The Man He Chose

Chapter 3

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Kao's POV

I took out my patient's documents from the printer and stood up to hand it over to the patient's responsible party with the intention of explaining to them my patient's wound aftercare instructions.

I had to hold on to the edge of the table for support because suddenly my knees felt like they were going to give way.

Never in a million years did I expect to see Cooheart ever again, not in this hospital of all places. 

The last time we saw each other was three years ago when he saw me off at the Suvarnabhumi airport. I was on my way to Tokyo where I had been accepted by a hospital that specializes in wound treatments to train with them.

Cooheart and I had promised each other that we would keep in touch daily no matter what.

We had managed to do so for the first year and a half. Then for some reason he was no longer taking my video calls or audio calls.

I left countless messages and texts in every possible social media account that he had.

Then one day I came across Jimmy, a mutual friend who happened to be touring Japan. He was actually more Cooheart's friend than mine. He was more of an acquaintance than a friend.

I asked Jimmy if he was in touch with Cooheart and he said, "Yes, of course! He was even among those who saw me off at the airport! Why do you ask?"

I held back my tears while I explained to him that starting about a month earlier Cooheart had stopped taking my calls and had stopped responding to my messages without any explanation.

"Hmm ..." said Jimmy, "let me try calling him right now."

I held my breath as I stood and waited for Cooheart to answer Jimmy's call. Jimmy had put the phone on speaker so that I could hear when Cooheart took the call.

"Hello," my heart jumped when I heard Cooheart's voice.

"Hey, Cooheart! Kao is with me right now! He wants to talk to you!" our mutual friend said excitedly.

Suddenly there was silence on the phone. Cooheart had cut the call without any explanation.

Our mutual friend tried calling him again. We heard the ringing go on and on until the call went to voicemail.

Jimmy noticed that I was very close to tears.

"You know what," he said, "why don't you give me your contact number. I will call Cooheart again later and then I will let you know if I'm able to find out what's going on."

"Thank you so much," I said, handing my phone to him so that he could leave his number on my phone. Then I called him so that my number would register on his phone.

We parted ways and I got busy with my hospital work and forgot all about my encounter with Jimmy.

Then two days later while I was having my lunch break at the hospital, Jimmy called me.

"Hey," he said, "I'm getting ready to leave for Bangkok. Cooheart finally answered my call this morning."

"Did you find out anything?" I asked, my heart in my throat.

"Kao, before I say anything, why don't you tell me who Michiko is," Jimmy said.

"Huh? What?" I asked, unable to understand his question.

"You heard me," his voice sounded a little bit hostile.

Michiko ... then it hit me.

"Michiko, the fashion model?" I asked, unable to connect the name with Cooheart.

"Whatever," Jimmy answered, still sounding hostile. "Cooheart has seen all your media posts with Michiko always standing or sitting beside you, with your arms around her shoulder. Cooheart thinks that you are in a relationship with her."

"Ohgod, ohmygahd, why would he think that way," I didn't know whether to feel hurt or angry with Cooheart. "He is my colleague's younger sister. We have grown close with each other but not in a romantic way."

"You better explain that to him," Jimmy said.

"But he won't take any of my calls!" I was almost wailing now. "He won't give me the time of day!"

"Then leave a text message and let him hear your side of the story," Jimmy suggested.

"I will do just that," I said firmly. "Thanks Jimmy, have a safe trip back to Bangkok."

"Thanks, Kao, you take care, okay?"

"I will, thanks," I responded, my voice catching on the last word because I could no longer hold back my tears. 

Cooheart had judged me without clarifying with me whatever his doubts were.

As soon as my shift ended, I went straight to my apartment and went to work on my laptop. Instead of texting him, I sent him a very long email.

I had hoped that the email would serve to get me and Cooheart together again.

I was badly mistaken.

His reply was very brief and to the point.

"I will never forget you. You will always be my one true love. But we have been apart for too long. It's inevitable that we meet other people with whom we can be happy. You have found Michiko. I have found Title."

I flung my laptop against the wall, causing my neighbor to come knocking on my door to check if I was okay.

He took one look at my tear stricken face before saying, "Come over to my unit for a while. I will make you some chamomile tea."

I followed him to his unit, knowing that chamomile tea wasn't going to help at all.