- 4.
David’s eyes were bloodshot as he flipped
through the pages, refusing to accept what
he read. “This is a lie! A mistake! The hospital
screwed up!” He ripped the papers to shreds,
but the words “Hannah Miller, deceased”
were seared into his brain. “How? Why didn’t I
know about the accident?” He grabbed his
secretary’s jacket, shaking him. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?” The secretary spoke gently.
“Ms. Miller was barely alive when she arrived.
You were busy arranging blood donations for
Ms. Carter. The hospital called repeatedly, but
you didn’t answer.” He hesitated. “They
said… there wasn’t enough matching blood.
She bled out.” “Not enough blood? What
about the blood bank?” David roared. The
secretary revealed the brutal truth. “Ms. Miller
and Ms. Carter have the same rare blood
<
type, O negative. You’d cleared out the entire
city’s supply for Ms. Carter. There was
nothing left for Ms. Miller.” David’s face went
white. He sank to the floor, hands over his
ears. “No…” “I didn’t know about Hannah. I
didn’t know…” The secretary sighed. “Mr.
Walker, I’m… I’m very sorry for your loss.” He
reached to help David up, but David suddenly
stood, eyes wild. “Hannah’s mother! She
knew! She hid it from me! You’re all lying!
Hannah’s not dead! I’ll confront her!” This
crazed, desperate David was a stranger to
- me. Even now, faced with the truth, he was
deflecting blame. He was truly hopeless.
David found my mom in our hometown. In a
quiet field, she’d built a simple grave for me.
She was lighting incense when he arrived. He
knocked the incense from her hand, staring at
my headstone in disbelief. “What is this?!
What are you doing?!” Mom calmly replaced
<
the broken incense, her voice steady. “Can’t
you see? I’m paying respects to my dead
daughter. Your wife, Hannah.”
