CHAPTER 1
High-Risk
Vittoria Whitmore
I couldn't believe my ears at first because I thought the anesthesia was still messing with my head. There was no way in hell that my husband was currently speaking coldly in a low and hushed tone to his most trusted driver.
“The kidney transplant was a success, and Riley is out of danger for the moment. She will be put under observation by the doctors until she is strong enough to move around.” He paused, and from my hazy gaze, he turned towards where I lay with a cold expression on his face. “For now, you can take Vittoria home, and she will recuperate on her own.”
“Mr. Calloway… She…” His driver, Marcello, sounded stunned, and this was the first time I'd ever heard him sound this way. “She also just came out of a surgery. Don't you think…”
“Did I ask you to argue with me?” His voice was cold, and I watched as the driver shrunk and nodded his head. “Keeping her here will only bring about unnecessary expenses to my pocket. To also think that she has been the one draining me of all my finances, I wouldn't let her do so again. So… Before I come back from checking up on Riley, I want her out of this hospital.”
“Yes sir.” Marcello finally said without an argument, and Dario, my husband, turned on his heels and closed the door behind him.And I was left alone in this hospital room with beeping sounds, and I couldn't understand how or why I got here. I couldn't make sense of the exchange that had just been made between my husband and his driver, especially now that it involved my stepsister, Riley. Riley was in surgery for needing a kidney? Why wasn't I informed about something this grave? And for the umpteenth time, why was I in a hospital gown? The last thing I remembered was going to bed in my parents' house after I got invited for dinner.
“I'm sorry, Mrs. Calloway.” I heard the driver whisper beside me, but my thoughts were so woozy that I couldn't form words or piece together the questions I had in my mind. All I could remember was movement around me, and before I knew it, I was being wheeled out and taken to a car that smelled so much like my husband.
*
I think it took me the next four hours before I could finally stay awake enough to take stock of my surroundings, and I knew at once that I was back home. Was that a terrible dream I had some hours ago? Or…
“Babe?” I called out, my voice croaked, but I didn't hear his familiar footsteps coming up the stairs. I looked around me, but I couldn't even find my phone to call him and tell him I was awake and just had an extremely terrible dream.
I forced myself to get off the bed, found my slippers, and with a numb pain on my side, I climbed down the stairs to find my husband. But he was nowhere to be found. Before I could even call a maid to ask what was going on because the calendar showed that today was a weekend and Dario usually stayed in during weekends, the door burst open and Dario walked in, supporting my stepsister into our home.
“Riley? Dario?” I called them calmly. “Is something the matter? What happened?”
But it was as if none of them saw or even heard me because neither of them acknowledged my presence. The next set of people who stepped into the house were my parents, and they were shuffling around Riley and trying to get her as comfortable as possible, and that was when Riley finally looked up and her eyes met mine.
“Sister…” She whispered, and I felt my stomach churn because nothing ever good came out of her sudden niceness to me, especially when the corners of her eyes were clouded with tears. She pushed Dario aside weakly and came towards me. “Thank you so much, sister. Thank you for saving my life. Without you…” She hiccuped, and fresh tears poured from her eyes. “I could be dead by now. Thank you for sparing Mom and Dad the financial burden of getting a donor from elsewhere.”
“A donor?” My blood ran cold. “What are you talking about? I didn't donate anything to you. I didn't…”
“Of course, you did.” She said again, and this time the corner of her mouth curved into a wicked smile that only I could see. “Thank you for your kidney, Sister."
*
No one had paid me any attention when I confronted them about what Riley had told me, and maybe that was because it couldn't be possible. Dario wouldn't let that happen because he knew how risky it would be for me and the complications that would follow. And Riley was probably joking around to make me react so that she would act like the victim and I would take all the blame.
But something in me still irked me, and that was what had me lying on the bed of my sonographer's office after I had begged Marcello to bring me here.
“Mrs. Calloway… To what do I owe this pleasure?” She smiled warmly when she saw me. “I wasn't supposed to see you for the regular monitoring of your eggs until the next two weeks.” She took out her probe and applied the cold gel on it. “Now, let's see what we have here…”
“Not a baby.” My thoughts were still muddled, and I couldn't make coherent sentences. “My kidney. Check.” My palms were sweaty by my sides, and I could also feel my pulse racing at whatever was going to be found, but it seemed like she wasn't listening.
“Oh, will you look at that, Mrs. Calloway.” She smiled so brightly that I swore I could see the shine of tears. “Your miracle is here… You're a month pregnant.”
“No…” I shook my head, not grasping what she was saying, and I held her warm hands and dragged them towards my tummy. “Kidney. Please.”
Her brows furrowed together in confusion before she nodded and placed the probe on my left side, squinting at the monitor in front of her. “Your left kidney is still as it was, Mrs. Calloway. As long as you're taking the drugs we prescribed for you because of those fertility drugs you've been taking for months, your kidneys will return to normal. There's nothing to be worried—” Then, her entire expression froze, and I felt my entire body freeze alongside her. “Why?” She muttered before her eyes met mine. “Why did you take out the only healthy kidney you had going? Do you know how risky this is? Who is the doctor that did this? Don't they know they have literally put your life at risk?? And this pregnancy makes it the highest risk ever!”
