Chapter 4

Outside, Lia was crying as she tried to persuade Marco.

"You should go in and stay with Elena. My injuries have already been treated. I don't want her thinking I'm deliberately keeping you away from her."

Marco helped her sit down.

"You're so scared your hands are still shaking," he said. "How can I leave you here alone? I'll stay with you. Elena just needs some time to calm down."

I stared at the IV stand, listening as Clara urged someone over the phone again. As soon as she hung up, I struggled to reach out and touch her hand.

"Has the blood still not arrived?"

"They're still following up, Donna Elena," she replied. "Please save your strength. I'll tell you as soon as there's any news."

As I nodded, Lia's voice drifted through the door.

"Does she still refuse to forgive me? If I'd known things would turn out like this, I never would have let you take me first."

"Taking you first was my decision,” Marco replied softly. "If she's angry, she can take it out on me. This has nothing to do with you."

I closed my eyes, trying to catch my breath.

But when I heard Clara call my name again, I could no longer open them. I wanted to answer her, but my lips wouldn't obey me.

She tightened her grip on my hand, her voice growing increasingly urgent.

"Donna Elena? Donna Elena?"

When I didn't respond, she began calling my name in a panic.

"Elena! Can you hear me? If you can, squeeze my hand!"

I desperately tried to move my fingers, but I couldn't even manage to give her that small response.

A moment later, hurried footsteps sounded beside the bed. Someone leaned over to examine me while another person rushed in with a crash cart.

Clara hurried toward the door.

"Donna Elena is unresponsive! Her condition is critical!"

"She was just talking to me," Marco said, a hint of urgency in his voice. "How could she suddenly stop responding?”

"She has been losing blood this entire time, and now we can't wake her up! Please call people to donate blood immediately. We can't wait any longer!"

The door opened slightly.

"Move aside," he ordered. "I'll go in and call her. She'll wake up when she hears my voice."

"She has already lost consciousness," Clara cried. "You won't be able to wake her. Please stop obstructing the doctors!"

I wanted to beg Marco to stop asking questions and call the donors instead, but I couldn't make a sound. Even breathing was becoming harder.

Soon, Clara's voice faded away from my ears.

When Alberto came out again, Marco was standing by the door.

"Why hasn't she woken up yet?" he demanded. "What exactly are you doing to treat her?"

"She has lost too much blood and is now in shock. We're still trying to resuscitate her, but her life is in immediate danger."

Marco's hand froze on the doorknob, while Lia rose from her chair and caught his arm.

"But she was just talking earlier, and her medical checkup showed no problems…"

Her voice caught as she stared at the door.

"Could she just be trying to scare you into regretting that you didn't take her first?"

"She has lost consciousness," Alberto said, turning to Lia. "We can't even wake her up now."

Marco said nothing. After staring at the door for a moment, he took out his phone again.

"Please contact the donors immediately," Alberto urged. "We really can't wait any longer!"

"Marco, why don't you go in and see her first?" Lia suggested, clutching his sleeve. "You're right here. Whatever she's upset about, can't you just talk it through with her face-to-face?"

He tightened his grip on his phone.

"Just let me see her first. I need to know how she's doing."

"She needs blood to survive! Please call the donors first. You can deal with everything else after we've stabilized her!"

"I need to see her first," Marco insisted. "Just because she's throwing a tantrum doesn't mean I should summon the entire family to come here and be dragged into this mess."

The phone screen went dark.

Alberto stopped arguing with him and went back into the emergency room.

The door closed again.

Marco sat back down in the corridor, with Lia leaning against his shoulder and occasionally whispering something to him.

Inside, the medical team continued trying to save me. No one came out again to ask him to contact the donors.

At 2:14 am, the doors to the emergency room finally opened.

"Has she finally calmed down?" Marco asked, standing up. "Can I go in and talk to her now?"

Alberto removed his mask.

"I'm sorry. Your wife has no vital signs. We were unable to resuscitate her."

Marco froze. He stared into the room, staggering slightly before reaching out to brace himself against the doorframe.

"Say that again. What happened to her?"

"I'm very sorry. Your wife didn't make it."

"That's impossible," Marco muttered, shaking his head. "She was just talking to me."

Alberto didn't answer.

The color drained from Marco's face, and the hand holding his phone began to tremble.

When Lia reached for him, he pulled away.

"Elena."

He called into the room, but there was no response.

"Just because I took Lia first, you think you can make the doctors scare me with something like this? You won't be satisfied until I admit I was wrong, will you?"

Silence enveloped the corridor as Marco pushed past Alberto, who was blocking the doorway.

"Elena, you've gone too far this time," he hissed, grabbing the door handle. "If something's bothering you, you can tell me. How could you use your own life to scare me like this?"

His voice grew more frantic with every word.

"I've already stayed here with you. You should be more reasonable now. Stop dragging everyone else into this."

With that, he opened the door to the room.