wish you all the best.”
The following spring, Evan boarded a flight to Zurich.
He didn’t come to see me again.
He only sent me a message from an unfamiliar number.
“Athena, when I saw how calm and composed you were at the operating table that day, I suddenly remembered our first year of medical school. You came in 1st, and I told you I couldn’t accept coming in 2nd. I said I’d take 1st place back sooner or later. That day, I finally realized how wrong I had been. I was the one who lost. I know no amount of apologizing will ever be enough. I’ll spend the rest of my life saving more people. To you. To medicine. To everything we once believed in.”
I looked down at the message.
In the end, I quietly put my phone away without replying.
Outside the window, maple leaves rustled in the wind.
The spring breeze drifted inside, carrying the scent of freshly turned earth.
The bones that had been shattered had finally healed.
—
They had grown back stronger than before.
I stood by the window for a while, watching the sunset between the distant buildings.
Then Simon appeared downstairs.
He stood in the sunset and smiled as he waved at me.
I laughed softly and shut down my computer.
As we walked side by side along the tree-lined path, I reached out and took his hand.
“Simon.”
“When you pick me up tomorrow, bring me a bouquet.”
Broken bones could heal.
Winter would always pass.
And my future had finally begun.