“I’ll head home now and tell my family to contact the best plastic surgeon. Once she’s discharged, we’ll help her regain her beauty.”
After they left, the caretaker in the ward looked at me enviously and whispered,
“To have such a devoted boyfriend and best friend—many women would kill for that. I’ve been working here for five years, and I’ve never seen anything like it. Some patients are abandoned completely—not even family comes to visit. But you’re lucky. You should cherish them.”
I nodded, my voice raspy as I muttered,
“You’re right. I should cherish them.”
“I’ll give everything I have to repay them.”
I was an orphan. I met Jason Miller and Emily Brooks after graduating from Columbia University.
They treated me so well that I gradually came to see them as the two most important people in my life.
I dreamed of walking into the wedding hall hand in hand with Jason, with Emily in her bridesmaid’s dress by my side, witnessing my happiest moment.
But that dream was torn to pieces by cruel reality.
Last night, Jason had dinner with a client and called me to pick him up.
Not long after I drove out of my house, a dump truck came barreling toward me.
The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital.
I took a deep breath and told the caretaker Jason had hired,
“Leave me alone for now. I want some peace and quiet.”
She looked at me worriedly and said cautiously,
“Please don’t do anything reckless. Miss Brooks already promised to find the best plastic surgeon for you. And Mr. Miller said he’ll marry you after you’re discharged…”
I cut her off,
“Don’t worry. I won’t be foolish. I’ve already died once—I know what death feels like. I won’t make that mistake again.”
The caretaker misunderstood me, thinking my “died once” referred to last night’s accident.
After she left, I picked up my phone from the bedside table and dialed a number.
When the call connected, I whispered,
“Jason Miller and Emily Brooks just left the hospital. Follow them.”
“Emily’s twenty-fifth birthday is coming up soon. The surprise I prepared for her and Jason—it’s ready, isn’t it?”
A respectful voice answered from the other end,
“Everything is arranged. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks have promised that the two of them will be utterly disgraced that day.”
…
I stayed in the hospital for three days. During those days, Jason and Emily came often, patiently comforting me.
But on Emily’s birthday, neither of them showed up.