Mom Left the Hospital, I Left My Girlfriend

For twenty days, Michael Quinn's mother lies in a hospital room on the thirteenth floor, fighting Stage 3 stomach cancer. His girlfriend of five years, Nicole Davis, is a doctor at the same hospital, working just four floors above. Yet she never once comes down to visit.

Instead, Nicole spends her days helping her childhood friend, Kevin Shaw, settle into his new internship, even pushing back Mrs. Quinn's surgery to suit his schedule. When Michael finally breaks his silence and ends the relationship, Nicole treats it as another of his overreactions, promising to visit "next time." But Michael has already resigned, packed his life in Aldora, and bought a train ticket home.

As his coworkers pool their savings for his mother's treatment, Michael realizes the distance between him and Nicole was never measured in floors.