Chapter 358
Yanni was wearing the patient’s gown in the VIP ward at Lockwood Hospital. She was sleeping soundly on a pink bed. Her face was red from the fever.
The doctors hooked her up to an IV drip. The transparent solutions in the IV bag titrated drop by drop.
Dr. Zara finally arrived. She shared Yanni’s medical records with the medical team at Lockwood Hospital, After a brief discussion, the assistant director said softly, “I say we do a biopsy. That’ll give us a clearer picture of what we’re dealing with here! What’s your take on this, Mr. Mason?”
Then, he looked at Zoe.
She crumbled as soon as she heard what the assistant director said. They would’ve seen her crying right there and then if she hadn’t covered her mouth. Then, she dived into the small room within the ward.
After a brief moment, Mason followed her into the room. She was standing by the window when he came in. She knew it was him by the sound of the footsteps alone. Overwhelmed by raw emotions, she said, “She’s only four years old, Mason. Four!”
“I know, Zoe! I know!”
Walking towards her, he held her shoulders and tried to comfort her. I’m heartbroken too. I don’t want to her to go through this if it can be helped. However, you have to know this, Zoe. She’s a lot braver than we could’ve imagined. I know she’ll be fine as long as we stay by her side!”
That was the last straw. What he said tipped her over the brink.
She murmured, “Why does that mean she has to take this? Do you have any idea how she even came to have this condition, Mason? It’s because she was born prematurely. I was too weak when I gave birth to her. She should’ve stayed in my belly longer!
“In the past, you kept feeding me lies that you’ll treat me well and cherish me. You shouldn’t have done that because we wouldn’t have Yanni otherwise! If you hadn’t left me alone and went to Lilith that night, would I have gone into preterm labor?
“Remember how you kept asking if I hated you ever since I came back to Brookesville?
“How am I not supposed to hate you, Mason? What were you thinking?
“I hated you when my dad died. I hated you when I gave birth to Yanni all on my own. My hatred for you intensified when I learned about her condition. However, it didn’t make a difference. I still have to sleep with you and make another baby with you.
“Answer me this, Mason. How much love and time do you think it’ll take for me to move on from the intense hatred I have for you?”
The truth was finally unveiled!
Both of them were finally baring their souls to each other ever since they saw each other again after such a long time. She, too, finally gave him a piece of her mind.
Her hatred for him had never diminished in the slightest.
Mason regarded her hopelessly. Only now did he know that there was no redeeming himself when it came to the cruel stuff he did to her. Sometimes, it was impossible to repair the damage.
Take their failed marriage, for instance. There was no coming back from that.
The heartache he was experiencing at that moment was so
excruciating and unbearable, but he chose to step forward and pull her into his arms nonetheless. Resting his chin on her head, he murmured, “I know you hate me, but Yanni’s my baby girl too! I know it hurts, but we have to accept the truth.”
She hammered his shoulder in response. “I hate you, Mason!”
He stood there while she took her frustration and distress out on him.
He was disheartened by the revelation. How long would it take until Zoe forgave him? How long was the universe going to punish him before it decided that it had enough?
Yanni went through the biopsy a week later.
The result wasn’t exactly a cheerful outcome. The medical team advised them to put the little girl through surgery within a year. That meant if Mason and Zoe couldn’t make a baby within the next three months, then Yanni’s condition might’ve taken a turn for the worse. Not even surgery could save her then.
To make matters worse, there was only an eighty percent chance for the new baby’s bone marrow to be compatible with Yanni’s body.
Zoe stayed by Yanni’s side for the entire night after her little girl went to sleep.
Mason did the same thing.
He walked to the end of the hallway in the dead of night. It was dark outside, but it wasn’t even close to the bleak, despairing bottomless pit he had in his heart.
ther
Pushing the window open, he felt a rush of wind that chilled him to the bone.
Although he had stopped smoking for a long time, but he took a break from his restraint and lit a cigarette tonight.
Wisps of smoke rose in the air.
It suddenly came to him that Yanni’s birthday would be the next day. He abruptly recalled that his baby girl had been all alone on the day that she was born. Noah was sentenced to imprisonment and Gordon died from a heart attack.
Worst of all, he wasn’t by Zoe’s side on that fateful day.
Today’s Bonus Offer
www
