He Left Me When I Needed Him Most Chapter 1

On our fifth anniversary, Asher suddenly told me he was moving to Denver to set up a new branch.

I had waited up for him all night.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I dragged myself off the sofa and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"So, we're really doing the long-distance thing, huh?" I murmured, clinging to him, unable to let go.

Asher didn't hug me back.

He only muttered a low, cold "Yeah."

Back then, I had no idea he was putting distance between us on purpose.

I was foolish enough to keep calling him, bombarding his phone with messages.

It was only when I threatened to buy a ticket and show up at his doorstep that Asher finally said, "Jesse, let's break up."

I stayed quiet for only a brief second.

Then, I slipped my lung cancer diagnosis back into the drawer.

"Okay," I said, as sweet and compliant as I had always been. "Sure."

* * *

I hung up quickly after that.

After all, crying in front of an ex is just embarrassing.

To be honest, I had a feeling this was coming.

Asher had completely forgotten our anniversary.

He had worked at the office until past midnight that night.

When he finally walked through the door and saw the cake I had spent hours baking, he froze for a second.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, his voice flat. "Work has been crazy lately."

I should have known then.

Who apologizes on an anniversary?

Shouldn't he have pulled me into a suffocating embrace and whispered "I love you" over and over, the way he used to?

I sat on the edge of the bed for a long time, staring into space.

That was when it hit me: Asher hadn't said he loved me in months.

My phone dug painfully into my palm, but it didn't ring.

I unlocked the screen and opened his pinned chat.

The last two messages were the ones I sent last night.

"I miss you so much... [crying cat meme]"

"I bought my ticket! I'm going to hug you so tight tomorrow!"

Asher was always busy.

I never got angry when he didn't reply right away.

I was just terrified.

Because earlier that afternoon, the doctor told me I had lung cancer.

It was just a mild cough. How could it be cancer?

"We need a needle biopsy to determine if it's benign or malignant," the doctor had said. "You should talk to your family and get admitted for treatment as soon as possible."

But I hadn't had any "family" since I was a kid.

I only had Asher.

And how was I supposed to tell him?

His company had just gone public, and the new branch was in its critical launch phase.

If I fell sick now, what would he do?

Well, I didn't have to worry about that anymore.

I wiped my nose and forced a silly smile. This was actually for the best.

By breaking up, I wouldn't be a burden to him.

A sharp pain flared in my chest.

The cancer, probably.

Before the checkup, I hadn't felt all that bad. But the moment you find out you are sick, your body seems to capitulate to the reality.

Once the tears cleared from my eyes, I packed a bag and walked out the door.

Instead of looking for Asher, I went to check myself into the hospital.

Maybe if I left our apartment, I would stop crying.