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Home / Ten Years I'll Never Get Back / Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

All Chapters of Ten Years I'll Never Get Back: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

Julian's POVOn the drive to Mason's house, he suddenly spoke."Thank you, Vanessa. I had a wonderful time today."Surprise flashed through Vanessa's eyes, and even her voice lifted."That's all I wanted. I brought you out so you'd enjoy yourself."Vanessa's gaze never left him until Mason stepped out of the car and went inside.As for me, my clothes were covered in dirt and the gash on my forehead was still bleeding, untreated.She never looked at me once.The car started moving again.I didn't say a word until she stopped at a red light.Only then did she speak."Are you angry?"A drop of blood fell onto the back of my hand before Vanessa finally passed me a tissue.She tapped the steering wheel and watched the light count down."I don't know what else to do. Mason's autism has been getting worse."Seeing you like that is one of the few things that calms him."Her eyes filled with guilt and tenderness as she spoke."We grew up together. When his parents died, they as

Chapter 2

Vanessa didn't come home that night.My messages got no response, so I stopped sending them.Early the next morning, I went to Colterra University Medical Center in Redhaven to visit my sick sister.A donor from the Colterra Marrow Registry had been confirmed, and her transplant preparation was scheduled to begin in two days.Sophie had lived with leukemia since childhood, and our parents had abandoned us years earlier. She was the only family I had left.She lay in bed surrounded by softly beeping monitors.The moment she saw me, her eyes lit up."Julian!"Then she noticed the bandage around my forehead and froze."What happened to your head?"I set the fruit I had bought on the table and answered lightly."It's nothing. I fell."She nodded uncertainly, then quickly became excited again."The doctor said my transplant starts in two days. Does that mean I'm finally getting better?"When I'm well, will you take me to Brightwater City?"I brushed her hair back, my chest ac

Chapter 3

I don't remember leaving Dr. Marsh's office. I'd had the hope in my hands."What did the doctor want?"Sophie asked when I returned.I looked at the color slowly returning to her face.Since learning that a donor had been found, she had begun believing she might live.How could I take that hope away?"The doctor said you're still too weak for the procedure."They need to delay it."Sophie paused, then gave me the same sweet, obedient smile she always did.I couldn't stay. After reassuring her, I left the hospital.Thinking about Vanessa's call, I knew no one else would have interfered.Vanessa was the one who'd gotten us into the registry search in the first place.She also knew people close enough to pressure the process.When I reached home, crashes sounded from inside.Mason was having another episode in my house.He had destroyed everything within reach, leaving broken pieces across the floor.Vanessa continued soothing him.She only glanced up when she heard the f

Chapter 4

Vanessa and I stopped speaking altogether.For the next two weeks, I never returned home and slept at the hospital instead.Because the transplant had been delayed, Sophie's leukemia became harder to control.She had grown skeletal, with her cheekbones hollow beneath her skin."Julian, am I going to die?"She lay in bed speaking in a faint, defeated voice.Sophie wasn't naive."Did the donor withdraw?"Maybe we should stop treatment. Everything hurts."My eyes burned as I held her hand."Don't say that. You're going to get better. Trust me."After she fell asleep, I went to the transplant physician's office."Dr. Marsh, you said another person might be compatible. Can the registry contact them again? Sophie can't wait."At my request, the transplant coordinator reached the potential donor through the registry.After learning the urgency, the donor confirmed immediate availability.The hospital only needed financial clearance before conditioning and collection could begin

Chapter 5

Third-person POVWhen Vanessa received Julian's call, she assumed he was finally apologizing.After every argument in the past, he had always been the first to surrender.She expected this time to be no different.Instead, Julian's first words demanded an explanation, and irritation rose inside her.She was watching fireworks with Mason, and the call shattered the happiness of the evening."Vanessa, is he calling about something?"At Mason's voice, Vanessa shook her head and ended the call.Then she blocked Julian through every channel.They had been silent for two weeks, and she had taken money from his account partly because she expected it to force him to contact her.She had never imagined he would speak to her with such anger.After she turned off the phone, the fireworks ended.Yet she remained distracted.The excitement she had felt disappeared completely.Mason kept pushing her to leave.Only after that did she take him to dinner.Vanessa barely spoke during the

Chapter 6

Vanessa shot to her feet.Staring at the error symbol, she sent message after message in disbelief.Pressure settled against her chest until breathing became difficult.She called Julian's friends, one after another."Trevor, have you seen Julian?""Julian? I was about to ask you the same thing. Nobody's been able to reach him for days."After the call ended, Vanessa stood in a daze.She and Julian had been together for ten years.From eighteen to twenty-eight.They'd set a date at the courthouse several times.Each attempt had been interrupted by another crisis involving Mason.Even then, Julian had never ended the relationship.Vanessa couldn't believe he would leave her now.She had only used money from his account. How could something so small end ten years?She couldn't understand it, and she refused to accept it.To prove herself right, she switched on every light in the house.That was when she noticed how much of Julian's things were gone.Inside the bedroom, a

Chapter 7

"Because Mason loves you. We didn't know what else to do."Vanessa laughed in disbelief.She had always treated Mason like family because they had grown up together.She'd never imagined that affection would become a justification for cornering her."Diane, I'm not coming back. I have a boyfriend, and we're getting married."With that, Vanessa left the Lowell house.Then she remembered Sophie was still in the hospital waiting for a marrow transplant.The first time, Vanessa had paid an intermediary to pressure the registered donor into withdrawing so Julian would submit to her demands.Now she wanted to repair what she had done.She immediately began contacting the registry and hospital, hoping another compatible donor could be found quickly.Then she drove toward the hospital.So much had happened that she nearly crashed while distracted.She reached the hospital and ran directly to Sophie's room.The moment she opened the door, she stopped.Another patient occupied the

Chapter 8

Julian's POVI saw Vanessa again three months later.Sophie's ashes had long since been buried at Mooncrest Memorial Gardens. I never expected Vanessa to find the cemetery, much less kneel before my sister's marker."Sophie, I'm sorry. I failed you."She said it again and again, one hand pressed flat to the stone, begging a dead girl to forgive her.Standing behind her, I felt only disbelief."What's the point of apologizing now that she's dead?"Sophie died in pain after losing two transplants. Don't ever come here again. I won't have you staining her grave with your guilt."I spoke one word at a time. Vanessa heard me and turned instantly.She stood and moved toward me. "I'm sorry. I truly didn't know it would end like this. I thought nothing serious would happen."Vanessa searched for an excuse and found none.Both missed transplant opportunities were connected to her decisions, and there was no defense.Seeing her broken appearance gave me no satisfaction."Sophie is d

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