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Ron was explaining what treatment he would receive with this new doctor, but you couldn’t help but block out the sound of their voice. The only thing that you hear is a constant ringing in your ears. From the looks, they seem to be talking to each other rather than you, breaking your heart. Glancing over to the doctor in question, you can see the slight admiration in her eyes when she looks up at him. Listening to him so intently reminds you of your high school self when you would attend your one class together. The way he talked and the confidence and smugness in his tone. Your man is so intelligent you can’t help but look at him in awe. You also couldn’t help but be so prideful that the man everyone envied to be and be with is the one who loves you the most. That’s how you initially felt, but an incident two years ago destroyed your sense of self-worth. It hurts to see someone slowly fall in love with your husband, even if she doesn’t know it yet.
A few moments of talking go by when you fail to notice that they are saying their goodbyes and Doctor Mofu is waiting for you to say something back. Your eyes widen briefly before settling on a fake smile and a weak handshake. You watch as she haphazardly kicks off your slippers when Ron finally sees her out. It’s just the two of you in the room, and it feels dramatically colder than before. You try to quickly go over what was said that you actually listened to while gathering your thoughts, hoping that Ron will have some time to hear you out. It was a short exchange while you were there, but it made you feel uncomfortable. How long has she been here before you walked in? What were they talking about? Was it just about his condition? Doubts started to flood your mind as you started to notice that your palms were beginning to sweat. You knew a panic attack was starting to set in and that you had to excuse yourself before you started breaking down in front of your husband over someone that’s so trivial. “I’m glad things are starting to look up for you, Ron. I just came by to check on you, so I’ll be on my way now,” you blurted out, rushing as fast as you could to the door before he could say anything. You didn’t want to look directly at him because you knew you would lose your resolve to leave. There was nothing left to say.
~~
After a good night’s sleep, you wake up and immediately text Ron about your birthday. Over the years, Ron would refuse to go outside, own a phone, or even watch TV if that meant he could stay away from anything that could potentially trigger a case that could be solved. So birthdays and anniversaries are always spent alone talking over the phone until one of you falls asleep. This year, though, you were determined to change that. Your wedding anniversary has already passed, and next is your birthday. With Ron up and about nowadays, you didn’t think it would hurt to want to celebrate your birthday by going out to your favorite cake shop and zoo. Nothing too overwhelming for him since you mostly wanted him to see the platypus exhibit in town.
You:
Good morning, love. Are you busy tomorrow? Do you want to celebrate my birthday at the zoo? They have a platypus exhibit there, and I wanted to go to my favorite cake spot afterward. (9:23am)
Husband🩵💚:
That’s tomorrow? (9:27am)
What did he say?? Before you can furiously type back, he sent another text.
Husband🩵💚:
I’m kidding; yeah, we can do that. What time?
You let out a sigh of relief and a small smile. It’s been a while since he last teased you; you forgot what it looks like coming from him.
You:
I was thinking around 10 am??? It’s early enough to miss the crowd, but we can still see and watch the animals during breakfast! And there will be enough time for us to go to the cake spot right after.
Husband🩵💚:
Yeah, sure, of course.
You smiled brightly, hearting his last message before locking your phone. You sat up a bit, stretching your back out until you heard a slight pop, and then proceeded to prepare for the day.
~~
It’s been a few hours into your work day when suddenly your phone pings that specific tone, indicating a new social media message. You were in the middle of typing out discharge papers for a patient, eyes burning from staring at your computer screen for hours. So much time has passed that you started to notice that you were repeating sentences in the diagnosis section, so when the message came through, you didn’t hesitate to rip your eyes away from the screen to catch a break. You saw that the message displayed on the notification bar was from a username you’re not familiar with. The picture was of some popular anime you’ve seen before, so it wasn’t a unique indicator of who it was, so you were in no hurry to respond. Instead, you clicked on the username and went to their profile to see if there were any pictures on their page that you could see, and low and behold, there were.
While scrolling through their pictures, you didn’t know who the person was until you saw a throwback picture from high school that clicked. This person sat next to you in the only class you attended at that school. You’ve spoken to each other a few times, but nothing came out of it. You only had eyes for Ron and didn’t really want to make friends at a school you only attended once a week. You guys weren’t close, so now you’re wondering why he was messaging you. Instead of trying to figure that out by guessing, you finally opened the message to see what they wanted.
[redacted]:
Hey you! I know it’s been a while since the BLUE days, but many of us are thinking about going out to get drinks at a bar tomorrow to catch up! None of us can contact Kamonohashi-kun, so I thought about contacting you to invite both of you! I know many of us avoided him because we didn’t know him well, and some regret passing judgment on him. If you can let me know, I’ll send you the address.
You looked over the message and thought about your plan. You have already bought the zoo tickets and ordered the cake. Thinking about the time it’ll take for both tasks to be done, you don’t believe you can make it. You want to hang out and hopefully make some friends, but you want to spend the whole day with your husband, even if you both watch TV and do nothing. It’s more than what you’ve been doing together for the past two years. You contemplated how you would respond, wanting to let him down gently before scrunching your eyebrows. What the fuck am I thinking? He’s not asking me on a date; the invite was for the both of us.
You:
Ahh, hey, I remember you! Thank you for the invite, but it’s my birthday tomorrow, and we were planning on spending the day together. Thank you, though! I really appreciate it.
They responded pretty fast, and it surprised you.
[redacted]:
Oh really?! Well, happy early birthday! If anything changes, just let me know, okay!
You:
Of course! Thank you again for the invite! I hope you guys have fun!
[redacted]:
You as well, birthday girl! 🥳
You blushed when you read their last message, feeling happy for the birthday wishes. For the rest of your day, all you thought about was spending your birthday with your husband.
~~
The next day has finally come; you could barely sleep the night before. The excitement of spending time with your husband is overwhelming, and you’re staring at your clock display at 6:00am. You had a few more hours until you had to meet, but you didn’t want to stay in bed. You were getting antsy, so you decided to jump out of bed and head straight to the bathroom. You turn on the faucet hot for a comfortable scorching bath. Plans for the day start flooding your mind as you go over what you want to do again. You wanted this birthday to be perfect, and there was no telling what could happen in one day. It has been two years since you spent time together, and you want to discuss many things with him. There are so many different patients and so much to share. You wanted to know how Ron would have handled them, what it had been like solving crimes again, and how it felt to make friends. As you thought more about it, you wanted to learn more about this “new” Ron.
You spent a good forty-five minutes in the bath before you were ready to get out and start your routine. You could do your skincare and hair in record time, putting your hair in a messy bun while running out to your bedroom to put on a pair of matching loungewear. You headed for the kitchen, putting together a light breakfast in your mind while multitasking thoughts with what you should pack for lunch at the zoo. Going over your checklist was what kept you sane for the moment. You knew you would overthink the birthday date and start second-guessing yourself, so keeping yourself physically occupied by making breakfast and lunch did the trick. After everything was made and packed, you had about two hours to make it to your meetup spot. You decided to wear light, natural makeup since it’ll be hot outside, and you didn’t want it to melt on your face and ruin the pictures you planned to take. For your outfit, you wanted to wear something simple and comfortable but also cute, so you decided on a not-too-sexy matching underwear set to give you more confidence, a flowy crop top with an asymmetrical hem, a pair of waist-high jean shorts, and your favorite sneakers.
You look at the time on your phone before grabbing the lunch pail, purse, and emergency bag. You’ve always habitually brought that along just in case something happens, and you happen to be around to help. With everything accounted for, you leave your home, head to your car, and start the drive to the zoo.
~~
Once there, you find a parking spot and head to the entrance ticket counter. Because you pay for the yearly membership, you can use the money you save on parking and an entry ticket for souvenirs for your husband. You smile at the thought of being able to spoil your husband. Your love for this man is so hard to contain; even strangers could tell you’re still lovestruck. You wait by the entrance, placing yourself slightly in the corner while trying to make sure you’re not in the way of others but also able to be seen clearly. An hour passes, and you’re starting to get worried. You have called and texted him a few times but to no avail. You keep frantically checking the time on your watch while pacing around, wondering when Ron will arrive. After about another hour of missed calls and unread texts, you give up on waiting for him and decide to spend the day at the zoo alone. At the end of the tour, you walked through the gift shop, looking around for something to get Ron. Even though he stood you up, you still looked at the brighter side. He wouldn’t have done this on purpose. Something must have come up, you tell yourself while picking up a platypus keychain and stuffed animal you purchased, placing them inside the now empty lunch pail of food you had no motivation to eat, so you threw it away.
After the zoo trip, you text your husband that you are headed to the bakery and hope he can meet you there. Once there, you pick up the birthday cake you ordered the night before and sit at an empty table waiting for him. An hour passes, and just like last time, you call and text but are left with nothing. You’re trying to keep the tears in, but it all hurts the same. He promised you he would come, made you feel like you could trust him again, to show you that he still loves and cares for you and that he meant his word. That he still loved you. You were still getting no responses, but you had enough at this point. You pulled your phone out, went through your social media app, and sent a message.
You:
I think I’ll come after all, Ron isn’t feeling well, but I don’t want to waste my birthday cake.
[redacted]:
-Oh, hey! I’m sorry to hear that; here is the address! I can’t wait to see you!
-We** I mean we, haha
-We can’t wait to see you
You:
I can’t wait to be there! I’m not working tomorrow, so I WILL be drinking, lol.
You smiled and placed the cake back in the box, ensuring it was secure. If Ron didn’t want to enjoy the cake, the group wouldn’t let it go to waste. As you stood up to leave, your phone vibrated. You looked down to see a text message from Ron that made your blood run icy.
Husband🩵💚: I know we were supposed to meet, but Dr. Mofu needed to run more tests. It seems like she might have figured something out. We can talk later, and I’ll make it up to you.