Coming to her senses, Abigail turned toward the nurse. “Yes?”
“There’s a courier waiting for you at the front desk, saying that you have a parcel waiting.”
“Okay.” Abigail nodded.
She headed to the front desk where the courier was waiting, and asked when she saw her, “Excuse me, are you Abigail Bernstein?”
“Yes,” Abigail replied.
“Here’s your parcel. Sign here please.”
Abigail borrowed a pen from the front desk since she was still in her scrubs and she signed for the parcel.
However, her heart skipped a beat when she saw that the sender was Layla Gooding!
What could this be?!
What could Layla have sent her?
Abigail was unusually nervous, and curious to find out as soon as possible, she took the parcel to her office, sat down, and opened it.
There was a letter and a red velvet box within, and Abigail’s hand paused for a moment instead of taking everything out immediately.
The thought that Layla was gone, and that these were her relics left her tearing up-not because of Layla herself, but because of Diarmuid.
He had just found her, but she was taken away soon after.
Tragedy and blessing happened with such quick succession that the gods must be mocking him.
In fact, no one could prepare for something like this!
Abigail inhaled deeply several times to calm herself before opening the red velvet box, and saw that it contained a simple ring, but the yellow diamond embedded on it was dazzling.
She did not know much about jewelry, but could tell that it is worth a lot given the size and color.
She closed the box and returned it inside the parcel box, and eventually picked up the letter, tearing it open after a brief hesitation. She then read the letter which was penned with lines of beautiful handwriting
And then her face fell, with a look of bewilderment and helplessness.
[Lastly, I wish that you can keep this secret for me. Don’t tell anyone-least of all Diarmuid.]
[Yvaine Lynd]
Back at the operating room, Stephen had a hand on Mick’s shoulder. “Calm down. She’s gone now-you can’t bring her back.”
Mick was sitting limply on the floor, looking up at Stephen as he rasped, “I don’t want to live.”
“Get a hold of yourself,” Stephen reasoned, but he shook his head.
“No. What’s the point in living without her?”
Stephen pursed his lips and heaved a long sigh.
No matter how hard he tried, he could never save a person who had given up.
“Do you love her that much, that you’re going to kill yourself for it?” Stephen asked, despite knowing full well that Mick definitely could.
Still, Stephen could not give up on his friend, and hoped that Mick could accept Yvaine’s death and pick. himself up-he still had a long life ahead of him.
“I would trade her life for mine,” Mick said earnestly.
“I know you would, but you’re probably not going to survive even if you want to,” Stephen said. “There’s no hiding Yvaine’s death, and if Diarmuid learns that you’re the cause, he’d-”
“He can do whatever he wants. I won’t hide-he’s her son, and I’d die willingly if he demands it. I won’t hurt him in return.”
“Do you really have to go that far?” Stephen sighed again-he was trying to help Mick, but the latter had clearly given up, so he gave up as well and started to leave. “Fine. I have no choice since you don’t want to live, but her body must be sent to the morgue.”
“No, stop!” Mick threw himself on top of Yvaine’s body as if possessed. “Maybe she’ll live again… Just like the last time!”
Looking Stpehen in the eye then, he said, “Transplant my heart into her. You’re a cardiologist-you can save her, right?”
Stephen almost shouted at him if he had lost his mind-she was dead, and there was nothing that could be done!
“Please, try again.” Mick groveled, tugging at Stephen’s sleeve. “You’re my best friend. Please, help me again.”
Stephen was speechless, but he had done everything he could. “Mick, you really have to stop-she would be sad if you died. Live, so that she can rest in peace.”
That was when he noticed Abigail standing at the doorway, and he almost jumped. “When did you get here?”
Abigail’s eyes were red and swelling, seemingly because she had been crying. “A while ago. I heard everything.”
Stephen heaved a soft sigh and glanced at Mick, who clearly did not care about appearances now. “You heard? Honestly, he really is embarrassing himself in front of youngsters now…”
Abigail gave no comment-she would not be here at all if not for Yvaine’s letter.
She said, “I’ll take the fall.”
Stephen did a double take-she changed her mind already?
He could barely keep up!
“W-What was that?” he asked in slight disbelief.
“I said, I’ll take the fall-”
“You don’t have to. My selfishness killed her, and I don’t want to live now that she’s gone. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself to protect me…”
Mick wobbled even as he rose to his feet and tried to carry Yvaine, but Abigail said, “She remembered.”
Mick froze, and turned around after a while. “W-What did you say?”
Stephen was looking at Abigail in shock too. “How did you find out?”
“She wrote me a letter, addressing it here since she doesn’t know where I live. I just read it-”
“What did she say?” Mick cried as he suddenly jumped toward Abigail and grabbed her by the shoulders.” Tell me tell me right now! What did she say?!”
“She wants me to keep it a secret. I can’t tell you.”
“Where is it?” Mick was not about to give up. “You don’t want to tell me? Fine, just give it to me right now!”
“I can’t give it to you either.”
Abigail’s tone and expression was aloof, and she brushed Mick’s hand off and left in silence.
Mick was about to keep bugging her, but Stephen stopped him.
“I know Abigail. She’s not going to give you anything since she refused to, and there’s even less of a chance since Yvaine has asked her to keep it a secret. Don’t make things hard for her-didn’t Abigail just say that Yvaine would be sad if you died? I’m sure that was Yvaine, so you have to pull yourself together, or she won’t rest in peace. Live-for her.”
Mick turned toward Stephen. “She would be sad if I died?”
“Yes,” Stephen assured him. “You’ve been living together for more than a decade. Even if she remembers, she would still have feelings for you after spending so much time with you.”
Mick repeated as if possessed. “She would be sad if I died…”
“Yes, that’s why you have to live,” Stephen said.
After leaving the operating room, Abigail sat on a bench in the garden outside of the hospital until sunset, and the streetlights lit up.
Suddenly, a huge shadow shrouded her, and she slowly looked up to find a familiar face.
“I’m sorry, Diarmuid…” she rasped.
Diarmuid remained serene. “It wasn’t you, right?”
Abigail’s throat was parched even as her lips parted. “I-I…”
“Come on. We’re going home.”
However, Abigail had been sitting for so long that her legs turned numb, and dropped on the bench again. when she tried to stand.
Diarmuid scooped her up in his arms, and she buried her face against his chest as crystalline tears trickled from the corner of her eyes.
Neither of them spoke as they headed home, but Abigail could not stop herself from shedding tears. Even so, she did not dare to make a sound, and curled her lower lip, biting down on it even as Diarmuid kept his hands around her.
Her voice was hoarse from crying, with her nostrils stuffy and her eyes swelling. She was so exhausted that she dozed off, but was awake enough to hear the faint sound of a door closing, and was jolted awake.
She opened her eyes and saw that Diarmuid just left their bedroom, and she got out of bed.
She was still in her day clothes, which were now wrinkled unseemly. Tiptoeing to the door barefooted, she opened it to find James Cross and Stan Hill outside, following Diarmuid into his study.
She headed over, where the door was left ajar with a narrow slit, and she gingerly moved closer when she heard James speak.
“We’ve consulted specialists, but it’s true. The doctor operating on Yvaine Lynd inadvertently snipped a vital nerve. Brain surgery always has its risks, and accidents tend to happen if it’s not the best of specialists. I’ve also made queries, and there were six doctors and interns operating on her, including Stephen Carr and Abigail. They are all saying that…”
James’s voice trailed off without mentioning any names, but everyone understood.
“Maybe she was trying to save your mother,” Stan explained. “But craniotomy isn’t her specialty, and there was a mishap…”
Meanwhile, Diarmuid was standing before the curtain wall, keeping his back to the both of them in silence.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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