His Final Collapse

A week and a half ago, I had made plans with my husband, Caden Hall, to hit the slopes at Saint Lorenzo Snow Mountain.

Decked out in my ski gear, I was relaxing in the lobby as I waited for the instructor when Caden showed up with his high school sweetheart, Kelly Turner, in tow.

He pushed a consent form into my hands, his eyes pleading. "Vanessa, you're a bone marrow match for Kelly. After we return, let's get the surgery done, okay?"

Kelly, looking ghostly pale, clutched my hand, her voice a whisper of thanks. "Vanessa, I can't tell you how much it means that you'd do this for me. Caden and I are both so thankful."

I pulled my hand back, a lump forming in my throat. "Caden, I'm pregnant. Can we... Can we put off the donation?" I was about to ditch the ski gear and dig out the pregnancy test from my bag to prove it.

However, Kelly's eyes brimmed with tears as she stared at me. "Vanessa, Caden's been by my side in the hospital for months. How could you be pregnant?

"I know you're not my biggest fan, but you can't just make stuff up because you're scared of the procedure."

Caden, who had softened at the news of the pregnancy, then glared at me, his voice icy. "Vanessa, enough with the games. If you didn't want to go through with the donation, you shouldn't have agreed to get tested.

"Now you're backing out after we've got a match? You think this is some kind of joke?

"And this pregnancy? I've hardly been home. How could you possibly… There's a limit to how far you can push a lie."

Kelly gently tugged at Caden's sleeve, trying to calm him. "Let it go, Caden. If Vanessa resents me, it's her right not to help. It's my fault for coming between you two."

With those words, she bolted for the door but only made it a few steps before collapsing on the icy floor.

Caden rushed to her and cradled her in his arms. He then shot me a look that could freeze fire. "See what you've caused? Strip off that gear. We're heading to the hospital so you can make things right and donate to Kelly."

He did not even glance back at me as he walked away, Kelly in his arms.

It was like he was sure I had tagged along, but I was not playing games—I was actually three months pregnant.

He just had not been home lately, so I never got the chance to tell him.

By the time I got my gear on and stepped outside, Caden and Kelly were gone.

I pulled my coat tighter around me, a wry smile on my face, ready to brave the mountain alone. That was when I heard the shout: "Avalanche! Run for it!"

Alas, I was not fast enough.

The snow swallowed me whole, and rescue never came. I suffocated under the weight of the white blanket.

I became a ghost, stuck haunting Caden, unable to move on.

10 days have passed since I died.

He has not thought of me once, all wrapped up in caring for Kelly. She had been really sick.

"Caden, am I going to die?"

He held her weak form, vowing, "No way. I'll call Vanessa right now."

He dialed my number, only to find my phone off.

With Kelly's condition critical, he rushed home.

The house was just as we left it 10 days ago, the flowers on the table a telltale sign of our long absence.

"Vanessa's not here? She couldn't still be on that mountain, could she?" Kelly had insisted on coming home from the hospital to thank me herself.

"That can't be. She drove herself there."

"Maybe she doesn't want to donate her bone marrow to me. Is that why she's hiding? I can't believe she'd hate me enough to refuse.

"Maybe we should just drop it. I'm just happy I got to see you again." She said it with such frailty that she almost collapsed.

Caden held her close, his arms gentle but firm. "She won't let us down, she promised me already."

His messages kept pinging my phone. [Vanessa, wherever you are, get back here now to sign the bone marrow donation papers.]

[It's just a bone marrow donation; nobody's dying from that. What are you so scared of? Are you really going to just stand by and watch Kelly fade away?]

[Do you really dislike her that much?]

They waited and waited at home, but I never replied.

In a fit of rage, he booted the door so hard the sound echoed like thunder.

Mom's spirit was trembling, taking refuge in my arms.

"Vanessa, why is Caden so mad?"

Mom had heard about the avalanche and dashed to the mountain, ignoring the rescue team's warnings, desperate to save me.

However, she had just had surgery and was weak. Halfway up, she just could not go any further.

Then, wild wolves appeared. She was too weak to fight back, and the wolves got her, just a hundred meters from where I lay.

"Is it because my sickness cost so much?

"I won't get treatment anymore, just tell him to stop being angry," said my mother.

I caressed her hair, my heart aching so bad I thought it might split. My throat felt blocked—words just would not come out.

The noise caught the attention of the neighbors next door.

One neighbor came out and, seeing Caden, offered a sympathetic pat on the shoulder after a moment of shock. "Caden? You're back? Have you sorted everything out with your wife's... you know, her funeral? I'm so sorry for your loss."

Caden straightened up, confused. "What are you talking about? What funeral?"

The neighbor let out a heavy sigh. "I know it's tough, the thought of your wife being gone. But it was a disaster, out of our hands."

Caden froze for a second.

Kelly pulled at Caden's sleeve. "What's with Vanessa? If she didn't want to give blood, she could've just said so. Why tell people she's dead? That's not cool."

Caden snapped out of his daze. "Yeah, she's too tough to just kick the bucket like that. She has to be playing me."

He turned to the neighbor. "Look, if you're in touch with her, pass on a message: if she's not at the hospital in three days, I'm cutting off her mother's treatment money."

The neighbor watched Caden step into the elevator, a look of confusion on his face. "But didn't her mom die with her in that avalanche?

"People say Vanessa's got a three-month-old baby on the way. Man, that's rough."