When I Left Everything Behind

Outside the glass walls of the office, Stella and Brooke were laughing, their faces lit up in bright, carefree smiles as they joked with the new intern.

They were supposed to be at the hospital picking me up right now.

When they finally looked up and saw me standing there, the warmth vanished from their faces. Their expressions instantly turned freezing cold.

"It's just a little cut. You really had to drag us all the way out there to pick you up?"

I looked down at the gauze wrapped around my abdomen. Fresh blood was already seeping through the white fabric. A bitter smile touched my lips.

Stella and Brooke were my childhood best friends. We grew up on the same street, went to the same college, and started our careers together. Two decades of history.

Yet, all of that meant absolutely nothing compared to Toby, a guy they had known for barely two months.

There was a time when they would panic if I got a paper cut. Now, they hovered around Toby, not even bothering to give me a second glance.

Watching them laugh even harder at something Toby said, the last shred of hope in my chest finally died.

I turned my back on them and walked away. Pulling out my phone, I dialed a number.

"Harper," I said, keeping my voice steady. "I'm taking the offer. Once my resignation paperwork clears, I'll be ready to move to the London office next month."

I ended the call. Through the office blinds, I could still see Stella and Brooke leaning against Toby's desk, completely engrossed in whatever he was saying.

I pressed a hand against my stomach. It had been less than three days since I was discharged from the hospital. The stab wound was far from healed, sending sharp, throbbing waves of pain through my body with every breath.

Just yesterday, Stella and Brooke had insisted on booking a table at an upscale organic restaurant, promising to pick me up from the ward to celebrate my discharge.

I had waited in my hospital room for three hours. The doorway remained empty. Their phones went straight to voicemail.

Terrified that they might have gotten into an accident, I forced my battered body out of bed and rushed to the company. I never expected to walk in on this.

Through the glass, I watched Toby step out of the breakroom carrying coffee and pastries. "Strawberry shortcake for Stella, and the mango tart for Brooke."

The girls took the plates, their smiles sickly sweet. "Toby, you're an angel. You always remember our favorites."

Toby ducked his head, playing the shy card perfectly. "It's no big deal. When you care about people, remembering the little things is easy."

A hollow laugh escaped my throat. I had bought those pastries from the cafe downstairs during my lunch break. Now, he was handing them out, playing the perfect gentleman.

Since I was on the phone with a client earlier, I couldn't step out to give them the food. So I was forced to watch my two oldest friends eat the cake I bought, leaning into Toby's workspace, looking radiant and utterly captivated by him.

Toby opened his desk drawer and pulled out three glossy tickets. "I managed to get passes for the Harbor Fireworks Festival tonight. Do you guys want to go?"

Those tickets had been sold out for months. I had no idea how he got his hands on them. No one could resist a massive fireworks show by the water, and the girls immediately snatched them up.

"These are impossible to find! How did you pull this off? Let us pay you back," Brooke insisted.

Toby shook his head, his eyes turning wide and innocent. "You guys should take Lucas. Honestly, I've never been to an event like this... I'd probably just embarrass you. There are three tickets, so it's perfect for the three of you."

He let his shoulders slump, looking like a kicked puppy. Instantly, a wave of pity washed over Stella and Brooke.

As if suddenly remembering, Toby added, "Oh, wait. Lucas is still recovering, right? You have to be super careful with him in that crowd. It would be terrible if someone bumped into his stitches."

Right on cue, Stella turned to Brooke. "He's right. Lucas shouldn't be in a crowded place like that. Let's just tell him to stay home and rest. Sleep is the best thing for him right now anyway."

At that exact moment, the client on the other end of my phone line spoke up. "By the way, Lucas, did you get the Fedex package I sent? The three passes for the Harbor Fireworks?"

I froze. "Three passes?"

"Yeah," the client chuckled. "I pulled some major strings to get them, but my wife and I have a family emergency and can't make it. Figured you young people would love it, so I mailed them straight to your office."

I stared through the glass at the three tickets in Toby's hand. My voice went dead flat. "Yeah. I got them. Thanks, Mr. Carter."

I hung up, pushed the glass door open, and stepped into the bullpen. "Toby. Those three tickets. Mr. Carter mailed them to me, didn't he?"

The air in the room evaporated. Toby's face drained of color. He looked up at me, his eyes wide, terrified, and painfully pathetic. "I saw the package on the reception desk. Since I'm your assistant, I thought I should open it for you."

I took a step closer. "Then why didn't you hand them to me? Those were a personal gift from a client. And since when do interns have the authority to tear open their boss's private mail?"

Toby looked down, nervously rubbing his hands together. "It was delivered to the office. I assumed it was business."

I scoffed, my voice dripping with disgust. "Even if it was business, do you get to hijack company property and distribute it however you please?"

He couldn't speak. Tears welled up in his eyes, making him look incredibly bullied. He let out a shaky little breath. "Lucas, I was just scared you'd force yourself to go into that huge crowd. What if someone pushed you and your wound tore open? I figured... I figured I would just play the bad guy. If I took the tickets, you wouldn't be able to go. You'd have to go home and heal. I was only thinking about your health."

Stella immediately stepped in, placing a protective hand on his back. She shot me a furious glare. "Why are you jumping down his throat? He just graduated, he doesn't know all the corporate rules yet. Making a mistake is completely normal. Why do you have to be so damn petty over some stupid tickets?"

Brooke quickly chimed in. "Exactly. He was worried about your stomach. He hid them because he knew you'd be stubborn and try to go. He's so pure hearted, Lucas. Everything he does is for your own good. Why do you always have to be so aggressive?"

Toby kept his head bowed. A single tear dropped onto the desk. "It's fine. You guys go. These belong to Lucas. I shouldn't have overstepped. I'll just go home."

Stella grabbed his wrist, holding him in place. "You are not leaving. The three of us are going tonight. Lucas, you go home and sleep. You're in no condition to go anywhere anyway."

Toby bit his lower lip, giving me a trembling look. "Lucas..."

Checking her watch, Brooke grabbed her purse. "Let's grab dinner first or we're going to miss the opening show."

Just like that, they grabbed their things. The three of them walked out of the office together, laughing and chatting, leaving me completely alone in the dead quiet room.

I pressed my hand against my ribs and forced myself to stand. The wound felt like it was on fire.

A bitter, broken laugh spilled from my lips. Ever since Toby joined the firm, the dynamic of our lifelong trio had completely fractured. The center of their universe shifted from me to him. To them, he was this hard working, struggling kid from a poor background who was trying so hard to make it.

Whenever something went wrong, whether at work or in life, they immediately stood by his side to point their fingers at me.

The dinner they promised to celebrate my discharge from the hospital? Neither of them even remembered. Just like they seemed to have completely forgotten exactly how I got this stab wound in the first place.

Stella, Brooke, and I went through middle school, high school, and college together. After graduation, we all got hired at this company. We worked in different departments, and we all thrived.

We were completely inseparable. We even bought apartments in the exact same building, on the exact same floor, just so we could look out for each other.

We commuted together, came home together, cooked dinner together. Since I was a bit rough around the edges, they took care of the details. They made me hangover cures after late business dinners and forced cold medicine down my throat when I got sick.

Everyone in the office knew we were the golden trio. We had a bond that nothing in the world could break.

Until that night outside the bar.

Toby had tagged along. He pointed to a dark, unlit alleyway and whined about wanting to "explore" to take a shortcut. Stella and Brooke giggled and followed him. I saw how sketchy it looked and tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen, so I had no choice but to follow.

Sure enough, halfway down the alley, a group of guys stepped out of the shadows. Knives caught the dim streetlight. They demanded our wallets. Then, noticing the girls, they started getting handsy.

Toby, the guy they constantly defended, actually hid behind the two women, trembling like a leaf. "What do we do?" he whimpered.

I knew things were going to turn bloody fast. "Toby and I will hold them off," I whispered fiercely. "You girls run."

I shoved the girls backward. "Run!"

I lunged forward to block the attackers.

But Toby didn't stay. He didn't even hesitate. Leaving me to die, he turned and sprinted away right alongside the girls.

By the time they finally flagged down the cops and came back, I was already bleeding out on the concrete, a switchblade buried deep in my gut.

When I woke up in the hospital, Toby was sitting by my bed, putting on a masterful performance of self blame. "What do I do, Stella? I was just so terrified. My brain went blank and I just ran with you guys. The alley was so dark, I thought you two might get hurt in the chaos, so I just had to protect you..."

"I'm so useless. This is all my fault Lucas got hurt."

Stella was rubbing his arm. "It's okay. Being scared is a normal human reaction. Lucas is years older than you, it's his job to protect us. You have nothing to feel guilty about."

Brooke sighed heavily. "Seriously. Lucas used to take self defense classes. How could he not even dodge a simple pocket knife?"

"You must be starving," Stella said to Toby. "Let's go grab a bite. Don't starve yourself over this. The doctor said he just needs rest, he'll be fine."

I had been about to open my eyes, but hearing their voices, I kept them tightly shut. Apparently, taking a knife for them was my own fault.

I listened to their footsteps fade out of the ward. I slowly opened my eyes, staring at the sterile white ceiling. Back in the day, if I caught a mild fever, Brooke would simmer chicken soup for hours, and Stella would sit by my bed to make sure I took my pills.

Now, I had nearly died for them, and they didn't even wait for me to wake up. They were too busy worrying about Toby's appetite.

I spent two agonizing weeks in that hospital bed before I was stable enough to leave.

Standing in the empty office now, ignoring the sharp, tearing pain in my stomach, I started packing up my desk.

I had made the right decision. It was time to disappear.

When I finally made it back to my apartment, I looked around the place I had called home for years. It was time to start throwing things away.

My phone buzzed. A notification popped up. Toby had updated his Instagram.

The caption read: "Meeting the most amazing people in this beautiful city is the luckiest thing that ever happened to me."

The photo showed Toby, Stella, and Brooke. Their faces were pressed close together, beaming at the camera, with a massive, brilliantly colored firework exploding in the night sky behind them.

I couldn't even remember when the leading man in our trio's photos had shifted from me to him. I genuinely couldn't remember the last time I took a picture with them.

I locked my screen, took a quick shower, and got ready for bed.

Then came the knocking. It was the three of them.

Stella was holding a greasy takeout bag. "Lucas, we brought you some food."

"Also," she continued without missing a beat, "Toby lives way out in the suburbs, and it's too late for him to commute. Let him crash at your place tonight."

I looked at her, deadpan. She knew perfectly well that I was a massive neat freak. I practically never let anyone sleep in my apartment.

I glanced at the wall clock. "It's not too late to catch an Uber."

Toby gave the girls his signature kicked puppy look. "Stella, Brooke, please don't make things awkward for Lucas. If he hates me being here, I'll just leave. I don't mind paying for an expensive surge ride. Just watching the fireworks with you guys tonight was more than enough for me."

Brooke pushed past me, forcing her way through my front door. "You're a grown man. What is the big deal about letting him crash for one night? He's not sleeping in your bed, he'll take the guest room. Get over it."

She reached back and pulled Toby inside. "Come on in. We said you can stay, so you're staying."

They treated my home like their own. They walked right past me, dug through my closets for spare sheets, and set up the guest room for him.

Toby stood awkwardly in the hallway, wringing his hands as he looked between the girls. "Guys, if Lucas really hates it, I should just go."

I was so exhausted. My body ached, and my soul was tired. I didn't have the energy to scream. "One night. Never again. Just leave it."

Stella and Brooke finally looked satisfied. "Eat your food before you sleep," Stella ordered, dropping the bag on the counter.

I opened the plastic containers. Inside was heavily spiced, oil soaked Sichuan food, completely coated in red chili peppers.

They had forgotten. Anyone who just had abdominal surgery absolutely cannot eat spicy food.

A hard lump formed in my throat. Years ago, they would meticulously check every ingredient if I had a mild stomach ache. Now, they didn't even possess the basic awareness to realize this food could send me back to the ER.

I snapped the lids back on. "I'm not eating."

Toby looked at me. "Lucas, are you mad that we didn't take you with us tonight? I'm so sorry. Do you want me to Venmo you the money for the ticket?" He pulled out his phone, making a big show of opening the app.

Stella slammed her hand on the counter. "Lucas, are you done throwing your little tantrum? We told you, you shouldn't be in crowds with your stitches. We did this for your own good. Why are you acting like a spoiled child? Do you want me to apologize to you? Stop taking your anger out on Toby, his life is hard enough as it is."

"Who are you giving attitude to?" she continued, her voice rising. "We brought you food out of the kindness of our hearts, and you act like a jerk."

I calmly pushed the takeout bags away. "My stitches haven't healed. The doctor explicitly forbade spicy food."

Stella froze. A flash of genuine embarrassment crossed her face. They had completely forgotten. She quickly grabbed the bags and threw them directly into the trash can. "I forgot. Just starve then."

It was getting late. They finally left to go to their own apartments down the hall.

I pointed to the guest room. "The bathroom is attached. Disposable toothbrushes are in the cabinet. Goodnight."

After Toby showered, I was sitting on the couch, reviewing some highly confidential design blueprints on my laptop.

He walked out, holding a glass of water. "Still awake, Lucas?" He leaned over my shoulder, trying to peek at my screen. "Are you working on the new designs?"

I immediately closed the laptop and shifted away from him. "This is highly confidential client work. You know the corporate rules. Interns aren't cleared for this."

He stood there, instantly looking like a victim. "Lucas, I would never steal from the company. Are you doing this because you hate me? Because I'm close to the girls?"

"I'm supposed to be your intern. Isn't it your job to teach me? Why are you guarding everything from me? Is it because Stella said my rough drafts were good, and you feel threatened?"

"I never meant to steal their affection from you."

A vein throbbed in my temple. I stood up, grabbing my laptop. "You're delusional."

As I turned to walk to my bedroom, he grabbed my arm. "Lucas, wait, don't be mad."

His grip yanked me back. The sudden movement pulled violently on my fresh abdominal stitches. A blinding flash of pain shot through me.

At the exact same moment, he threw his glass of water directly onto my stomach.

I shoved him away by pure reflex. "What the hell are you doing?!"

The glass shattered against the hardwood floor.

He stumbled backward, then quickly grabbed a wad of paper towels. "Oh my god, Lucas, I'm so sorry, I tripped. Let me dry it off."

He lunged forward and pressed his hand forcefully directly onto my healing wound. He began scrubbing violently.

Agony ripped through my body. Fresh, hot blood immediately soaked through the bandages.

I grabbed his wrist, my vision spotting black from the pain. "What are you doing?! Can't you see I'm bleeding?"

A loud banging came from the front door. "Toby? What's going on?"

It was Stella and Brooke. They must have heard the glass shattering. They punched in my door code and rushed in.

They walked in right as Toby was kneeling on the floor, holding the bloody paper towels, looking absolutely terrified.

Stella rushed forward and yanked him to his feet. "Why are you on your knees?! Lucas, are you seriously physically abusing him now?!"

Toby shook his head frantically. "No, it's my fault. Lucas, don't be mad, it was an accident."

Brooke, who had always had a fiery temper, marched up to me and shoved me hard in the chest. "What is wrong with you?! You're a grown man, and you act like this? You let him stay one night and you decide to torture him? Are you even a man?"

The shove sent me stumbling back. A horrific tearing sound echoed inside my own head.

A rush of sickening heat poured down my stomach. I collapsed onto the couch, curling into a ball, clutching my gut. I couldn't even draw enough breath to speak.

Toby kept talking, his voice shaking. "I accidentally spilled water on him. He didn't mean to shove me down. Please don't yell at him. I tried to wipe the water off, and I think I bumped his stitches. That's why he got angry."

Stella shielded Toby with her body, screaming at me. "He barely grazed your stomach and you threw him to the floor?! If I push you, are you gonna beat me up too?"

She marched over and shoved me back down against the armrest of the couch.

Blood was pooling through my shirt now, dripping onto the leather sofa. My hands were shaking uncontrollably, but I managed to pull my phone from my pocket and dial 911.

"I need an ambulance," I gasped, tasting copper in my mouth. "Oakwood Complex, Building 2, Apartment 21A. My surgical wound burst open. I can't stop the bleeding... I'm getting dizzy."

Only then did they realize something was horribly wrong.

Brooke's face dropped. "Lucas, what's happening?"

I slapped their hands away as they tried to reach for me. I clutched my phone, practically crawling toward the front door to unlock it for the paramedics.

Stella tried to grab my arm, her voice trembling now. "I... I didn't mean to yell that loud. And I didn't mean to push you that hard. It's your fault for..."

Sirens wailed in the distance.

Knowing help was coming, the last shred of adrenaline holding me together completely evaporated.

The world went violently dark, and I hit the floor.