Later, I learned that Anders ran fast. Before I could even react, he had already run to a phone booth to call Kevin Branch.
Outside the operating room, Anders sobbed uncontrollably in my arms.
“It’s all my fault. If I had protected you, Kevin wouldn’t have gotten hurt… boo hoo.”
I patted his back to comfort him, but in reality, my attention was entirely on the operating room.
“Summer Cooper…”
That familiar voice came again. I just glanced up at him before lowering my head back down.
The next second, he grabbed me, forcefully shaking my body with both hands.
“You’re so out of it over another man?!”
He seemed angry. But why?
It wasn’t him who almost died.
“He saved me.”
As soon as I spoke, I realized how hoarse my voice had become. It hurt to even force out a few words. But my heart hurt even more.
“I saved you too!”
“No, you didn’t.” I immediately denied it. “You chose Katie Baker.”
“The situation was so dangerous; everyone was at risk. How can you be this selfish?!”
So it turns out that loving someone makes you selfish.
My throat felt tight, and with a bitter smile, I asked, “So you knew, all along, that I was in danger.”
Larry Tate was speechless, unable to respond. After a while, he finally questioned me again.
“Have you already been with him?!”
“I went to get Anders enrolled in school, and they said the identification didn’t match. What’s going on?!”
“I changed Anders’ name,” I said, looking him straight in the eyes. “I have nothing to do with you anymore.”
He still wanted to say something, but just then, the door to the operating room opened, and I quickly walked over.
“Doctor, how is he?”
“The surgery was successful, but there might be some lingering issues with his arm. He’ll need to stay in the hospital for observation for a few more days.”
Kevin Branch slept soundly for two days before finally waking up. Only then did I truly feel relieved.
One day, while bringing food to Kevin Branch, I ran into Larry Tate at the hospital again-Katie Baker still by his side. He stopped me, saying he was wrong and that he would break up with Katie Baker in front of me.
“If it’s not her, there’ll be a second or third Katie Baker.”
“Larry Tate, let’s part on good terms.”
On the seventh day, Kevin Branch insisted on being discharged, saying he wanted to eat Anders’ cooking.
I brought him home, and the two of them-one big and one small-filled the kitchen with laughter. Taking advantage of the moment, I went to the study to throw out everything related to Larry Tate.
But then, I came across an old textbook. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember why I had kept it.
I flipped open the first page and found several lines written in handwriting that wasn’t mine.
“When the flowers bloom, it’s a sentence. When the night falls, it’s a paragraph.”
“Dusk begins the story, and dawn fills the countless pages.”
“The whole world becomes a poem. I…”
Suddenly, I remembered one evening in high school.
I had just finished dinner and returned to the classroom, only to see Larry Tate writing something in my book.
Back then, we were well-known rivals in class. Without a word, I rushed over and snatched the pen from his hand. That’s why the sentence was left unfinished.
“What are you reading?”
Kevin Branch suddenly walked in and stood behind me.
“Nothing.”
Just as I was about to close the book, he spoke again, “The last line should be ‘I love you.'”
“What?”
“That unfinished sentence,” he explained.
My hand froze on the book, unable to move.
So, he had liked me back then.
It’s been so long. No wonder he’s forgotten by now.
Maybe we were always destined to have an unfinished ending.
Just like this unfinished poem.