Page 92 of Love Not Qualified

I didn’t hesitate and got out of bed from under Tristan’s arms, in a hurry to put my clothes on and get there as fast as possible. He barely was waking up from his sleep, but somehow proceeded to drive me here.

Merielle looked up at me with red eyes and tears dried on her cheeks, as she kneeled down in front of a chair. Her hair was a mess, showing just how many times she nervously played with it.

“You’re here,” she whispered and grabbed onto my shoulders the second I leaned to her. Merielle broke into sobs, her fingers clutching my skin.

I looked around, trying to figure out what happened. She was in my arms which meant she wasn’t here because of her, but someone else. I froze, gasping for air.

“Merielle, are your parents okay?” I asked, my heart thumping in my chest.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Even though neither of my parents are dead, I knew better than anyone what it was like to lose someone that was once your family. Though I wasn’t sure what was worse. Your parents actually dying or feeling like they already did?

I counted the seconds that passed without any reply from her. I never saw her this way.

She broke away, wiping her tears with the upper part of her palm. Merielle nodded. “It’s… It’s David.”

My stomach sunk into the ground.

David? What happened to him? Why was he here? When did it happen?

Shit. I should’ve been here, not on a goddamn vacation.

I raised a hand and caressed the top of her head, my eyes softening with tears. If she looked like that, it meant it was bad. I sucked in a breath, not ready to hear what she had to say, but needing to know.

“What happened?”

She gulped, breathing harshly. “The night you left with your boss?” Merielle started, her voice breaking. I nodded, letting her continue. “Remember David called me a few times?”

My mouth stopped delivering air to my lungs. “I do.”

“He was working at the seaport and one of his colleagues didn’t see him at the unloading ramp.” She took a break, her eyes swelling with more tears as she glanced aside. Merielle looked down at her cuticles, already bleeding from how hard she was picking them up. “A container fell over his truck. Both of his legs are broken.”

Suddenly, all the oxygen vanished from the hospital. I supported my back on the wall, staring at a blind spot.

He… he had both of his legs broken and Merielle had been here going through everything by herself while I was unreachable. I should’ve been here by their side.

These people needed me once in their life and I wasn’t here.

“He broke up with me, Hae,” she burst out in a more violent cry, touching her chest with her palm.

My head immediately snapped back to her. “What are you talking about? What do you mean he broke up with you? He would never. David adores you.”

She nodded, the tears kept coming. “While he had surgery, Christian called me from his phone and I didn’t answer. When he woke up and found out, he was mad I didn’t answer him and gosh, he has every right to be. The first two days he was distant with me and I thought it was because of the pain he was going through, but today he asked me what I was doing when he called.”

I closed my eyes and banged my head on the wall. She was with me that night and she didn’t want to pick up the phone because I had been confessing my past to her. Because we were sharing a moment she thought was more important than David.

David broke things off with her because of me. I was an impediment in their relationship.

“Then he asked me where you were, because usually, you’d be right beside us and when I told him you were out of town he said ‘Ah, because if she was home, you wouldn’t be her.’” She imitated the grave tone of his voice, with a lump in her throat. “Was I really so bad as a girlfriend that he now thinks I wouldn’t be here for him if you weren’t out of town?” She broke again, looking for the answer in my eyes. “He asked me to leave, but I couldn’t—I can’t.”

I took a deep breath, placing a hand on top of hers. “No, Merielle. No.” I shook my head, caressing her. “You’re the best woman I’ve ever met. You have a heart so big you help everyone in need and because that was the case with me, your entire attention was on fixing me. But just because David didn’t need it that way, it didn’t mean he didn’t want your attention,” I explained with a sad smile. “I’m going to step away for a bit, to give you two space. I know you’ll figure things out?—”

“No, what are you talking about?” She shook her head. “I already lost my boyfriend, I don’t want to lose my best friend.”

I dragged her into my arms, tears rolling down my cheeks. “I’ll still be one call away, but you two have to work things out without me in the picture. You two matter the most now.”

All I wanted was to walk into that hospital room, see if my friend was all right, and be a rock for the two of them. But I had a feeling that if David saw me, it was only going to make things worse.

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