All Chapters of Silent Echoes of the Past: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

After completing the pre-donation medical screenings, I sat in the quiet hospital hallway for a long time, wanting to spend just a little more time with the undeveloped life growing inside me.When I finally turned my phone back on, the video from last night was gone, along with all the comments. 13 missed calls from David Frazier and 17 from Erika McKnight popped up on my screen.I dialed David back, and he answered on the first ring."Hazel, where have you been?" His voice sounded heavy and tense. "Erika has been breaking out in cold sweats from the pain all day, but because she couldn't reach you, she refused to take her pain medication. Do you seriously have to make us worry at a time like this?"I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat felt dry. The line went quiet before David finally noticed my silence. "Where are you?"I tucked the lab reports deep into my purse. "I'm fine."He let out a sharp breath. "Then get over here. Erika wants to take photos."Over the line, Erik

Chapter 2

Erika cried until her body suddenly swayed.Startled, David lunged forward to catch her. "Erika!"Erika kept her eyes closed, her fingers still clutching his sleeve. David's voice trembled with sheer panic. "Erika, stay awake! Look at me! Do you hear me?"He scooped her up and ran toward the car as fast as he could, placing her gently in the back seat. Bending over to check her breathing, he trembled noticeably.The car sped off; he had forgotten all about me.I stood by the curb, slowly placing my hearing aid back into my ear. Then I hailed a cab and rode to the hospital on my own.By the time I arrived outside the emergency room, David was standing outside the doors of the emergency room.His dress shirt was badly rumpled, and traces of Erika's nosebleed were smeared across his hands. A nurse urged him to go wash up, but he acted as if he couldn't hear her, his eyes glued to those doors.When the doctor finally stepped out, David rushed over. "How is she?""The patient's liv

Chapter 3

The next day, we went up to a quiet mountain chapel.David carried Erika on his back the entire way up the trail. I lagged behind, waves of throbs pulsing through my lower abdomen.With every few steps taken, I had to stop just to catch my breath. David only turned back to look at me once.The chapel wasn't very busy. A priest watched Erika and sighed. Erika let out a soft laugh. "It's fine."David's face turned thunderous. "Why did you sigh?"The priest shook his head and said nothing. Just then, the priest glanced at me and smiled. "Peace, smooth paths, and everlasting blessings."My fingertips trembled softly. That was my blessing for my unborn child.David said urgently, "Thank you for your well-wishes for Erika."Erika froze. "But this belongs to Hazel."Only then did David turn his gaze to me. "You don't mind, right?"I looked at Erika's bloodless face. If this blessing really possessed any power, then let it protect her.Later, Erika asked the priest to pray for h

Chapter 4

David helped me down the mountain, his phone buzzing nonstop along the way.Erika sent texts every few minutes.[Did you find Hazel?][Is she mad at me?][David, don't snap at her.]...Glancing at his screen, David murmured to me, "Remember, just humor her."Once we returned to the city, I went straight to the inpatient ward.The doctor hesitated. "You're scheduled for the liver donation surgery tomorrow, but operating in your current condition carries immense risk."I closed my eyes. "I know, but please, I beg you to proceed."That night, David called me three times, but I didn't answer. When he sent text messages, I didn't dare open them, eventually turning my phone off altogether.The next morning, news reached Erika's room that a matching liver donor had been found. David rushed to the doctor's office almost immediately.Through the door, I heard his voice clearly."When is the surgery?" he asked eagerly."The donor has already checked into the hospital, and all pre-

Chapter 5

David stumbled back, shaking his head. "That's impossible. You've got the wrong person. Hazel was just with me coming back from the chapel yesterday. She just had low blood sugar..."But the words caught in his throat as realization hit him like a physical blow.Yesterday, I had been sitting on the emergency room floor, deathly pale. On the way down from the mountain chapel, I had stopped every few paces just to catch my breath.When he had found me sitting in the first-aid room, my lips had been bloodless.David finally pieced everything together, suddenly understanding all my strange behavior over the past few days.The doctor stepped out, holding a set of documents. "Mr. Frazier, please sign this first."David grabbed the pen, his hand shaking badly. "Use whatever medicine you need. Money is no object. I can donate my blood, my liver, whatever... Please save her."The moment the nurse took the signed paperwork, he charged toward the operating room. "Hazel!"The doctors and n

Chapter 6

David refused to let anyone wheel the gurney away.Nurses came by three times to reason with him, but he acted as if he were deaf. As he knelt by the bedside, his fingers tightly gripped the ice-cold hand under the sheet."Just wait a little longer," he muttered blankly. "She's afraid of the dark. She'll be scared all by herself."The doctor sighed. "Mr. Frazier, the patient has been pronounced dead. We have to proceed with protocols."David's head jerked up. "Who said she's dead?"He glared with a wild, desperate look. "She's just sleeping. She's always loved sleeping in ever since she was a kid. If I call her, she'll wake up."With that, he lowered his head and called out to me repeatedly. "Hazel... Hazel, please... Wake up. I won't push you anymore. I won't ask you to humor Erika again. Just open your eyes. I'll do whatever you want from now on."When a nurse helped Erika into the room in a wheelchair, she happened to overhear those words. Her face was pale, and the tubes wer

Chapter 7

The scissors in my hand paused for a beat."I don't want to see them," I said.The nurse nodded and went downstairs to turn them away. I thought that would be the end of it. But the moment she stepped out into the courtyard, David suddenly looked up.Through the third-floor window, his eyes locked on mine. In an instant, he went rigid.Right after, he charged into the building. He moved so fast that the nurses in the hallway didn't even have time to stop him.By the time the door to my room burst open, I had just set the vase back on the table.David stood in the doorway, his chest heaving. Erika trailed behind him, holding onto the wall with a pale face.After a long silence, David finally found his voice, raspy and choked. "Hazel..."I looked at him. "It's been a while."His eyes welled up. But soon, that flicker of joyous relief in his gaze turned into an uncontrollable frustration. "Why did you deceive me?"As I stayed silent, he took a step forward. "I thought you were d

Chapter 8

After that day, David and Erika never returned to the retreat center.Days at the facility passed slowly—rehabilitation in the morning, medication at noon, and helping out in the greenhouse in the afternoon.A year later, I took a trip back home, wanting to visit the orphanage where I had grown up. The director had aged considerably.Her eyes instantly welled with tears the moment she saw me. "It's so good to see you again."I offered a soft smile.The orphanage had undergone a renovation. Inside the classroom for deaf and hard-of-hearing children, the equipment was brand new, and the walls were decorated with colorful drawings made by the kids."Erika donated all of this," explained the director.I paused in surprise, and she continued, "She comes by every week to teach the children how to read lips and practice their pronunciation. She even learned Sign Language. Her health still isn't great, but she always arrives early."Through the window, I saw Erika sitting inside the cl

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