“You are joking, right?” I asked Jack, and my hands were shaking, “please don’t threaten me with your life.”
“I’m not, Katherine, I’m just simply asking you to make a choice, your family or a dangerous man you just met.” Jack was very calm, and it was brutal to me.
“This has been you plan all along, has it?” I cried and asked him, and my heart hurt so bad when I saw him nodded.
He propped himself up on his arms and looked up at me, looking very weak, “Kath,” he lower his voice, and his eyes full of tears, “please, I’m begging you, leave him, and everything will be back to normal. I will take the transplant, and I will throw you the most beautiful wedding…”
The air in the ward seemed to freeze, and I looked at the white floor and fell into an unprecedented choice in my heart. What exactly should I do?
As time passed by, I walked to Jack's side and let go of my clenched fist, I never felt that it would be so hard to speak: “okay, I promise you. When you take the transplant, I will leave him. I won’t see him again, but there won’t be any wedding with you, either.”
An excited expression appeared on Jack's face, and his voice trembled: "Really? Are you willing to leave him for me?"
I nodded, fighting back my tears and said, "You must recover quickly, okay?"
"Of course!" Jack grabbed my hand, his breath getting heavier with excitement, he clutched his respirator and said, "Trust me, everything will be as good as it used to be, Katherine!"
I asked Dan to take the kids home, and then went to inform Dr. Sinn about getting ready for the transplant. Walking out of the hospital building, I could no longer hold back my tears. I covered my heart and leaned down, suppressing and venting my grievances. I had to squeeze my arm hard enough to keep myself from howling. Maybe I'm not born to deserve good things, but Jack has done so much for me that I can't be the cause of his death.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, turned it on, and I got a message from Athan. “Katherine, I’m really sorry about what I said. I support you with 100 percent, so please don’t be mad at me. I have contacted Jack’s hospital and I will take my first mobilization drug tonight. We will find a way to convince him, I promise you. Just please come back first… ”
His earnest words broke my heart, but what choice do I have? I put my phone back in my pocket and drove back to Athan’s villa.
When I opened Athan’s bedroom door, he just got out of the shower. He stunned for a second when he saw me, then he ran and hugged me tight.
“Katherine, you are back.” He put his head on my shoulder and mumbled. My heart hurt so much, a drop of tear fell down silently. I tapped his back and quickly wiped my face.
“I convinced him,” I said, “Jack will take the transplant.”
“That’s good to hear,” Athan’s voice was low but gentle, “now you can finally rest assured…”
I kissed his mouth before he finish that sentence, guilt was eating me alive, and I just wanted to forget about everything for a second.
I took off my jacket and pushed him inside. Athan was surprised but soon he took over control. He gently rubbed my back and took off my clothes for me. I was falling in his scent, it made me feel safe and sound.
He was tender but aggressive, and that was exactly what I needed. We held each tight, I felt like a sinking person got a hold of a piece of driftwood, I was soaked in his love…
At night, the medical team Athan hired came and he was injected with the first round of mobilization drugs, which he needed to receive for five consecutive days before the bone marrow was harvested.
The stem cell mobilization is a process whereby stem cells are stimulated out of the bone marrow space into the bloodstream so they are available for collection for future reinfusion. The cells are then preserved, frozen, and stored until the time of transplant. Before they started, they told Athan that they planned to harvest his bone marrow from the hip bone, and he agreed to it.
The process lasted for 3 hours, and according to the doctors, it shouldn’t hurt too much. But after the first two hours, Athan suddenly started trembling. It startled me so much, and the medical team was shocked, too.
The healer told me that it could be because he is a werewolf, and his bodily function was more primitive and more sensitive than humans. Therefore, even though this drug is not dangerous for ordinary humans, it is a painful process for a strong werewolf like Athan, who was extremely self-healing. Just when I was about to call it off, Athan stopped me.
“It’s okay, I can take it, ”he smiled at me, I could see the cold sweats on his forehead, “Jack doesn’t have much time.”
I held his hand tight, and couldn’t control but burst out with tears.
Athan, thank you… and I’m so sorry…