Chapter 3

Just before dawn, I passed out in my wheelchair.

When I came to, Bianca was slapping my cheeks to wake me. "Ms. Winona, open your eyes. Look at me. Don't fall asleep!"

While Mom wasn't looking, Bianca went to get the doctor on duty. He checked my pulse and took one look at my face before ordering someone to bring over the bedside ultrasound machine.

Before the machine could arrive, Dad showed up. Two hospital administrators on duty followed him.

"Who ordered this scan?" Dad asked.

The doctor on duty explained, "The patient briefly lost consciousness. I strongly suspect hemorrhagic shock. We need to find the source of the bleeding right away."

Dad looked over the request form. Instead of finding out more about my condition, he asked, "Did just one doctor sign off on this?"

"One doctor's approval is enough in an emergency."

"That may be enough for other patients, but not for her."

Dad took out his pen and added a line to the form.

"Any special treatment for a hospital director's family must be approved by two people. That way, no one can accuse us of bending the rules for each other."

Bianca stared at the new rule, and her hands shook with anger.

"So one doctor's warning is enough to save someone else, but because Ms. Winona is your daughter, you need two doctors to agree she's dying before you'll help her?"

Dad frowned. "Don't twist my words."

"That's not what I'm doing!" Bianca argued.

The hallway fell silent.

Bianca pointed at me in my wheelchair.

"All night, she's been pushed aside for a hospital transfer, for a monitor, and even for blood. Now she needs an extra approval just to get a routine scan? How is that treating everyone equally?"

Dad's expression turned grim.

However, I was too weak to listen to them argue anymore.

When Natalie first joined our family, our school held parent-teacher meetings on the same day. Mom went to Natalie's instead of mine.

Mom told me, "You've always had me by your side. This is the first time Natalie's had someone there for her."

Later, when we had competitions on the same day, Dad went to Natalie's, too.

Dad said, "We've seen you win so many awards. This is the first time Natalie has had someone waiting for her in the audience."

I never argued with them because they always hugged me afterward.

They always said the same thing.

"Winona, you're different."

"You know we love you."

So I had always believed that the one left waiting was the one they loved more.

Today, I finally learned that even the one they loved most could be left waiting.

Bianca found a second doctor to approve my scan, but Elijah returned just then.

When he heard I had passed out, panic flashed across his face. He crouched in front of me.

"Honey, why didn't you call me?"

I stared at him for a long time. "I did."

He froze. "When?"

I didn't answer.

When I had told him I was cold the day before, he had wheeled the monitor away.

In the middle of the night, I had told him I was in pain. Instead, he told me not to hold it against Natalie.

Before that, he had promised to stay by my side when I gave birth.

I had called for him again and again. But every time, someone else had mattered more to Elijah.

I grabbed his hand. "Don't think of me as your wife."

"What?" Elijah asked in surprise.

"Just pretend you've never met me before." I forced myself to speak as clearly as I could. "You're a doctor. If another new mother had been lying here like this today, would you have made her wait this long?"

Elijah's hand went rigid. His lips moved, but he couldn't get any words out.

Just then, someone came running over from the next room. "Dr. Colton, Natalie says her chest is bothering her again. Could you go check on her?"

Elijah turned toward the voice without thinking.

That one small movement was enough for me to slowly let go of his hand.

He seemed to realize what he had done, and a look of shame crossed his face. "I'll do a quick check on her. I'll be right back."

I didn't stop him.

Ten minutes later, both doctors finally signed the form.

The bedside ultrasound machine was finally wheeled over, but the backup power overloaded and the screen went black again.

Bianca stared at the machine as it went dark, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

On the other hand, I barely felt anything anymore.

Maybe the pain had gone on for too long. After a while, my body stopped feeling it.