She Asked Him To Cancel Their Daughter’s Surgery For A Game Chapter 05

She Asked Him To Cancel Their Daughter’s Surgery For A Game Chapter 05

“Elise is dead! She gave her only remaining kidney to Willa!”

Everett wiped the blood from his split lip. He stared at Dr. Mercer like the words hadn’t fully landed yet.

“What do you mean, her only kidney?”

Dr. Mercer’s tears hit his blue surgical mask.

‘She gave you her left kidney eight years ago. And today, she gave Willa her right one.”

All the color drained from Everett’s face.

“You can live without kidneys on dialysis. She’ll be fine.”

“Caldwell Medical has the best equipment in the country. She can stay on dialysis for as long as she needs.”

Dr. Mercer let out a harsh, broken laugh. It was the worst sound Everett had ever heard.

“Giving you that first kidney severely compromised her heart and destroyed her body’s ability to clot.”

“How many times a month was she in this pediatric ward over the years? Do you even know?”

“Her heart was never strong enough for long-term dialysis. Did you even know that?”

Everett’s lips trembled.

Dr. Mercer slammed the medical chart against his chest.

“Three months after her initial surgery, she begged you to come to her post-op follow-ups.”

“The first time, you were on the phone with Vanessa. The second time, you were throwing Vanessa a

welcome-back party.”

“The third time, you sent your assistant to tell her she’d only lost one kidney and needed to stop being so

dramatic.”

The chart hit the floor, pages scattering everywhere. Everett didn’t move.

Everything he’d let himself forget came flooding back.

My health never fully recovered after the donation.

I couldn’t push my body, not even a little bit.

When I got pregnant with Willa, the doctors advised me to terminate the pregnancy.

I couldn’t do it.

By the end of the pregnancy, I was swollen head to toe from severe preeclampsia and constantly passing

out

He told himself that was just how pregnancy worked

After Willa’s diagnosis, I practically lived at the hospital.

He wrote the checks. I was the one physically holding her down during the needle sticks.

In his mind, that was a fair split.

It hit him all at once.

I hadn’t been strong. I’d just never been allowed to fall apart.

The hospital morgue was freezing.

The attendant pulled back the sheet. Everett stumbled backward.

I lay there. Still. All the color completely gone from my face.

The plastic bead bracelet Willa had made me was still on my cold wrist.

Three crooked little words were spelled out in colored beads.

[Keep Mom Safe.]

Everett reached out for my hand.

It was cold. It was unnaturally stiff. And it would never hold his back.

“Elise.”

His voice shattered on her name.

“I’m here. Willa’s okay; the surgery worked. Open your eyes. Come see her.”

The only answer was the low hum of the morgue’s refrigeration units.

Everett pressed his forehead to the back of my lifeless hand.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen. I thought one day wouldn’t matter.”

“I didn’t know they’d give the kidney away. Why didn’t you just wait for me?”

Dr. Mercer stood in the doorway, his eyes swollen.

“The hospital called you forty-seven times. She texted you.”

“You told her Vanessa couldn’t wait for the snow.”

“What made you think Elise should’ve kept waiting for you?”

His phone rang. Vanessa’s name lit up the screen.

He let it ring She called again. And again.

On the fifth call, he finally picked up.

Vanessa was sobbing loudly.

“Everett, I’m all alone at the hotel. I’m scared.”

“It’s snowing outside. When are you coming back?”

Everett stared at my face under the white sheet.

“Elise is dead.”

Absolute silence on the line. Then, Vanessa’s voice returned, soft and dangerously careful.

“Hey, Ev, just take a breath.”

“She knew she only had one kidney left. Why would she do something like that?”

“Everett, that was her own decision. You can’t put that on yourself.”

Everett lifted his head.

“I can’t blame myself?”

Vanessa’s voice dropped to something almost soothing, almost manipulative.

“Exactly. All you did was take me to see the snow.”

“How were you supposed to know she’d do something that extreme just to make you feel guilty?”

His knuckles went white around the phone.

“I handed her that spiked glass of milk myself.”

“I made the call to cancel the surgery myself.”

“I knew the kidney couldn’t wait. The doctors told me.”

He looked at Elise, and the tears finally came.

“Vanessa… I killed her.”