My Girlfriend's Coworker Wrecked Me, Literally

It was bad enough that my girlfriend's coworker hit me with a car. But the real kicker? He was driving the car I bought for my girlfriend.

And to top it all off, we ended up in the same ER.

I had a minor fracture in my left shin, and he'd gotten a little scrape on his forehead from the steering wheel.

Through the curtain, I heard him on the phone, "Hey, Chloe, can you come to the hospital? I really need you here…"

Between me and her coworker, she didn't hesitate for a second – she ditched me.

I finally realized how foolish I'd been, holding on so tight.

Chloe, this time I'm moving on. I'm not waiting for you anymore.

1

The ER doc told me I had a hairline fracture in my left shin.

Not a full-blown break, but still bad enough to get a cast for a couple of weeks and then some physical therapy.

I was back in the treatment room, getting ready for my cast, when I heard a guy say, "I was going so slow, just creeping along in the parking lot, and this guy just ran out of nowhere, and I…"

I could tell he was young, and he sounded so put-upon, so I just sat there quietly on my bed, waiting for the doc to get to my cast.

"It's just a scratch, thank god! I was so worried when I got the call!" a woman’s soft voice chimed in. “People are always walking around with their faces glued to their phones, not watching where they're going. And he’s not dead, right? Just pay for his medical bill and that’s that. If he starts asking for more, I’ll help you lawyer up.”

That voice. I'd heard it every day, for seven long years.

The woman on the other side of that curtain was my girlfriend, Chloe.

And the guy she was calling a "phone-zombie" and "greedy," that was me.

The guy who’d run into my car, and was now being comforted by my girlfriend – that was her project partner, a dude named Kyle.

And why was I there? It was not only my birthday, but also our seven-year anniversary.

I wanted to surprise her with a visit and a special present to mark our seven years together.

2

I first heard about Kyle last month.

Chloe and I live about an hour and 40 minutes apart by car, and even a longer commute by public transit, so we mostly see each other once a week.

Her family had bought her a two-bedroom condo near her work, so when I have days off, I go and see her there.

That time, I was just chilling at her place, and we were snuggled on the couch, watching a movie.

It was almost midnight, and she said she wanted some roasted chestnuts. I accidentally grabbed the wrong phone on the way out.

Our phones are the same model and the lock screen password is also the same - my birthday and our anniversary XX1017.

On my way to get the chestnuts, the phone lit up with a message on a messaging app.

SparklyDream: "Did you finish the movie? I can't wait to hear all about it."

I frowned at the message, confused. I tried to unlock the phone, but her password had changed.

I came back empty-handed, and Chloe was totally cool about it, "Didn't find them? No biggie. We can ...