Chapter 3

At dinner, my parents could tell something was wrong. They kept piling food onto my plate.

When I set down my fork, I took a slow breath.

"I don't want to be a nurse anymore."

They both stared at me.

"Didn't you say you'd repeat a whole year of high school just to get into nursing school?"

"Are you having a rough time at work? Don't give up on your dream over a bad stretch."

I shook my head without saying anything.

Medicine was Robert's dream. It had never been mine.

It started during a late study session in our senior year. He reached out his hand to me.

"Maya, work a little harder. Let's be together — always."

For that one sentence, I threw myself headfirst onto the road chasing after him.

What followed were years of dense medical terminology, precise and unforgiving procedures, and nights that never seemed to end.

Things that came easily to everyone else took me ten times the effort — sometimes a hundred.

Once I started working, I had to stay alert every single hour, terrified of betraying a patient's trust.

And even then, all Robert would do was cup my face and say,

"Watch how Nia does it. Stop being so scattered on the floor."

I was his girlfriend. But it had been a long time since he had looked at me like an equal.

The next day at lunch, I submitted my resignation and went to the cafeteria to eat.

Nia carried her tray over and sat down across from me.

She slid half of her tomato scramble into my bowl and studied my face.

"You were crying last night, weren't you?"

I looked up, not sure what she meant.

Nia looked mildly surprised.

"Nia and I worked so late we just got a room at the hotel for the night," she said. "Robert just told me he forgot to let you know. He figured you'd be upset."

I had slept at my own place last night and had no idea whether Robert had come home.

And honestly, it didn't matter anymore.

I kept eating.

"Is that so."

Nia tilted her head, studying me with wide eyes.

"Wait, you're really not upset? Then — someone owes me a yogurt!" She spun around.

Robert appeared from behind me, placed a yogurt in Nia's palm, then sat down next to me.

He frowned slightly.

"Our Maya's finally growing up. Normally this would've set you off for three days straight."

"Hey, Maya is not like that."

And just like that, the two of them launched into a debate about who knew me better.

I sat between them, and everything became noise.

My hands were shaking around my utensils. A wave of nausea rolled through me.

The two people closest to me in the world were placing bets on my emotions.

I turned to Robert slowly. My voice came out steady.

"I want to break up."

The table went quiet. Robert stared at me.

"You—"

Before he could finish, Nia leaned over carefully.

"Maya, are you mad at me? Last night was really just work. I didn't ask him to stay."

Robert's brow tightened.

When he looked back at me, the surprise in his eyes had curdled into irritation.

He took my words as a tantrum and spoke coolly.

"It's fine, Nia. You don't need to explain yourself. She's always like this — dramatic. It exhausts everyone around her."

Nia opened her mouth to say something, but Robert pulled her away. I was left alone at the table.

I threw out most of my food and went to submit my resignation to the head nurse.

She didn't try very hard to talk me out of it. She just said the process would take at least a month.