Chapter 3
At the end of the night, my mom walked me to the door and suddenly reached out to fix my hair.
"Lily, I'm not upset," she said softly. "I feel sorry for you."
Standing under the streetlight, her eyes were red and watery.
My dad stood behind her, his hand on her shoulder, silent.
Later, I accidentally scrolled through the chat history between Alex and Emily.
In the chat, Emily sent a photo of the cheesecake box.
Emily: [Alex! You gave the cheesecake to my parents. Lily won't get mad, right?]
Alex: [She doesn't know.]
Emily sent a shy emoji and added: [What about Lily's mom? Didn't you say her birthday was coming up soon?]
Alex didn't answer the question.
He replied: [No big deal. I'll send Lily some cash. She's not hard to please. I saved her life. She owes me. She won't leave me.]
He really did save me.
It was summer, three years ago. I was snapping pictures by the riverbank when my foot slipped, and I went straight into the water.
I couldn't swim, gulped down a ton of water, and as I was freaking out, Alex happened to be passing by, saw me struggling, and dove in to drag me out.
When I woke up in the hospital, he was right there by my bed, holding my hand, his eyes red and puffy.
The nurse said, "Your boyfriend waited outside all night."
Back then, I thought I'd finally found my prince charming.
But now, he had once saved my life, so my parents had to go through all this embarrassment with me.
'Am I really doing the right thing?' I couldn't help but wonder.
Mom's voice snapped me back to reality. "Lily, why don't you help Ryan get some food?
"He's been helping you out, and all you do is eat without a word."
I paused, picked up the public spoon, and had no clue what to serve him.
I could count on one hand how many times Ryan and I had eaten together. I had no idea what he liked.
Ryan seemed to notice my awkwardness. He picked up a piece of grilled rib himself, smiling. "Mrs. Summers, please don't blame her. She usually serves me at home. Maybe she's a little nervous today."
My mom chuckled. "Why would she be nervous? It's not like she's meeting your folks."
Ryan's face stiffened, and his voice dropped. "My parents are no longer with us. Otherwise, they would've been here today."
The room fell silent all of a sudden.
My mom's smile froze, and she stammered, "I'm sorry, Ryan. I didn't know that."
She smacked me hard on the back again. "Lily, why didn't you tell me?"
I had no clue.
As if my dad had no idea that the night he was being resuscitated, I was crouched in the hallway, calling Alex, who would never come, eleven times.
That was when Ryan showed up.
We went to the same college, but we barely talked. Then he took a break from school.
It wasn't until the night my dad was in surgery that he found me crying in the hallway.
"Lily Summers." I heard a voice.
I looked up.
Ryan was wearing a doctor's gown, with his ID badge clipped to his chest.
He took off his mask.
I stared at him for a long moment before finally recognizing him.
"You're Ryan Stone, right?" I asked, a bit uncertain.
He replied, "Yeah. Your dad's surgery went well. Don't worry. If he recovers well, he should be able to go home next week."
"Thank you," I said.
Seeing a former college mate I barely knew go out of his way to comfort me, I felt a strange mix of gratitude and sadness.
Ryan pulled out a tissue and handed it to me. "If you ever need anything, feel free to come find me. Don't hide away and cry by yourself."
This time, therefore, he was the first person I turned to.
I was lucky to have him by my side.
My phone suddenly buzzed.
I checked—it was a photo from Alex.