Chapter 4

4: 4

4

I had barely hung up when the door was shoved open.

My father crossed the room and slapped me across the face.

"Hester Sullivan, how could you be so vicious!"

I stumbled into the coffee table, my cheek already swelling.

Philip stood in the doorway, and the last trace of warmth left his eyes.

"Wendy slit her wrists."

"The doctor said she lost too much blood. She might lose the baby too."

My mother clutched my arm, crying.

"She's pregnant, her body was never strong to begin with, why did you have to push her like that?"

There was a ringing in my ears.

"I haven't called her once since I left."

"She cut her wrists. What does that have to do with me?"

My father's voice went cold.

"If you hadn't made a scene today, would she have done something so desperate?"

"She's always been the sensible one. What else could it be, if you didn't drive her to it?"

Philip gripped my wrist.

"Enough talk. Come to the hospital with me."

It was only at the hospital that I learned Wendy had a rare blood type.

The blood from the blood bank was still on its way, and neither my parents nor Philip were a match.

Only I had the same blood type as her.

The nurse looked at my test results, uneasy.

"Ms. Sullivan's blood pressure is low, and she's anemic. She shouldn't donate much."

I looked at Philip.

I'd been anemic ever since the miscarriage three years ago.

He knew that perfectly well.

He avoided my eyes and only said, low, "Save Wendy first."

"Hester, I'm begging you."

"Once she and the baby are safe, I'll go home with you."

There was a time I would have waited for those words again and again.

Now that I heard them, nothing in me stirred.

They held me down and made me sign the consent form.

Once the needle went into the vein, my mother kept pressing the nurse about whether it was enough blood.

Philip stayed by his phone, waiting for word about Wendy.

No one noticed my face going whiter and whiter.

When it was over and I stood up, everything went black at once.

Before I lost consciousness, I heard the nurse cry out.

Philip seemed to take a step toward me.

But someone by the ward called out, "Wendy's awake!"

His feet turned the other way at once.

When I opened my eyes again, it was already the next morning.

I was lying alone in the observation room. The nurse saw I was awake and pulled out the needle.

"I heard your sister's baby made it. Everyone went over to see her."

There was only one message on my phone, from Philip.

【Wendy just stabilized. When she wakes up, come apologize to her.】

I gave a mocking twist of my lips and moved him to my blocked list.

I finished the discharge paperwork, took a cab back to the marital home alone, and collected my luggage.

I left the keys and the payment record for the final mortgage installment on the table, then dragged my suitcase to the airport.

As the boarding announcement came on, my mother sent a message.

【Stop throwing your tantrum. Remember to come to the hospital tonight.】

I didn't reply. I just switched off the phone.

The plane tore down the runway, and the city below grew smaller and smaller.

Ten hours later, the plane landed.

The moment I powered on my phone, a flood of missed calls poured in.