The Kindest Cruelty
After the car accident, I was gravely injured. I begged my wife, Susie Rogers, to take me to the hospital. Instead, her face darkened, and she ordered someone to lock me inside a sauna heated to 180 degrees.
The reason was simple: her brother-in-law, Chester Tucker, was scheduled for an appendectomy that day. To make sure I would not undergo surgery at the same time as him, she had me injected with a hundred coagulant shots.
No matter how desperately I pleaded for her to save me, she remained unmoved.
Ninety-nine needles pierced my body, each one intensifying the agony of my already severe injuries. The hundredth injection, she administered herself.
Looking down at me in my misery, she said calmly, "Chester has had a hard enough life since losing his wife. As his sister-in-law, I'm only looking out for him. You weren't satisfied with driving him overseas; now you even staged a car accident to get surgery before him?
"It seems I've spoiled you too much. That's why you dare to pull something like this.
"The doctor said that with the injections and the high heat, your pain and bleeding would be controlled. Once Chester's surgery is done, you can have yours."
In that moment, my heart turned to ash.
When Chester's operation succeeded, Susie burst into tears of relief and even set off celebratory fireworks to mark his 'new beginning.'
Later, as she watched him leave the hospital fully recovered, she finally remembered me and ordered someone to take me there.
However, before they could, her assistant called.
"The hospital has asked you to come and claim Mr. Lynch's…body."