Chapter 8

<p>At 11:30 a.m., I limped my way to the anesthesiology department, clutching my wound.</p><p>A young doctor sat by the door, and when he saw me, his eyes widened. "You're Sophie, right?" he stammered.</p><p>"So who are you?" I asked.</p><p>"I'm Alex Mason, Henry's student. Hi, Sophie." He jumped to his feet. "Henry's inside. Let me get you some water."</p><p>"No need."</p><p>"Henry said I had to make sure you sit down and have something cold if you showed up."</p><p>Before I could say anything else, Alex was already bouncing off to the break room.</p><p>I took a deep breath and pushed open the door to the anesthesiology office.</p><p>Henry Carter was sitting at his desk by the window, with a stack of medical records spread out in front of him.</p><p>He looked up when he heard the door open. When he saw it was me, he set his pen down and scooted his chair back a bit. "Why are you walking here by yourself? It's only been three days since your surgery," he said.</p><p>"I'm here to settle the score with you," I replied.</p><p>"Sit down and talk."</p><p>"I'm not sitting."</p><p>"Sophie, if you stand for another three minutes, your wound's going to split open."</p><p>I hesitated for a couple of seconds, then finally sat down in the chair across from him.</p><p>It wasn't because I was scared; it was because the wound hurt badly.</p><p>"Go ahead," he said, leaning back in his chair with his hands folded in front of him, looking like he was all ears.</p><p>"Did you tell everyone in the hospital I'm your girlfriend?" I asked.</p><p>"No."</p><p>"Then what about the pancake guy downstairs?"</p><p>"I said, 'Add an egg for the kid's mom,'" Henry corrected. "He's the one who jumped to the conclusion that you're my wife."</p><p>"And what about the baby ID bracelet?"</p><p>"I'm the dad, so I get to..."</p><p>"Get to what? You haven't taken a DNA test yet."</p><p>"You admitted it yourself yesterday."</p><p>"Saying it does not make it true."</p><p>"Then let's do the test."</p><p>I was right back where I started.</p><p>Henry's logic was a vicious cycle with no way out</p><p>I tried a different angle. "Henry, we're already broken up," I said.</p><p>"That was your decision alone," he replied.</p><p>"You don't need two people to break up!"</p><p>"Then getting back together doesn't need your approval either."</p><p>"What kind of shameless logic is that?"</p><p>"Learned it from you."</p><p>I almost chucked the water cup at his face.</p><p>"Did you forget why we broke up?" he asked.</p><p>I froze for a second. It was rare for him to bring this up on his own.</p><p>"You said you'd had enough," he said, his eyes calm as he looked at me. "Enough of me working overtime, enough of me not replying to your messages, enough of me disappearing into the OR every other day and being impossible to reach."</p><p>"Yes," I said.</p><p>"So you broke up with me."</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>"I asked if you were sure, and you said you were."</p><p>"So..."</p><p>"And then you left."</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>"And you took my kid with you."</p><p>I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.</p><p>He stood up, walked around his desk, and came over to me. Then he crouched down in front of me. Here we go again with this move.</p><p>He sure liked talking to me like this, crouched right in front of me.</p><p>Perhaps it was because his 6'2" height felt too overwhelming when he stood over me while I sat.</p><p>He knew I hated having someone towering over me. Despite eight months of our breakup, he still remembered that.</p><p>"Sophie," he said.</p><p>"What?" I replied.</p><p>"When you broke up with me, I didn't try to stop you," Henry said quietly. "Do you know why?"</p><p>"Because you wanted out too."</p><p>"That's not it."</p><p>"Then what was it?"</p><p>"Because I think you were right."</p><p>I was stunned.</p><p>"Every word you said was true," he continued. "I was not a good boyfriend. In three years, I missed your birthday twice, showed up three hours late when you were in the hospital, and often couldn't answer your calls due to surgery.</p><p>"You said you'd had enough, and you had every right to be fed up.</p><p>"That's why I let you go."</p><p>He lowered his head and looked at his hands, the hands that had put countless patients under anesthesia and were steady as a rock.</p><p>But right now, his fingers were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.</p><p>He continued, "Back then, I figured if I let you go, you could find someone with a normal 9-to-5 job, someone who'd always come home on time and go shopping with you on weekends.</p><p>"You deserve that kind of life.</p><p>"That's why I didn't chase after you."</p>