They Forgot Me at the Courthouse on Divorce Day, Then Forgot to Tell Me They Got Back Together Chapter 03

They Forgot Me at the Courthouse on Divorce Day, Then Forgot to Tell Me They Got Back Together Chapter 03

Life on the research team was harder than I’d imagined. Days in the lab, nights cleaning data for my advisor. Back in the dorm, I’d get ready for the next day, then crash.

I split every dollar I earned in half, half for living expenses, half for the debt.

On the fifteenth of every month, I transferred $5,000 to Mom’s account. The memo line always said the same thing: [Repayment]. They never responded. Not once.

The family group chat, though, was alive and well. Mom, Dad, and Ethan had taken Chloe to Disneyland. A photo of the four of them, all smiles, with the caption: [The happiest little family.]

A few relatives asked why I was never in any of the pictures.

Mom and Dad laughed it off. “Lena’s always been a little off, really antisocial. We’re honestly worried she’d make people uncomfortable if we brought her along.”

Six months ago, that would’ve crushed me. Now I read it, set my phone down, and went back to my experiment.

Half a year in, Mom and Dad ambushed me outside the library. Mom spotted me first and caught hold of my arm before I could react.

“Chloe’s sick. You’re coming to the hospital with us. Now.”

Dad stood behind her, arms crossed. “You’ve always been the responsible one. She’s your sister, the least you can do is give a little blood.”

Then his voice hardened. “You haven’t exactly been showing up for this family lately. What, you think college makes you too good for us?”

I almost laughed. They only remembered I was family when they needed something from me. The rest of the year, even a text from me felt like an intrusion to them.

I pulled my arm free. “I can’t leave campus right now. The project’s at a critical phase—”

Dad clicked his tongue. “That’s Chloe. Not some stranger. It’s just a little blood.”

“College is a joke anyway, what critical phase? You telling me some school project matters more than your sister’s life?”

They were genuinely scared. I could see it. So I dropped my eyes and softened my voice.

“Fine. But I need your signatures on a medical liability waiver since I’m still on your insurance.”

“Then get the form. Hurry up — we don’t have time for this.”

I said nothing. I pulled out a stack of documents. “Sign these, and I’ll go.”

They didn’t even glance at the pages, just scrawled their names and shoved them back. “Done. Let’s move.”

My mouth twitched. Those papers weren’t just a liability waiver. Buried in the stack were my study-abroad consent form and dependency override and medical proxy revocation forms.

In Chloe’s hospital room, she looked up when I walked in. The first thing that crossed her face was disgust.

“Ew, why are you here? You’re the one giving me blood?”

She recoiled. “I don’t want it. Your blood’s probably dirty. That makes me sick.”

She’d been like this our entire lives, hiding behind our parents’ favoritism to say whatever she wanted to me.

This time, I looked her dead in the eye. “Then die, Chloe. Don’t take my blood.”

The room went silent.

After a long beat, Mom pulled me into a stiff, awkward hug. “Lena, honey, she’s in pain. She doesn’t mean it. Don’t take it personally.”

I didn’t say anything. They were only gentle with me when Chloe needed something from me.

In the blood draw room, I clenched my fist and watched the dark red line snake through the tube into the collection bag.

One bag. Then another. Halfway through the third, my vision blacked out and I knocked the tray off the stand.

The nurses rushed over with water and something sweet to drink. My vision slowly cleared.

When it was done, I went straight back to campus. The project was complete, wrapped up, documented, ready to be transferred to our partner lab in Seraphina.

My flight was booked for three days out. I barely had time to breathe before the next disaster hit.

The day before I was supposed to leave the country, Dad, Mom, and Ethan were waiting for me outside my dorm building. Again.

“Lena, Chloe’s gotten worse. She needs a kidney transplant, now.”

“You’re the only match. You’re coming to the hospital for the surgery. Today.”

Heat shot through me. “We had a deal. I agreed to blood. A kidney isn’t the same as blood, you’re asking me to give up part of my body.”

“I’m not doing it. Leave me alone.”

Mom hit me before I finished the sentence. Hard, no hesitation. “I’m not asking.”

I staggered. Before I could steady myself, Dad and Ethan grabbed my arms and dragged me toward the car. Ethan floored it the whole way to the hospital.

They shoved me into the surgical wing. Dad grabbed the doctor by the wrist, practically shaking with urgency. “She’s here. When can you start the compatibility testing?”

I didn’t wait for the doctor to answer. “I don’t consent! I’ve legally severed all ties with this family!”

Mom’s lip curled. “You think saying it out loud makes it real? I never signed off on any—”

My chest heaved. I slammed my fist into the emergency alarm on the wall. “Help! They’re trying to harvest my organs!”

The hallway erupted. Security came first, then the police, then the charge nurse. Mom and Dad pasted on their sweetest smiles while stepping in front of me, trying to block me from the officers’ view. “You’ll have to forgive her, officer, we’ve spoiled her rotten. She just needs a little discipline.”

I scrambled for my bag and pulled out the legal severance forms. “Officer, help me. I’m not their child anymore, it’s legal.”

My hands were shaking so hard that my project ID badge slipped out and hit the floor.

National Honors Research Program. My name printed across it in block letters.