Dorothy walked to the operating table one step at a time.
White light shone brightly above her, it made her feel uneasy.
The whole room was silent.
She could only hear her heartbeat and it was beating unusually hard. The only other sounds were from the machines monitoring Credence’s condition. Red lights flickered continuously and made ticking sounds.
Dorothy was standing beside the operating table. She slowly lowered her eyes and stared at Credence who was wrapped in a white quilt. He wasn’t moving at all, only his face wasn’t wrapped in the quilt. He wasn’t saying anything either.
He looked like he was already dead.
After taking a few deep breaths, Dorothy stretched out her hand and gently opened a corner of the quilt. Her eyes slowly went down along his body. Through the lights, she noticed that his hospital gown had been rolled up, exposing the mottled blood on his arm. Apart from the blood, there were also bits and pieces of grass and dirt on him that hadn’t been cleaned up.
The doctors and nurses were probably so busy saving his life that they didn’t have time to clean up his wounds.
Dorothy’s heart ached. She held on tightly to the railing next to the operating table with one hand and carefully held her stomach as she slowly bent down. She soon found a comfortable position to bend down. She held his big cold palms with her slender fingers, buried her pale face in them, then said softly and firmly to him, “Credence, I don’t know if you can hear to me, but if you really love me, Belle, and the baby in my womb, you must listen to every single word I say. Listen to me, let my words flow into your heart.”
Her voice was very soft, but Dorothy had to use up all her strength to utter those words. Just those words alone left her exhausted.
She took a deep breath and continued, “Credence, Belle and I, as well as our new child, needs you. With you around, we can finally have a home, but if you don’t make it, our family will be broken.”
“Credence, if you don’t make it, and we haven’t found a suitable bone marrow donor for Belle yet, she might not live beyond the next two months. By that time, both you and Belle will be gone. If so, what reason is there for me and the child in my womb to go on living?”
“So, I have thought it through. If you don’t wake up by tomorrow. I will find a doctor and ask for an abortion. I will end both of our lives so that the four of us can reunite in the afterlife.”
“You know me. I’m a stubborn girl. I will surely do what I say!”
Having said that, Dorothy propped up her weak body. She was extremely tired. She moved her pale face away from his palm and slowly stood up using the railings. She lowered her head and silently looked at Credence who hadn’t moved an inch. She thought about turning around and walking out.
She had said everything she wanted to say.
As for whether he would wake up or not, it all depended on how strong his heart was.
Since things had developed to this point, all she could do was wait and watch how her fate unfolds.
Suddenly, she heard the door creaking open behind her. She also heard a gasp. It was obvious this person was taken aback by what she said.
Dorothy turned around and looked up. She realized that Jonathan was wearing a disinfectant suit. He was shocked and stared at her with his big eyes. He was shocked. “Dorothy, are you… are you really going to kill yourself and the child?”
Darn, this woman looked so gentle and quiet. Who knew that she was even more ferocious than Melanie.
She was way too scary!
Dorothy looked him in the eye and nodded politely, she didn’t say anything else. She dragged her weak legs along, passed by him, went through the isolation door into the locker room. Her back was as slender as ever, but she was unusually quiet.
Jonathan frowned, he felt uneasy and looked doubtful. He strode to the operating table with his long legs and cast his eyes on the large screen of the intensive care unit.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He thought that his eyes had tricked him. He stared patiently at the undulating red line for over ten seconds, and the smile on his face grew wider. “What the f*ck! Credence, your brain nerve cells have begun moving. That’s great, you’re going to make it.”
After reeling for joy, Jonathan immediately slouched, he frowned and shouted, “F*ck, Credence, you’re a real piece of work. Marv and I called for you for such a long time, but you didn’t give us any f*cking reaction at all. Yet, you immediately responded right after your wife threatened you. You are a cheap man, you know that? Cheap!”
After shouting all that, Jonathan couldn’t speak anymore. His eyes were wet and his heart was beating violently. He looked down at Credence who was quietly lying on the table.
After a while, he finally rushed over. He grabbed Credence’s big palm which was hanging outside the quilt, he laughed and cried at the same time. “Credence, hold on for a little while more. I’ll ask the doctors to operate on you right away. Oh, by the way, I am going to tell Marv the good news. Although it seems like he doesn’t talk much, I am sure that he’ll feel the same. He must be feeling really down right now.”
Marvin was smoking in the designated smoking room. He received a call from Jonathan and heard the good news. When he heard Jonathan shouting at the other end of the line, he threw away the cigarette butt in his hand, slowly raised his hand, and covered his burning eyes.
“Thank the Lord, Credence can be saved, that’s great!”
Preparations for Credence’s operation were soon underway. Under Jonathan’s enthusiastic directions, he carried out the operation in an orderly manner.
When Marvin arrived at the emergency room, the door had already been sealed.
In front of a small surgical table were the top neurologists in Horsburg. They were busy performing a brain craniotomy and removing skull fragments from Credence’s brain.
Jonathan no longer looked as anxious as before. He walked towards Marvin and raised his hand to punch him in the chest. He was very excited. “Marv, the operation has begun. Shall we go and inform Dorothy?”
“No, now is not the time.”
Marvin looked up. He stared at the flashing red indicator lights and shook his head. “We will tell her when Credence actually wakes up. She’s experienced a lot that night, she’s gone through so many guns, bullets, and near-death scenarios. Whether it was her body or her mind, she has reached her limit. She can no longer feel disappointed anymore.”
“I see! Alright. Then, we will tell her when Credence finally wakes up.”
…
Dorothy had already left the operating room. She went into another ward to visit Belle. She hadn’t seen her in the past four days.
Belle was lying unconscious in the ward. She had only been away for a few days, but every strand of her hair had already fallen off. She lay quietly on the hospital bed. Her bare head and face looked very frightening.
She raised her hand and gently touched her daughter’s cold face. Dorothy choked from her sobs. “Belle, Mommy’s here to see you. Wake up and call Mommy again, okay? Please, Belle?”
She didn’t answer.
On the one hand, the man she loved was on the verge of death. On the other hand, she had her young daughter who had been given a death sentence by her doctor. If any one of them met with an unfortunate accident, she would be devastated.
Right now, she was like a candle that was being burned on both ends. No matter which end she looked at, she only felt suffering and despair.
Dorothy’s weak body slowly fell back onto the snow-white wall, her heart twitched in pain. For a moment, she was in a daze. Even though she knew how big the world was, right now she felt like she couldn’t escape this feeling of being boxed in.
Germaine walked in with some dinner and a bottle of hot water. To her surprise, she saw Dorothy kneeling on the ground. She almost screamed in shock and broke out in a cold sweat. She quickly placed her things down and ran towards her. “Dory, Dory, what’s wrong?”