A week had passed since Chiska woke up in the hospital, and the emptiness Jake left behind had only grown deeper. Each day, she would look out of the window, hoping that Jake would come back. But the cold, hard reality was that he was gone—by his own choice.
The hospital staff had been kind, offering warm smiles and reassuring words, but none of it reached her. Lisa visited every day, trying to keep her spirits up, but Chiska couldn’t shake the weight that pressed down on her heart.
Today was different, though. There was a tension in the air. Lisa had come in, and her expression was more serious than usual. Chiska noticed immediately.
“Lisa? What’s wrong?” Chiska asked, sitting up in her hospital bed.
Lisa sighed, her eyes flickering with concern. She sat down on the edge of the bed, fidgeting with the edge of her sweater. “I didn’t want to tell you like this, but... I heard something.”
Chiska's heart raced, already bracing herself for bad news. “About Jake?” she asked, her voice hopeful despite the dread creeping up her spine.
Lisa nodded slowly, but there was something in her expression that didn’t match the hopeful tone Chiska was clinging to. “Yeah, it’s about Jake... and it’s not what you think.”
Chiska leaned forward, her voice desperate. “What is it? Is he okay?”
Lisa took a deep breath, clearly trying to choose her words carefully. “He’s fine... physically. But... Chiska, I think he’s moved on. I saw him with someone else.”
For a moment, Chiska’s heart seemed to stop. She blinked, her mind reeling as she tried to process what Lisa had just said. “What... what do you mean ‘someone else’?” Her voice cracked, a mix of confusion and disbelief.
Lisa swallowed, her eyes filled with sympathy. “I saw him with a girl. They were at a café downtown. They looked... close.”
“No,” Chiska said, shaking her head as if denying it would make it untrue. “He wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t leave me like this and... and just be with someone else. You must be mistaken.”
“I wish I were, Chiska,” Lisa said softly, reaching out to take her friend’s hand. “But I saw him. He looked... different. Like he was trying to start over.”
The words hit Chiska like a punch to the gut. Her chest tightened, and she struggled to breathe, tears welling up in her eyes. “No,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “He promised me. He told me he loved me. How could he just... leave me like this?”
Lisa squeezed her hand gently. “I don’t know, Chiska. I don’t know why he’s doing this, but I’m so sorry. I didn’t want you to hear it from anyone else.”
Chiska pulled her hand away, tears streaming down her face now. “He was scared,” she muttered, more to herself than to Lisa. “He was scared of what happened. That’s why he left. But... but he promised me that we’d face things together. How could he just—”
“I think,” Lisa said cautiously, “that he’s running. He’s afraid of what being with you means, after what happened with Ethan.”
“Then he’s a coward!” Chiska snapped, her voice cracking with pain. “He’s a coward for leaving me like this. I was shot because of him, and now he’s just... walking away?”
Lisa flinched at the anger in her voice but didn’t pull back. “I’m not saying what he did was right. I’m just saying that maybe he’s more afraid of hurting you again than anything else.”
Chiska’s lips trembled as the pain twisted inside her. “If he cared about me, he wouldn’t have done this. He wouldn’t have left me to deal with all of this alone.”
Lisa remained quiet for a moment, watching Chiska’s shoulders shake with suppressed sobs. “You’re not alone,” she finally said, her voice firm but gentle. “I’m here. You have me. And I know it’s not the same, but you’re not going through this by yourself.”
Chiska let out a bitter laugh, wiping at her tears. “I know you’re here, and I appreciate it, but it’s not the same. It’ll never be the same.”
A heavy silence fell between them. The room felt suffocating, filled with the weight of everything unsaid, everything that had been shattered in the last few weeks.
After a few moments, Lisa spoke again. “What are you going to do?”
Chiska shook her head, more tears spilling down her cheeks. “I don’t know. How do you move on from something like this? How do you just... keep going?”
Lisa took a deep breath. “One day at a time. I know it sounds cliché, but that’s all you can do. You take it one day at a time, and eventually, the pain gets a little easier to bear.”
“I don’t want it to be easier,” Chiska whispered, her voice raw. “I want him back. I want the life we had.”
“I know,” Lisa said softly, her own heart aching for her friend. “But sometimes... sometimes the people we love the most aren’t the ones who stay. And we have to find a way to be okay with that.”
Chiska’s face crumpled as the realization finally sank in. Jake wasn’t coming back. He had made his choice, and now she had to figure out how to live without him.
The door to the hospital room creaked open, and a nurse stepped inside, her expression apologetic. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said quietly, “but visiting hours are almost over.”
Lisa nodded, standing up from the bed and giving Chiska’s hand one last squeeze. “I’ll come by tomorrow, okay? And we’ll figure out what to do next.”
Chiska nodded numbly, not trusting herself to speak. Her heart felt like it had been shattered into a million pieces, and she didn’t know how she would ever put it back together again.
As Lisa left the room, Chiska lay back against the pillows, staring up at the ceiling with tear-filled eyes. The weight of everything—Jake’s betrayal, Ethan’s actions, the near-death experience—pressed down on her like a suffocating blanket.
For the first time in her life, Chiska didn’t know what to do. She had always been the strong one, the one who helped others through their struggles. But now, she was the one who needed help, and the person she had counted on the most was gone.
“I’ll be okay,” she whispered to herself, though she didn’t believe the words. “I have to be okay.”
But deep down, she wasn’t sure she ever would be.