He Wanted Our Daughter's Corneas

Colin Mathers finally arrived.

I asked him, "Why did you stop Elsie's medication?"

He frowned impatiently. "That illness of hers is a bottomless pit. Ariana's son is about to start elementary school. That's what actually matters."

I stared at him, unable to say a single word. In his eyes, my daughter's desperate fight to live had never mattered at all.

I held Elsie Mathers' memorial portrait against my chest. In the photo, she had her hair in two little pigtails and was beaming at the camera. It was her favorite picture of herself, because Colin had taken her to the amusement park that day, which almost never happened.

He had only stayed for 20 minutes. As soon as Ariana Lisle called, he pushed Elsie into my arms and rushed off. Even so, Elsie was happy for a long time afterward. She told me her daddy had held her that day, and that he smelled like sunshine.

Now that same father stood beside her body, and his eyes had not even turned red.

The eye bank coordinator opened the folder and spoke in a hushed voice. "Mrs. Mathers, your daughter has not been cremated yet. Mr. Mathers signed a statement of intent to donate earlier, but our procedure still requires a second confirmation from you."

I saw Colin's name on the signature line. The date on it showed that he had signed shortly before Elsie died.

At the time, I was kneeling beside her hospital bed, refusing to let go of her hand. Colin never showed up. It turned out he had known Elsie was gone all along. He had simply been too busy signing a donation agreement on her behalf.

I looked up at him. "You knew the whole time?"

Colin avoided my eyes. "The doctor said it was a match. A chance like that doesn't come often."

I gripped the portrait so hard that the edge of the frame dug into my fingertips until they throbbed and went numb. "What gives you the right to sign that?"

Colin's brow furrowed. "I'm her dad."

I laughed. When Elsie was alive, he had never once remembered that he was her father.

During Elsie's first round of chemo, he was at Ariana's house celebrating Noah Lisle's birthday. When Elsie had a fever and went into seizures, I called him, and he told me Noah was crying too and that I should stop using our child to compete for his attention.

When Elsie was in so much pain that she writhed all over the bed, she asked me when her daddy would be back with her medicine. Meanwhile, he had stopped her medication.

Now that Elsie had closed her eyes for good, he suddenly remembered he was her dad.

I pushed the documents back. "No donation."

The coordinator paused for a moment, then quickly nodded. "If you don't consent, we'll stop the process."

Colin's expression darkened. "Laura, don't let your emotions get the better of you. Elsie's already gone."

That line again. She was already gone. And now, he wanted to take away the very last part of her too.

I looked at him as my voice slowly grew hoarse. "Who are you trying to save?"

Colin did not answer.

His phone rang just then. He glanced at the screen, and his expression changed instantly. The contact name read "Ari."

The moment he picked up, Ariana's tearful voice spilled out of the phone. "Colin, Noah's eyes are hurting again. He keeps asking when he can have the surgery."

Colin turned away on instinct. "Don't worry. I'll be right there."

I stood in a room full of white flowers as a chill crept through my whole body.

So it was Noah. Noah had received the medicine Elsie had waited for in vain before she died. Now he wanted her corneas too.

I reached for the confirmation form. Colin grabbed my wrist. "Laura, Noah is just a kid."

I looked up at him. "And Elsie wasn't?"

His fingers stiffened.

The viewing room was eerily quiet. Elsie lay small among the white roses, wearing her favorite pink dress. I had bought it for her, but she had never wanted to wear it until her dad came home. She had been saving it to show her dad when he came home, but Colin had never truly looked at her.

I lowered my head and signed my name in the refusal box. I wrote it letter by letter, my hand shaking so badly that I could barely hold the pen.

Colin stared at the paper with eyes as cold as ice. "You'll regret this."

I handed the form to the coordinator. "I'm saying no for Elsie."

Colin shook off my hand and headed for the door. "Ariana's counting on this to save a life. If you insist on being this selfish, there's nothing I can do."

He pushed the door open. A cold wind swept in and set the white roses swaying gently.

I held Elsie's portrait tighter and stayed where I was, making no move to follow him.