Chapter 3
1051 Words
Roselle waited for Chris to pick. She prayed as she redialed his line that he'd pick.
Chris finally did.
“Hello?” His voice rose from the other end of the phone, and the calmness in the voice showed that he was still oblivious to what had happened to his wife and daughter.
“Honey?” Roselle called with a shaky voice. “Our daughter—”
She was forced to pause when a scream came from the phone. It was a feminine voice that Roselle recognized without a doubt.
Clara.
She would recognize that voice even in her sleep. They had attended college together, and she had seen her together with Chris always.
But Roselle didn't care at the moment. She didn't care whether Chris was cheating on her with Clara. She didn't care if he had never for once forgotten about her.
At that moment, all she cared about was her daughter's safety.
“Chris? Ava is hurt. She's currently unconscious. I need you to donate some blood”
Roselle said to the phone but when Chris' voice rose, the response wasn't for her. Chris was no longer listening to what she had to say.
“Clara, what's wrong?” Chris's voice was panicked. “Does it hurt anywhere?”
“My stomach…. Chris, I'm feeling pain all over” Clara replied, a shrill scream following her words.
A tear slid down Roselle's face as she listened. She needed him to listen to her, but he chose to listen to another woman instead.
He didn't even realize the call was still on, he didn't care about her or their daughter.
“Hang on for me, Clara. I'll get you to the hospital” Chris said, the sound of his fading footsteps echoing into Roselle's ears.
“Chris!” Roselle yelled into the phone and ran into the hallway, her lips trembling. People's eyes turned to her, and everyone looked terrified. “Please listen to me just this once!”
“What's with that woman?”
“I think she's crazy”
“But isn't she the wife of the billionaire, Christopher Hayde?”
Roselle heard the whispers of the passerbys, but there was no part of her brain that was available to process their words.
She didn't want to give up on Ava. She just couldn't.
Her daughter was her life. Her daughter was the only thing that had given her joy in that loveless marriage.
She couldn't afford to lose her.
Roselle staggered back into the ward, crying uncontrollably as she grabbed the doctor's coat with her weak hands.
“If you proceed with the surgery without a donor, what happens?” Roselle asked.
“She dies”
The doctor's response was blunt and direct, driving through Roselle's heart like a bullet that pierced deeply.
Roselle's tears turned into a muffled whimper, while her fists curled by her side.
“Emergency patient coming in! Please clear the road!”
A male doctor's voice echoed through the wall a few minutes later, and Roselle quickly moved from where she stood to avoid delaying the stretcher’s movement.
She was taken by surprise when she looked at the so-called emergency patient to see Clara, her husband's first love.
Her eyes snapped towards the man running in after the stretcher and her breath hitched.
Her husband stood there, concern written all over his face. But that concern wasn't for their dying daughter, it was for the woman he loved. The woman who's not her.
Chris didn't see Roselle, he was too blinded by Clara's condition to notice her presence.
“This patient is suffering from a torn blood vessel. Her condition could worsen because she has ulcer” The doctor's loud voice echoed through the ward.
“She needs a blood donor, she's O-Negative. Who's the guardian?” The doctor added.
“It's me” Chris stepped closer to him. “I'll donate”
“No!” Roselle's voice cut through the room sharply.
She stepped closer to them immediately and when Chris turned, he was shocked to see Roselle behind him.
“Roselle?” He called with a hint of disbelief in his tone. “What are you doing here?”
“What happened to you?”
That was when his face darted to the patient on the second bed. His eyes widened in shock, and he rushed over to Ava's side before he could help it.
“What happened? Why is Ava like this?”
Chris’s face twisted in confusion and he placed his hand on Ava's bleeding belly, his body shaking slightly.
“That is not important” Roselle breathed out in relief, glad that Chris was finally seeing their daughter.
“Ava needs you to donate your blood. The doctor said she could die if we don't find a donor quickly”
“But Clara…..” his gaze snapped back to the other bed, and then back to Ava.
“Guardian?” Clara's attending doctor called. “Please we need your response. The patient's condition is urgent”
Chris held Roselle by the shoulder and pressed his lips together.
He didn't think twice about it, he made his decision with his face looking firm and confident. “I'll donate to Clara first, I'll donate to Ava right after”
Before Roselle could respond, Chris turned to head back to Clara's side but he was forced to stop when Ava's attending doctor spoke.
“Mr. Hayde?” He called. “You can only choose to save one of them right now”
“What do you mean by that?” Chris snapped.
“If you donate your blood to Ms. Hensley, we will have to wait two hours before you can donate again” The doctor said.
“I can't guarantee that this little girl would be able to hold on till then”
Roselle's heart clenched at the doctor's words, and her lips trembled.
She should have been certain that Christopher would choose to save Ava first. Afterall, that's what's expected of any father. But Roselle knew the truth that the place she and her daughter held in his heart was just little, and Clara had taken the rest of the space.
“Please make your decision” The doctor continued.
“Who will you save first?”
- Writer
