Two years ago, I was diagnosed with a clotting disorder. Even a small cut could kill me. Derek held me and sobbed, swearing he'd sell a kidney if that's what it took to save me.
A year ago, he really did lose that kidney.
Everyone called him a devoted husband. I believed it too. I worked myself to the bone saving money, trying to support this family. I even took out a massive insurance policy and named him the beneficiary.
I thought that way, even if I died, he wouldn't be left with nothing.
But that basin of ice water shattered every dream I'd ever had.
"You're overacting, Alex. You think I don't know you're running an insurance scam?"
"Trying to help your deadbeat brother turn his life around? You'd really jinx yourself like that?"
His vicious sneer still echoed in my skull.
I thought back to New Year's Eve—my mother-in-law asking if I'd live to see spring, Derek smashing that medicine pot, swearing no one could take me away.
It was never devotion. He was just afraid I'd die at the wrong time and void the payout.
My phone sat on the coffee table. Less than two meters away.
But my fingers were frozen stiff. I couldn't lift them.
My vision blurred. My heartbeat slowed to something terrifying.
Through the haze, I saw my dead father standing in the doorway. He cursed me for being worthless—for throwing my life away on a piece of trash.
No. I can't die.
If I die, Derek and his family take the payout and live like kings.
I bit through my lip, using the pain to stay conscious. I dug my fingers into the cracks between the tiles. My nails bent and broke. The agony shot straight to my heart, so bad I wanted to vomit.
But I kept crawling. Inch by inch.
Blood dragged a long trail across the floor, like a road of despair.
Finally, I reached the phone. The screen was smeared red, and my trembling fingers dialed my younger brother's number.
"Alex?"
"Ryan… save me…"
I managed to gasp out the address before everything went black. In that last second, my eyes locked onto the basin of ice—still not fully melted.
When I opened my eyes again, harsh white fluorescent light made me squint. The smell of disinfectant hit my nose.
I was still alive.
"Alex! You're awake!"
Ryan lunged toward me, eyes red, a crumpled critical condition notice still clutched in his fist.
"The doctor said half an hour later, and even God couldn't have saved you."
His voice cracked. Tears streamed down his face.