Not Us: Cash & Devin Novel – Devin POV I was getting home late. Way later than I thought. We had an emergency right as I was going to clock out. I know I’d texted Caleb that I’d be home ‘soon’ three hours ago. I felt bad, and I was hoping that he wouldn’t hold that against me. I didn’t see him in the living room or kitchen when I got to our flat. I made my way back to the bedroom and heard snoring. I was hoping to be home before he’d gone to bed. I turned around without waking him and went to the kitchen. I set down the takeout I’d bought for lunch and took a couple of bites. I checked my bag, seeing what I needed to repack for the next day. Thankfully, my last day of work for the week. I’d already worked almost fifty hours in just three days. I was exhausted, but such is the life of an emergency pediatrician.
After stuffing my face, packing a lunch for tomorrow, and repacking my bag, I finally went to strip out of my scrubs and get a shower. I was ready to let the hot water run down my aching muscles. I always hurt more after getting car crash victims. It took so much more out of me getting them through trauma and up to surgery, hoping they can actually make it through surgery. Too many times, we’d had peds patients come in and they looked like from the accidents. Broke my heart every time. And telling the parents? That was always the worst. The accidents were the hardest because they were so sudden and such a life-changing event. The abuse we, see? Those are the cases I love to call the cops and have them deliver justice. I also make sure that I follow procedure because there’s no way they’re getting off on a technicality from me or the nurses I work with.
We all took child safety extremely seriously. Stepping out of the shower, I checked my phone, it was almost ten-forty-five. Just as I’d toweled off and put on my lotion, I heard a ping. Checking my phone in case they needed more late tomorrow too; I realized it must be from Caleb’s phone. I finished my nightly routine when his phone pinged again. This is where I either by looking or saved myself from heartache. Depends on how you look at it, and your takes on phone privacy. Caleb and I had each other passwords and nothing to hide from each other. I opened his phone, he had my face saved as a second face to be able to access his phone, I saw text messages from someone named Becky. I clicked on the thread and it was full of flirty messages. Back and forth from them both. I felt my heart seize in my chest.
As a doctor, it didn’t make sense how I was still functioning, when my heart had stopped. I looked at where my husband of six months lay sleeping like he wasn’t having an emotional affair with some woman named Becky. I’m sure her name was something prettier like Rebecca or something. Or maybe it was Becky. I scrolled up to the top of the thread to see when and how this started. I had a lot more answers than I was going to get from my husband. I unplugged his phone, taking it with me back into the bathroom. I had to hurry in case he woke up. I grabbed my phone and started taking a video of the texts. Then I checked the battery usage and went to a private app that held texts and shared photos from each of them.
I wanted to puke. The conversations of more than work talk started three weeks ago. Had we had slept since then? I sent a text to my bestie Eddie. I needed him to order an STI screening for everything under the sun as soon as we got to work tomorrow. I wanted to puke. Had they had slept? There was nothing in the messages, nor deleted messages between them. If they were talking about it, he was being very careful about it. At best, this was an emotional affair that hadn’t turned physical. ‘Yet,’ That up little voice in my head was kicking me while my heart had already given up the fight. Saving all the videos of everything I found on his phone, I went back into our room and plugged his phone in. I grabbed my pillow and blanket and went out to the couch. I didn’t want to sleep near him, but I was also now wondering if he’d brought her here.
If they’d done anything in my home. The flat that I’d bought right after I got out of med school with the inheritance money, I’d gotten from losing my Móraí and Daideó. I was lost and didn’t want to finish med school after that, but I knew they’d be disappointed if I didn’t finish. So, I did. I threw myself into school. My two best friends were very worried about me and were there for me every step of the way. Eddie more so than Emilia, but just because she was in Marketing and we were in med school. Eddie: Why? Fia: Because I just need it. Eddie: I’m getting Em in on this. –Adds Emilia to Group Chat— Em: WHAT?! Some people just laid down to go to sleep, doctors. Eddie: She needs an STI screening ASAP tomorrow. Fia: Hey now. I’m not sure what’s going on yet. I haven’t talked to him yet. Em: You haven’t talked to him?! Eddie: If there’s enough of a reason for you to want the screening, there should be before evidence for you to feel betrayed, babe.
What’s going on? Tears filled my eyes as I called Eddie, who added Emilia and we had our usual three-way nightly call. I wanted so badly to be strong. But I couldn’t. A sob ripped through me as I covered my mouth, trying not to let Caleb hear me. I wasn’t ready for this confrontation and I had to be back at work at six am. Slightly earlier so I could get the STI screening from Eddie done. Thankfully we’d chosen different specialties, but I was hoping to have him deliver my future babies. Not test me for STI’s because my husband is his coworker! I was ready to scream, and rage. I wiped my tears, letting the anger settle in. I cleared my thoughts, speaking lowly so Caleb wouldn’t hear. “I heard his phone going off. Like a lot. So, I checked it, because, we’ve always had an open phone policy, right?” “Mmhmm, yeah,” I heard from them. “Well, I saw flirty texts. So, I read back to see how long, when, and what they were doing. They haven’t admitted to hot outright, or I can’t find it.
I did find the hidden texting app, with lots and lots of nudes,” I wiped the tears that refused to stop pouring down my cheeks. “At best, it’s an emotional affair. At worst? He’s already her. And in the earlier messages, she mentions me. So does he. Even in more recent messages, asking if I’ve caught on yet.” “The chest this bimbo has on her!” Eddie hissed. He was pissed. No one hurt Emilia and I. He was our brother from another mother. And it turned out, his parents didn’t want him after he came out of the closet. None of his family wanted him. So, my family helped get him emancipated, and he ‘paid’ my parent’s rent that they put away for him. We all go back to my family’s home for all holidays and breaks from school. Just as I opened my mouth to tell them I had it all saved, I saw Caleb coming into the kitchen. “Hang up the phone, Devin.
We’re going to talk about what I just heard you say.” The grip on my phone tightened. This mother prick. He thinks he can tell me what to do?! A dark and humorless chuckle rose up out of the depths of my chest where my heart used to be. “Why? Afraid to tarnish that squeaky clean image you have? Or are you going to tell me I didn’t find an emotional affair, at best, going on with one of your coworkers?” Eddie and Emilia chuckled in my ear. “I want to be able to talk about this like adults.” “Caleb. I don’t think you understand. I’ve told you, for the last six weeks, that I do not like this woman, and her ‘friendship’ with you,” I say making the air quotes for ‘friendship’ because, really, it was just a way for her to slip into my marriage.
She knew he was taken, and he knew he’d taken vows. Some of those involved forsaking all others. Clearly, he’d missed that bit. “I can explain.” “This should be good. Yeah, okay,” came through my phone. “But you can’t. When I told her I didn’t like her flirty tone, I asked you to put a stop to it. That I was uncomfortable with it. You promised! You ‘swore’ it she was ‘just a coworker’. Remember that? That fight we had in our bedroom because I’d seen the message whilst we were cuddled up, post-hot?” he had the decency to at least look ashamed at that.
“Then, you missed our date night last week? Did you not notice? You went out with coworkers with your arms around her! How am I supposed to take this? Hmm?” He didn’t say anything at that. “I love you both, I’ll see you bright and early Eddie.” I hung up the phone as my besties were totally silent. I’d told them I’d had suspicions, and asked how they’d caught cheaters in the past. I’d never been cheated on, and the thought that it might be happening hurt, and I was deeply ashamed. I hadn’t told them in depth about what had been going on in my marriage. I was embarrassed and deeply ashamed. But, also, just in case I’d been wrong. I wasn’t.