They were best friends for years, sharing every secret except one. When Felix finally confesses his feelings, Josephine lets him down with a gentle lie: she's not interested in men. Heartbroken but determined to keep their friendship, Felix tries to...
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Josephine sat at her desk, her fingers tapping anxiously on the keyboard, though she'd long lost track of what she was typing. Her mind was miles away, gripped by an anxious undercurrent she couldn't shake. She'd checked her phone at least a hundred times since last night, growing more and more alarmed with each glance. No calls. No texts. And no sign of Ryan.
They'd made plans to carpool together that morning, a routine they'd do once in a while to help each-other save some gas money. This was unlike him; Ryan never missed their scheduled mornings. She'd called and texted a few times, but nothing came from it. Every minute that ticked by only deepened the pit of dread in her stomach, and she felt her concern sliding into full-blown panic. Had something happened to him?
The rational part of her brain tried to soothe her—maybe he'd overslept, or his phone was dead. But the longer she waited, the harder it was to listen to that voice. She found herself scrolling through the news for any report of accidents in his area, holding her breath with every article title that appeared on the screen.
A light knock on her doorframe snapped her back to the present, her heart jolting as she looked up. Mark, one of her co-workers, stood hesitantly in the doorway, his face an unusual mix of sympathy and concern. He never visited her office for anything other than work, and certainly never with that kind of expression. The tightness in her chest intensified.
"Hey, Josephine..." Mark started, his voice gentle but cautious. "I actually came by to talk about Ryan."
Her heart dropped instantly, as if the floor had been pulled out from under her. Her hand tightened around her phone as a wave of dread washed over her. "What about him?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper. "Have you heard from him? He didn't text or call, and he was supposed to pick me up this morning."
The words tumbled out of her, barely coherent. She knew she probably sounded frantic, but she didn't care. She needed answers, something to ground her spiraling fear.
Mark lowered his gaze, taking a breath. He hesitated, as if unsure of how to continue, which only made her more anxious. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet, laced with an unmistakable sadness. "Josephine... that's actually why I came. Ryan was taken to the hospital last night. There was a fire at his house... and, well, he's in the hospital now."
It was like her entire world tilted, and for a second, she couldn't process what he was saying. Hospital? Fire? Her mind grasped at the words, struggling to piece them together. The image of Ryan lying in a hospital bed, hurt and alone, flashed in her mind, and her pulse hammered in her ears.
