My Heart Beats For Someone Else Now

For five years, Kayden kept me at the center of his world. But when my heart condition worsened and I became a burden in his life, all his tenderness went to a perfectly healthy girl named Cherry.

He forgot my fatal allergies, missed my emergency rescues, and was even late to sign my pre-surgery consent forms because he was busy fixing Cherrys leaking pipes. He always assumed I was trapped on a hospital bed, unable to go anywhere, so he could take his sweet time.

But he forgot one thing. When a womans heart goes completely cold, she strips away all your privileges.

When I crossed his name off my emergency contacts and medical proxy forms, one by oneand when I reclaimed my life under the care of my lead surgeonthe man who was always late finally lost his mind, kneeling in the rain, begging me to look back.

The lights in the bridal shop were blindingly bright, making my pale face look even more ghostly.

I stood in front of the giant floor-length mirror, draped in a long, trailing lace wedding gown. Beside me, the consultant stood with a tight, awkward smile.

"Miss Summer, is Mr. Kayden still not here? The back of this dress really needs his input for the final fit..."

I looked down at my phone. The screen was completely blank.

Half an hour ago, Kayden had sent me a quick voice note. The background noise was incredibly loud, like he was standing on a busy street.

"Summer, the pipes in Cherrys rented apartment burst, and her landlord is ignoring her. Shes just a girl, sitting in a flooded room crying. Im going over to help her handle it. Try the dresses on yourself first, okay? Be a good girl."

"Be a good girl."

He always used those words to brush me off.

I took a deep breath, and a familiar, sharp pain shot through my chest. It felt like an invisible hand had clamped down hard on my heart. Breathing suddenly became a struggle.

"Miss Summer?" The consultant noticed something was wrong and rushed to support me.

My vision went black, and I lost consciousness completely.

When I woke up, I was on a hospital bed. The sharp smell of bleach burned my nose, and the heart monitor beside my bed beeped rhythmically.

The ward door was suddenly pushed open.

Kayden rushed in, panting, sweat dripping from his forehead. In his hand, he held a cup of Starbucks.

"Summer, you scared the hell out of me! How do you pass out just from trying on a wedding dress?"

He walked over to the bed and held the coffee out to me.

"I grabbed this on the way. Your favorite, a hazelnut latte. Drink some while its hot."

I stared at the steaming cup, making no move to take it.

Hazelnut.

I have a severe, life-threatening nut allergy. Even a tiny trace would cause my throat to swell, suffocating me. For a heart patient like me, it was a death sentence.

The nurse beside the bed gasped and was about to speak, but a well-defined hand reached out and snatched the cup away.

"She has a severe nut allergy. Are you trying to put her back in the ICU?"

The voice was cold, calm, and carried an undeniable authority.

It was my lead surgeon, Dr. Ethan Vance.

He was in his white lab coat, his silver name tag gleaming under the fluorescent lights.

Kayden froze. He looked at his empty hand, then at Dr. Ethan, and finally at me. A flash of embarrassment crossed his face.

"I... I got it mixed up. I bought this one for Cherry. She was so shaken up today and insisted on having something sweet. I just grabbed one for you on the way, I forgot you cant have nuts."

On the way.

Cherrys apartment was in the far north of the city. The bridal shop was in the south. The hospital was dead center.

To comfort a "shaken" female coworker, he had driven across the entire city. Yet, he forgot that his fiance, who had a severe heart condition, couldn't touch a single peanut.

I looked at him, and suddenly, everything felt incredibly pointless.

"Just leave," I said softly.

Kayden frowned. "Summer, what are you throwing a tantrum for now? I told you, I just got the orders mixed up. If it's that big of a deal, I'll go buy you another one."

"No need."

I turned over, facing the wall, leaving my back to him.

"I want to rest."

The hospital room fell dead silent.

Kayden stood by the bed for a moment and sighed.

"Fine, get some sleep. I'll come back to see you later. Cherry's place is still a mess, so I need to head back and supervise the plumbers for her."

The door clicked shut.

I opened my eyes and stared at the sterile white wall.

Dr. Ethan walked to the foot of my bed, flipping through my chart.

"Summer, your heart is at its absolute limit. You cannot afford any emotional stress."

"I know, Dr. Ethan."

He closed the file and looked at me, his eyes softening slightly.

"We are still waiting on the donor list. Until then, you must keep your emotions stable."

"I will."

He turned to leave, but stopped just before the door.

"Ive noted your nut allergy on your bedside chart. From now on, the nurses will verify any food brought into this room."

"Thank you."

Dr. Ethan didn't say anything else. He pushed the door open and stepped out.

I pulled out my phone and opened SnapChat. The pinned chat at the very top was my conversation with Kayden. The background was a photo of us at the beach two years ago. He was holding me in his arms, laughing under the sun.

He had told me back then, *Summer, as long as I'm here, Ill never let you suffer.*

I changed the chat background back to the default plain white. Then, I tapped his profile and opened his location on Snap Map.

Three days ago, he had voluntarily shared his live location with me, claiming he wanted to give me "peace of mind."

The little icon was pulsing. It was parked right outside a single-apartment building in the north end of the city.

He really did go back to Cherry's.

Does supervising a plumber take all night? I didn't know.

All I knew was that my heart monitor had spiked violently just a moment ago. But very quickly, it settled back into a flat, steady rhythm.

Like a pool of stagnant water, it could no longer be stirred.

The next morning, my mom arrived.

She brought a thermos of hot, homemade chicken soup. As she poured it into a bowl, she sighed.

"Kayden called me last night. He said you fainted while trying on dresses and that he was worried sick."

I blew on the soup, keeping my head down.

"He also said he wanted to stay here with you, but his department had an urgent project that he couldn't walk away from. He asked me to come keep you company."

An urgent project. So Cherrys burst pipe had now officially become a company project.

I set the bowl down.

"Mom, the soup is delicious."

My mom looked at me, hesitating.

"Summer, did you and Kayden get into a fight?"

"No."

"Then why..." She paused, lowering her voice. "Back during the Christmas holidays, Mrs. Gable told me she saw Kayden at the mall shopping with a girl. She said the girl was holding his arm, looking very intimate."

Christmas. I was lying in the ICU for three days due to sudden heart failure.

Kayden had stood outside the glass window of my ward, took a phone call, and left in a hurry. He told me it was end-of-year billing and he couldn't get out of it.

So, he was actually out buying clothes for someone else.

"Her name is Cherry. She's his coworker," I said, my voice as calm as if I were talking about a stranger.

My mom got anxious. "Coworkers hold hands at the mall? Summer, how can you be so careless about this! With your health the way it is, if Kayden really has someone else..."

"Mom," I interrupted her. "I'm tired. I want to sleep for a bit."

Seeing how pale I was, my mom swallowed the rest of her words.

"Alright, go to sleep. I won't nag. Just focus on getting better, nothing else matters."

She tucked the blanket around me, packed up the thermos, and left.

I was alone in the room again.

I opened my phone and scrolled through Instagram. A few posts down, I saw one from Lily, Kayden's cousin.

It was a group photo at Disneyland. It featured Lily, her boyfriend, Kayden, and Cherry.

Cherry was wearing Minnie Mouse ears, beaming at the camera, leaning her body naturally against Kayden. Kayden was holding two ice cream cones, looking at her with pure tenderness.

The caption read: "Double date weekend! Big bro and sis-in-law treating us!"

Sis-in-law.

Lily used to reserve that title exclusively for me. Now, it belonged to someone else.

I tapped the photo, zoomed in on Kayden's face. This was the man I had loved for five years. Now, his love belonged to someone else.

I calmly closed Instagram. I opened my contacts and searched for Kayden's name.

His contact name used to be "Hubby ??".

I deleted the heart. I deleted "Hubby." I changed it to "Kayden."

Clean and simple, without a single trace of emotion left.

At three in the afternoon, Kayden showed up.

This time, he didn't bring coffee. He brought a bouquet of lilies and a box of pre-cut fruit.

"Summer, how are you feeling today?"

He put the flowers in the bedside vase and pulled up a chair.

"Much better," I said flatly.

He poked a piece of apple with a toothpick and held it to my mouth.

"Have some fruit. I went to the organic market specifically to get the ones you like."

I didn't lean in.

"I don't want any."

His hand froze, and he put the apple back in the box.

"Summer, are you still mad about yesterday? I really just got confused. Cherry is all alone in this city, and its not easy for her. As her senior colleague, it's only right that I look out for her."

"Yes, it is," I said, looking at him. "So to look out for her, you can abandon me while I'm trying on our wedding dress."

Kaydens face darkened.

"It wasn't intentional! The burst pipe was an emergency. I couldn't just leave her to drown, could I?"

"And me?" I looked into his eyes. "I fainted in the bridal shop. Does that not count as an emergency?"

Kayden ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated.

"But youre fine now, arent you? The doctor said it was just exhaustion. Summer, you never used to be this unreasonable."

Unreasonable.

So, me fighting for my life on a hospital bed was just "unreasonable" to him.

His phone buzzed.

Kayden glanced at it, and the tension in his face instantly melted, a faint smile playing on his lips. He quickly typed a reply, then flipped the phone face down on his lap.

"Summer, something came up at the office. I have to run back. Ill see you tomorrow."

"Kayden," I called out.

He stopped at the door and turned around.

"Next Wednesday is my pre-surgery risk assessment. I need a family member to sign the consent forms."

Kayden blinked, then nodded quickly.

"Right, I got it. I'll definitely be here next Wednesday."

He left. His steps were hurried, like he was rushing to a date he had been anticipating all day.

I looked at the lilies on the table. I hated lilies. Their scent was too heavy and always made my chest feel congested. But he never remembered.

When Dr. Ethan came in for his rounds, he frowned at the flowers.

"Take these out and throw them away," he told the nurse behind him. "For heart patients, strong scents and pollen are major triggers."

The nurse quickly gathered the bouquet and walked out.

Dr. Ethan walked to my bedside and looked down at me.

"Did he send those?"

"Yes."

"Does he not know anything about your condition?"

"Probably not." I forced a smile. "He's a very busy man."

Dr. Ethan stared at me for a long moment, asking no further questions.

"Rest well. For next Wednesday's assessment, have your mother come."

I was taken aback.

"Why?"

"Because," Dr. Ethans voice was cold and firm, "I don't need a medical proxy who cant even remember your basic allergies deciding whether you live or die."