He switched it to speaker as it was ringing and listened as each of the loud, alarm-bell-like rings went off in succession. By the third one, he started to think he had gotten lucky. He’d be able to leave her a voicemail and deal with the issue later, gaining the satisfaction and credit of having tried to reach out after so long but not actually having to do it. On the fifth ring, however, right before the call would normally be forwarded to the voicemail, he heard the click that let him know she had picked up.

“Lucas? Are you okay? Are you hurt?! Is this a medical professional going through his contact list?! Just let me know what hospital, and I’ll be right there!” Liu rapid-fired each word one after the other in a hurried frenzy.

So, the only reason my phone would call yours is if I were seriously injured? Lucas sighed inwardly, but he couldn’t blame her. He had ignored her for over seven months. A call out of the blue from him had to be shocking. “It’s me, Lucas, and I’m fine,” he said. His words produced a moment of stunned silence and then a sigh of relief from Liu. “How have you been?”

“O-oh . . . uh . . . umm . . .” She stuttered for a moment, clearly caught off guard by the mere fact that he was actually returning her call and making casual small talk. “I’ve been holding on. It’s been hard . . . not that I need to tell you.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, having to restrain himself from chewing her out. He rationally knew that it wasn’t her fault, but he still resented her for being in the driver’s seat that day. He also pitied her as much as she probably pitied him.

“No, I should be the one to apologize. I’m so sorry. I had a speech and stuff and things planned out to say to you, and I had . . . umm . . . Well, I forgot what I was going to say to you and my dad, and I’ve just been so busy lately and never, like . . . Ugh! I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect to actually get ahold of you, and now . . .” Liu struggled with finding the words, stressing and unstressing random syllables, and she stumbled through her sentences awkwardly, clearly unsure of what she was trying to say.

“It’s okay,” Lucas said. “Take it easy. Take a deep breath. It’s just a phone call.” He felt like he was having to coach her through a panic attack. His wife used to have her share of those back when they were studying together, so he just started trying to talk her down instinctively, his need to be in control and manage the situation overriding his lingering resentment.