The Choice of Death

I let out a cold laugh. "Nathan, how many times do I have to say it? I'm dying. I don't have time to wait for another donor!"

Nathan snapped. He shoved me hard onto the bed. "All this over a kidney? Are you serious? If you keep saying you're dying, then just go ahead and die!"

With those words, he stormed out of the room without a second glance.

A few moments later, I heard the sound of an engine revving outside. Nathan had left the house.

I couldn't hold it in anymore. Blood surged up my throat, and I coughed it out. The sheets were stained dark red before I passed out.

…

I had no idea how much time had passed when the ringing of a phone jolted me awake.

Groggily, I opened my eyes. I wanted to ignore it, but the landline by my bed kept ringing, relentless and sharp.

The moment I picked up, Trinity's mocking voice came through the receiver. "Tegan, how does it feel being locked up all alone in that fancy little house?"

I stayed silent. She continued, her tone dripping with smugness, "Nate told me he had this phone specially set up. You can only receive calls, not make them. So, don't even think about calling for help."

A sharp pain spread through my heart, like needles piercing straight into it.

Nathan had locked me up just to stop me from interfering with Trinity's surgery. He had cut me off from the outside world entirely.

I must have been blind to have loved that man for eight years.

"Tegan, I bet you didn't know, huh? When you were in the ICU, Nate wasn't by your side. He was with me. If I cry, he would give me the world, including your life—"

I hung up abruptly, my nose stinging as tears welled up in my eyes.

I quickly lowered my head, but the tears still fell, soaking into the sheets, leaving behind a dark stain.

That ICU stay had been the closest I had ever come to death.

I had only found out through a nurse's casual conversation that Mom had rushed over to sign my critical condition paperwork and then left just as quickly.

The nurses had pitied me. "That poor woman. Not a single family member came to see her while she was in the ICU."

"The doctor asked her mom to stay, but she said she had another daughter at home who had broken her leg and needed her more. So, she told the hospital to hire a nurse for this one. Can you believe that? A broken leg versus being in the ICU?"

"And from what I heard, her sister has some rich boyfriend taking care of her. She doesn't even need her mom's help."

Lying there, hooked up to an oxygen mask with my eyes closed, I had felt the weight of their words crush me. Silent tears slipped down my face.

It felt like a piece of my heart had been carved out, leaving behind nothing but suffocating pain.

I had been confused back then, wondering when Trinity had started dating someone.

Two days after I had been transferred out of the ICU, Nathan had finally shown up.

He had waltzed in like nothing had happened and upgraded me to a VIP hospital suite. He had then told me he had been on a business trip overseas and couldn't make it back in time.

I had believed him.

The moment I had fallen into his arms, all the pain and resentment I had bottled up disappeared.

"Nate, I thought I was going to die without seeing you one last time. If I'd left this world without saying goodbye, I wouldn't have been able to rest, even in the afterlife."

Nathan had held me tightly, kissed my forehead, and whispered, "Tegan, don't say things like that. I won't let anything happen to you. I'll always be here for you."

Now, staring at the bloodstain on the bed, I let out a bitter laugh.

"Nathan, you promised you would always be by my side. But I'm dying now. Where are you?"