The Road He Didn't Take

The endless blaring of car horns from rush hour rang in my ears.

My father, Michael Stern, was already unconscious, laying in the lap of my mother, Edith Christian.

We were stuck at an intersection.

Outside the car window, my husband's colleague, Francis Light, in a police uniform, was looking at me icily.

He said, "Everyone is stuck here. If I were to clear a path just for you, others would call it a misuse of power. Daphne, are you just trying to get me in trouble?"

My mother was so anxious that she began sweating profusely. She yelled, "This is a matter of life and death! Is this how you police officers do your job?"

Half an hour ago, I returned to the day my father collapsed.

Still stuck in traffic, I did not ask my husband, Jonathan Reed, who was conducting the traffic, for help. Instead, I forced my way through the stream of cars and turned sharply into a side road with fewer vehicles.

I did not even have the time to step on the gas pedal when Francis appeared, blocking my car.

"What life and death? I don't see anything. Your father is just asleep in the car. What do you mean cerebral hemorrhage? Daphne, if you continue causing trouble by putting on this fake act, I'll have no choice but to have you arrested."

Francis smiled at me maliciously, his eyes gleaming with clear condescension.

When the other cars saw me leaving, they honked at me with dissatisfaction.

"Can't you abide by the rules? If we can wait, why can't you?!"

"That's right! You even asked a police officer to help you clear a path! Who do you think you are?"

As their comments reached us in the car, I clenched the steering wheel tighter. My back was drenched in cold sweat. I was so anxious I was almost in tears.

Was my father just going to die there like that?

My mother wailed in despair. She did not understand why no one would believe us when her husband's life was hanging by the thread.

Francis cast me a warning glance. "Daphne, Jonathan has told me all about your tactics. I mean, I've got to give it to you. You put on quite a convincing show."

He added, "He told me that you'll have to just wait until the traffic eases today, just like everyone else. Don't embarrass yourself or cause Jonathan to lose his job. You hear me?"

I gripped the steering wheel tightly.

Francis was a good police officer, but he was always mean to me. I never knew where his hostility was coming from, but at that moment, it hit me.

It seemed that even until that point, he thought I was the one who cost Jonathan his job, causing him to fail his official confirmation.

In his eyes, I was a tramp who only knew how to get into bed with other men. It was also because of me that Jonathan and his childhood sweetheart, Rosalin Bell, could not be together.

However, I had no time to explain myself. My father had been unconscious for a long time by then. Any second of delay would be an additional danger.

Suppressing the panic in me, I opened the car door and walked over to Francis.

In my previous life, I was equally in despair. Back then, I put aside all of my dignity and pride, asking Jonathan to clear a path for us.

He had hesitated a while, but in the end, he agreed.

That day, my father got the treatment he needed. All of us were relieved.