Chapter 5

At these words, Stacy felt something shatter inside her soul.

Her heart was seized in an excruciating vice-grip, so that each breath she took was a painful ordeal.

Charlotte was rushed into the operating theater.

Joseph's eyes closed slowly, and his hand fell limply away from her.

The heart rate monitor emitted an urgent squeal.

His friends were losing their minds from panic, begging and pleading for her to think of something.

Stacy rallied herself and called up an old friend from back in Safeport, whose uncle used to be a hospital director here in Balmora, although he'd retired long ago. Once Stacy had outlined the situation, her friend urged her to have Joseph sent to another hospital, where she'd persuade her uncle to come out of retirement for his sake.

The hospital staff flew into action, loading Joseph back onboard the ambulance, even as they fought to keep him alive.

Ten minutes later, Joseph was being wheeled into a different operating theater.

Stacy waited outside. She waited the whole night.

Her mind was blank. She chewed her lower lip into a blotchy mess.

At daybreak, the doors to the operating theater were finally opened.

"The surgery has been a resounding success."

Hearing the good news from the surgeon, Stacy suddenly felt all the strength leaving her body. She exhaled heavily, her legs gave out beneath her, and she fainted dead away.

The next day, Stacy awoke at noon to see a nurse pulling a needle out of her.

"Relax, your boyfriend's operation was a complete success! He's already come out of the ICU."

Soothing the needle wound with a hand, Stacy found out which hospital room Joseph was in, and then clambered weakly out of bed.

Arriving outside the specified hospital room, she heard a commotion coming from within:

"Joseph, we've just told you that Charlotte is fine! Why do you need to be transferred to the hospital where she is? You've only just taken a step back from death's door. You're still not that far away!"

"That's right! Do you have any idea how many phone calls Stacy had to make last night, in order to save your miserable life? Quit being such a nuisance, alright? Charlotte is in better shape than you. She's fine, and she will still be fine several days from now!"

Besieged on all sides by friends who obviously only had his best interests at heart, Joseph nonetheless insisted, "No, I tried to protect her when we crashed, but she was still badly hurt. I need to see her with my own eyes… I have to!"

Stacy listened to all this through the closed door, and then proceeded inside.

As one, everyone turned to look at her.

Joseph's resolve flagged for a moment, his face a portrait of confused emotions.

Before he could figure out which way to steer this dialogue, Stacy seized the initiative first. "I know I'm not your family, so it's not my place to make this decision for you. If your heart is set on being transferred elsewhere, I'll put a call through to your sister, and she should be able to make it back here before evening. Just wait a few more hours, okay?"

Stacy said all this calmly, maintaining an even tone.

However, Joseph was deeply troubled by her words. He shooed everyone else out of the room, and then took her hand in both of his, struggling to find the right words.

"I was the one who let Charlotte drive my car. That makes all this my fault. That's why I insisted on saving her life before my own. The truth is that you're as close to my heart as my own sister, or anyone else in my life. I didn't mean for those words to hurt you…"

Stacy could no longer tell the truth from the lies.

However, if Joseph held her in equal standing to his own sister… What of Charlotte? Who was she to him, in the grand scheme of things?

Instead of asking so directly, Stacy took a more roundabout tack.

"Joseph, do you wish to go on living? Don't you think life is a valuable thing?"

Not knowing why she would suddenly ask such a question, Joseph nodded with uncertainty.

"Of course…"