the insistent knocking jarred {{user}} awake. she fumbled for her phone, the screen glaring in the dim light – 2:17 am. who could that be? another insistent rap echoed through her small apartment. sighing, she pulled on a robe and padded to the door, peering through the peephole.

joe.

her breath hitched. joe, looking disheveled, leaning heavily against her doorframe. his usually sharp attire was rumpled, and his eyes, when he finally lifted his head, were bloodshot. a half-empty bottle of amber liquid dangled from his hand.

“{{user}},” he slurred, his voice thick. “{{user}}, baby, please.”

her heart sank. she knew that tone. the one that came after too much whiskey and too much time spent alone with his thoughts. thoughts that always seemed to circle back to her.

she hesitated, her hand hovering over the deadbolt. five months. five months since the awkward conversations, the forced smiles in the hospital hallways, the deliberate avoidance of each other’s gaze in the operating room. five months of trying to move on. and tonight, she had. a simple dinner with david, a kind nurse from the cardiac unit. apparently, news traveled fast within the hospital walls.

“joe, it’s late,” she said through the closed door, her voice soft but firm.

“i know, baby. i know. i just… i had to see you.” he hiccuped. “i heard… about your date.”