Denied Dialysis for Her Sweetheart

The hospital had limited parking, so to make dialysis treatments more convenient, I rented an exclusive parking spot near the hospital at a premium price.

But my wife's childhood sweetheart always came crying to me on rainy days, begging me to give up my spot, saying his asthma meant he couldn't get wet in the rain.

I refused:

"There's a public parking lot right next door. It's just a few extra steps. Why do you need to take mine?"

When my wife found out, she was furious:

"Can't you be a little more compassionate? His asthma attack almost killed him on the road!"

I was confused:

"He has a car but won't use it. He insists on getting soaked to steal my parking spot, and that's somehow my fault? Besides, it's an exclusive spot. I paid for it. First come, first served."

My wife fell silent: "I'm sorry. I was too worried."

For the next few months, she drove me back and forth without fail, rain or shine.

But on the day I needed emergency treatment for acute kidney failure, she drove me around for three hours, deliberately missing the optimal treatment window.

On the hospital's big screen, she stood embracing her childhood sweetheart with a cold smile:

"Didn't you say first come, first served? Well, there's no dialysis bed available now. Let's see how long your life has to wait in line."

A sharp pain tore through my kidneys.

I grabbed my wife Kate's arm desperately: "Kate, quick! Get me to the hospital. I feel like I'm dying!"

She violently shook off my hand and sneered.

"What's the rush? When Pedro had his asthma attack, he was in a hundred times more pain than you are now."

The car suddenly braked hard.

I looked out the windowthis wasn't the hospital. It was a deserted underground parking garage.

Complete silence surrounded us.

"Kate, have you lost your mind? What the hell are you doing?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she turned on the car's display screen. The image showed live surveillance footage from the hospital's dialysis center.

In the city's most advanced blood purification chamberthe one I had reservedher childhood sweetheart Pedro lay comfortably, attended by several nurses.

Kate smiled at Pedro on the monitor, then turned to look at me.

"David, I'm so sorry. Pedro had a sudden severe asthma attack. It was critical, so he had to use your spot first."

My heart sank to the bottom.

"You planned this all along?"

She finally dropped her disguise, laughing contemptuously: "You're the one who said itfirst come, first served. Now, you can just wait here."

The excruciating pain made my vision go black. I used the last of my strength to beg her: "Then at least take me to another hospital!"

She acted like she'd heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Another hospital? Why should I spend money to save a useless burden like you?"

She turned on the car's air conditioning to the coldest setting, the freezing air blasting directly at me.

I shivered violently from the cold, but the pain in my abdomen only intensified.

She lit a slim cigarette. The harsh smoke made me cough violently, each cough tugging at my torn kidneys.

I stared at her now-unfamiliar profile, my voice hoarse: "Kate, our three years together..."

"Really?" Her eyes were ice cold. "Pedro said he saw you embracing another woman. Now you want to talk about our three years together?"

I looked at her in shock: "You're insane! When did I ever"

"Enough!" Kate whirled around.

"Pedro's body is damaged. Fine, you took his parking spot. But then you made him stand in the rain until he got a fever. Now it's time for you to experience what suffering feels like!"

The car door locked with a "click." She got out, imprisoning me alone in this cold, desperate space.

On the screen, Pedro showed a triumphant smile and waved at the camera.

I don't know how much time passed before the car door was violently yanked open.

Kate stood outside, several thugs behind her with cigarettes dangling from their mouths, their eyes leering at me.

She held a bucket filled with murky, filthy water.

"It's too dry in the car," she looked down at me condescendingly. "How else can you understand the helplessness Pedro felt waiting for a parking spot in the rain?"

I moved my lips weakly, each word draining all my remaining strength: "Kate... save me..."

She snorted coldly. The thugs immediately understood.

Two hands reached in, dragging me roughly from the car and throwing me hard onto the muddy ground.

Mud water instantly soaked through my clothes. I struggled to get up, but a foot pressed down hard on my back, pinning me to the ground, unable to move.

Kate lifted the bucket and walked over to me.

The filthy water poured down from above my head, reeking terribly, choking into my mouth and nose.

I shook violently from the cold, my consciousness gradually blurring between the freezing temperature and the excruciating pain in my kidneys.

"Don't you have OCD?" Her voice was filled with vengeful pleasure as her high heel ground over my fingers. "Don't you disinfect the house three times every day? How does it feel now?"

She gave a thug a look. The man grinned viciously, pulled a baseball bat from the trunk, weighed it in his hands, and tossed it to her.

Kate caught the bat and crouched down beside me, her voice soft.

"Pedro said that day after getting caught in the rain, he felt like his lungs were going to explode."

She slowly stood up and raised the baseball bat.

"Now, let you feel the same."

The bat came down with a sharp whistle, smashing hard into my lower backright where my kidneys were.

"Ahhh!"

The intense pain made me scream inhumanly. My body arched violently, and my vision went completely black.

On the car screen, Pedro spoke with fake concern, though excitement leaked through his voice: "Kate, that's enough. Don't break him. I still need him..."

"You're still defending him!"

Pedro's words seemed to trigger Kate, madness exploding in her eyes.

"He almost killed you! This little pain is nothing!"

She stopped letting the thugs do it and took matters into her own hands. Another strike, smashing hard into my calf.

"Crack!"

I clearly heard the sound of my own bone shattering.

The pain nearly made me pass out, but she still wasn't satisfied. She threw down the bat and ordered a thug: "Tear off his shirt!"

The expensive cashmere sweater she'd given me for my birthday was ripped apart with a "rip."

My bare upper body was exposed to the cold autumn wind, trembling all over.

I stared at her intently, using the last trace of my strength.

During a brief gap in the pain, I used my last bit of strength, my fingers trembling as they moved quietly toward my collar.

There was a specially made emergency pin sewn there.

My assistant Leo had half-forced me to wear it before this hospitalization, calling it a good luck charm.

He always said I trusted human nature too much.

I struggled with all my might and finally pressed that tiny switch.

My tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and I almost collapsed from exhaustion.

Leo. He would come.

He would definitely come to save me.

As long as I could hold on until he arrived...

"David, what are you up to?"

Kate's voice pierced through the hope I'd just kindled.

She bent down and yanked open my collar. The small pin was exposed before her eyes.

She froze for a moment, then her face flooded with the rage of being played.

She lifted her foot, the tip of her scarlet high heel aimed at the pin.

"Trying to call for help?"

"Crack!"

"You useless piece of trash, you're pretty cunning though."

The metal casing was crushed and deformed, electronic components scattering everywhere.

I stared at her hard, my vision going black in waves.

I can't die.

In college, I'd taken an emergency medical course and studied physiology well. Now I could only rely on myself.

I curled up in the mud water, using a specific position to reduce pressure and bleeding in my kidneys.

I regulated my breathing, fighting against wave after wave of intense pain.

Seeing that I was actually trying to save myself, Kate's expression became extremely complex.

Pedro's voice came from the car screen again.

"Kate, when I had my asthma attack, the pain almost killed me. How can he still hold on this long?"

"He shouldn't have it this easy!"

"Right, he shouldn't have it this easy." Kate nodded.

She turned and took a white medical kit from the car, throwing it on the ground.

A woman who'd been standing behind the thugs walked over. She wore an ill-fitting nurse's uniform, her face completely expressionless.

"He's lasted too long." Kate issued her cold command. "Give him an injection of diuretics and saline."

My pupils contracted sharply.

"Kate, you're insane!"

I screamed with all the strength in my body: "My kidney function has already failed! This will accelerate electrolyte imbalance and cause cardiac arrest!"

The fake nurse crouched down expressionlessly, opened the medical kit, and skillfully drew a syringe full of clear liquid.

The needle gleamed coldly as it pierced my arm.

"No"

The drug was forcefully pushed into my vein.

In that instant, I felt my heart suddenly stop beating.

Then came an even more violent pounding, as if it would burst through my chest.

My breathing was instantly taken away.

All the muscles in my body began convulsing violently, uncontrollably.

My body arched in the icy mud water, then crashed down heavily, bouncing repeatedly.

Kate watched me struggle in agony on the ground with cold indifference, watching my lips gradually turn purple from lack of oxygen, her tone terrifyingly calm.

"When Pedro had difficulty breathing, he convulsed just like this."

The drug burrowed into my veins. My heart stopped suddenly.

Then came the drum-like violent pounding, threatening to tear my chest apart.

My breathing was stripped away.

My muscles spasmed uncontrollably, my whole body arching in the icy mud water before crashing down heavily.

In my fading consciousness, I saw my mother.

She lay in a hospital bed, holding my hand, her breath barely there.

"David, live well... for me... see the whole world..."

No. I can't die.

I haven't fulfilled my promise to her yet!

I bit down hard on my tongue. The sharp pain brought a moment of clarity.

I used my last bit of strength to fumble in the mud, my fingertips touching a sharp piece of broken stone.

I slashed it toward the woman who had injected me.

"Ahhh!"

She screamed and dodged, a deep gash opening on her arm, visible to the bone.

"You dare fight back!"

Kate's face twisted with rage. She kicked the stone out of my hand.

She stared at me intently, then suddenly smiled eerily.

"David, didn't you once say your greatest wish was to donate your corneas after death to help others?"

That was the most sincere thing I'd ever said to her, whispered lovingly in her ear.

On the screen, Pedro's voice rang out excitedly.

"Kate, I have a friend whose mother is waiting for a suitable cornea donor!"

"Perfect."

Kate's smile was both brilliant and cruel.

"Since you're going to die anyway, might as well make a contribution now."

She tilted her head toward the thugs.

"Hold him down."

"Take out his corneas for me!"

"Kate! You wouldn't dare!"

I let out a beast-like roar, my eyes bloodshot, rage filling my vision.

Several thugs surrounded me with vicious grins. One of them now held a gleaming fruit knife.

They pinned down my limbs. The cold blade aimed at my eye.

Just as the knife tip was about to pierce my eyeball

"BOOM!"

The parking garage's rolling door was smashed open by tremendous force.

Several black cars sped in. Trained men in black jumped out of the vehicles.

The thugs were subdued instantly. Screams rose one after another.

The man leading the group rushed to me and wrapped me in his coat.

"David! I'm sorry Leo came late!"

All the strength seemed to drain from my body. I leaned against his solid arm, lifted my eyes, and looked coldly at Kate.

On the screen, Pedro's face froze, completely dazed.

"David?"

Kate's voice shook uncontrollably. She couldn't comprehend what was happening before her eyes.

Pedro on the other end of the screen took a long moment before letting out a terrified shriek.

"Kate, run! They're... they're from Stellar Technologies!"

I looked at Kate, using all my strength, each word hoarse like sandpaper scraping.

"Her, and that man on the screenI want them... to beg for life but be denied, to beg for death but be unable."