The Stolen Identity

Since childhood, I've been sickly and weak, prone to coughing and dizziness. The day my wealthy parents brought me home, the imposter who stole my identity tried to frame me by faking a fall down the stairs.

At that exact moment, my blood sugar crashed. I collapsed, tumbled down, and stopped breathing. My terrified parents rushed me to the hospital.

Barely revived, my brother stormed in, grabbed my collar, and threatened me. His rage triggered a heart attack, and the monitor flatlined. Panicked, he fled for a doctor.

That evening, the imposter pretended to jump from the hospital roof, crying that my return left her no place. Without a word, my brother dragged me to the edge. My severe acrophobia struckmy legs gave way, and I fell.

My parents arrived with food just in time to see it. The air froze, then their eyes turned red with fury as they screamed. My brother and the imposter stood there, stunned and terrified.

1.

A frantic team of doctors worked through the night, and finally, my heartbeat returned. Seeing Mom and Dad's ashen faces, Scarletts voice was laced with a desperate cry.

"Mom, Dad, I really didn't push her. She just fell somehow"

Mom finally looked up, eyeing her suspiciously. "Then tell me, why would Luna, a patient just out of critical care who can barely walk, inexplicably find herself on a thirty-story rooftop?"

Scarlett was choked into silence, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

"I dragged her up there!" My brother, Conor, quickly stepped in front of Scarlett, adopting a protective stance. "Ever since she came back, you've all been ignoring Scarlett more and more, which is why Scarlett almost did something desperate today. So, it's all Luna's fault, shouldn't Luna apologize to Scarlett?"

"If you ask me, she's incredibly manipulative! She knew there were safety barriers below the rooftop today, that's why she deliberately put on this whole act, just to gain sympathy and frame Scarlett!"

I had just opened my eyes from a dizzying haze, and hearing those words, my heart clenched violently. Not only was my body fragile, but my psychological resilience was even weaker. So, the next second, my legs gave out, and I knelt directly onto the floor from the bed, trembling uncontrollably.

"Mom and Dad, Conor is right. It was all me, trying to gain sympathy and frame Scarlett, that I deliberately climbed onto the rooftop and fell."

"No one dragged me up there by force, and no one forced me to apologize without understanding the situation. All of this was voluntary. Please don't blame Conor and Scarlett."

"Conor, don't be angry anymore. I'll apologize to Scarlett right now."

As I spoke, I timidly tugged at Scarlett's sleeve, trying to force a smile at her. "Scarlett, I'm sorry"

Before I finished speaking, two streaks of blood unexpectedly trickled from the corners of my mouth. I casually wiped them away, smearing blood all over my face, and could only helplessly stretch my lips into a wider smile.

Scarlett screamed, backing away several steps as if she had seen a ghost. Moms eyes rolled back, and she rushed forward to gently press me back onto the bed, her hands shaking as she wiped my face. Dads face darkened completely, and with a thump, he slammed the table, making it hum.

"Look at what you've done! What have you pushed Luna to do?! Her health is already so fragile!"

At these words, Scarletts eyes immediately turned red with injustice.

Conor widened his eyes in disbelief. "Mom and Dad! You actually believe Luna?"

"I looked into her past. She's begged on the streets, acted as an extra in film sets. Playing the victim and acting comes naturally to her, doesn't it?"

"Otherwise, have you ever seen a normal person like her, spitting blood after a few words, or fainting after a few steps?"

"She's clearly putting on an act!"

Seeing Mom and Dad's expressions soften, Conor's eyes lit up, as if he'd just thought of something. With decisive action, he yanked me off the hospital bed without a word, pulling out my oxygen tube.

"Mom and Dad, look, I've pulled out her oxygen tube, but her heart monitor is still beeping perfectly fine, isn't it?"

"If you ask me, her heart condition is probably faked too. If she were truly unwell, something would have happened by now."

"So, she must have bribed the doctors to falsify her medical records"

I instinctively shook my head, wanting to tell them it wasn't true. I had just been terribly tormented by human traffickers years ago. Even though I was lucky enough to escape and survive, my body suffered lasting sequelae.

But I couldnt speak anymore. The familiar suffocating sensation surged, my face turned purple, and large gushes of blood poured from my mouth. Conor was still rattling on, while my heart monitor, amidst its "beep-beep" alarm, once again flatlined. They turned back halfway through their words, only to see this scene.

The air froze for a moment.

The next second, the hospital room erupted in chaosscreams, shouts, utter pandemonium.

"Luna!!" Mom and Dad pushed Conor away, frantically catching my collapsing body.

"Doctor! Go call the doctor now!!!"

Conor froze for a second, looking at his blood-soaked hands. He then gasped, scrambling out to call the doctor. Scarlett, ignored by everyone for the first time, stood stunned, stamping her feet in anger.

But at that moment, no one could pay attention to her. Amidst all the shouts, my world slowly plunged into darkness.

2.

The next day, I was startled awake by the sound of the door being kicked open. Before I could even make out the situation, my brother Conor dragged me off the bed, and my vision swam.

"Don't you dare put on an act here!"

Conor loomed over me, his eyes filled with disgust. "I spent all last night thinking, and it finally hit me. Did you hear that Scarlett needed a kidney donation, so you're deliberately feigning this sickly appearance to avoid it?"

"The blood could be pre-prepared blood bags, and the doctors and machines could be fake."

He sneered, "Luna, your little tricks might fool Mom and Dad, but they won't fool me."

Mom and Dad's footsteps paused as they entered the room, clearly having overheard Conors words. That very night, they immediately invited a renowned international doctor to conduct a thorough re-examination of me. Conor not only vetted the doctor strictly but also stood guard at the hospital room door throughout, preventing any communication between me and the doctor.

The imposter, Scarlett, also arrived. She spoke softly, her eyes slightly red. "Mom, Dad, Conor, it's okay. If Luna isn't willing to donate a kidney, then let me just die. At least I'm content to spend my last days with you all." As she spoke, tears began to fall.

Conor was heartbroken, patting her back to comfort her. "Scarlett, don't worry. With me here, no one can bully you. Luna will donate that kidney today, whether she wants to or not!"

"You said you want patient Luna to donate a kidney?!" The doctor walked in, holding my medical report, his expression subtle as he heard this.

Conor immediately raised his voice. "What's wrong with her donating a kidney? It's not like she'll die!"

"If Luna still wants to be a part of this family, this is what she should do!"

The doctor looked at Conor as if he were an idiot. "Patient Luna has a missing right kidney, suspected to have been violently removed by external means. Preliminary assessment indicates she suffered abuse."

Conor's expression froze. Scarlett's look of grievance also cracked for a moment. But she quickly recovered, tugging pitifully at Conor's sleeve. Conor immediately came to his senses, cleared his throat, but his tone was noticeably less self-assured.

"Can't donate a kidney then blood, surely?" He found a new angle, straightening his back. "Scarlett's condition can also be treated with blood donation."

"As long as Scarlett gets a blood transfusion, her condition will improve more thoroughly. This shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Mom and Dad exchanged glances, their expressions softening a few degrees. Donating a kidney was indeed hard to accept, but donating blood it didn't seem like such a big deal.

"Then draw blood," Dad said in a low voice. "Luna's body is weak, but a little blood shouldn't be an issue." Mom didn't argue, just looked at me, a hint of reluctance in her eyes, but eventually turned her head away.

"Blood donation?" The doctor repeated the word. His tone was somewhat odd. "Are you sure you want to use patient Luna's blood?"

3.

"Of course, we're sure!" Conor frowned impatiently. "She's just a bit weak, what's wrong with drawing some blood? Scarlett's condition is urgent!"

The doctor was silent for two seconds, then opened the report in his hand: "But Luna suffers from severe aplastic anemia, platelet dysfunction, Factor VII deficiency, hypoproteinemia, chronic myelodysplastic syndrome, chronic blood-borne infectious disease"

As his words fell, the hospital room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. In the silence, I slowly raised my hand, cautiously speaking, "Um, I'm willing to donate blood to Scarlett"

Scarlett's face instantly turned ashen. She shook her head, backing away. "No, no not necessary" She paused, then reacting, her eyes reddened again, this time with genuine emotion. "Sister, why are you deliberately targeting me like this?"

"You know you have so many illnesses, yet you say you're willing to donate blood to me. Are you deliberately trying to harm me?"

I stared at her blankly, before I could even react, she had already pulled up her sleeve. A few small red rashes appeared on her fair arm.

"Look!" She pulled a bouquet of roses from her bag and violently threw them at me. "I went home yesterday and found a bouquet of roses under my bed. Those are my most severe allergen! The maid said Luna secretly placed them under my bed the first day she came home!"

"I really don't know why Luna keeps targeting me"

I stared at the bouquet, eyes wide, and timidly shuffled my bottom backward.

"Mom and Dad!" Conor, seeing my reaction, was as excited as if he had finally caught me red-handed. "Look at how guilty she looks! I bet she put them there, deliberately trying to harm Scarlett!"

"She's just jealous of Scarlett, she just wants to drive her out of this home! Luna, how can your intentions be so malicious?!"

"Get rid of the flowers now!!!" The doctor's face changed drastically. He pushed Conor aside, rushed over in a few steps, and kicked the roses on the floor away.

"The patient has a severe pollen allergy; contact with flowers will immediately induce anaphylactic shock! Prepare for resuscitation immediately!"

As if to confirm his words, large patches of red rashes visibly bloomed on my skin, my lips turned purple, and my eyelids uncontrollably rolled upward. In my blurred consciousness, Conor was still stubbornly saying, "She's acting again, isn't she? Luna, you're really something, in just half a day you've already bribed another doctor"

"Enough!!" Dad roared, interrupting him. "Dr. Lin is an expert we invited from abroad! You personally vouched for him! Even the examinations were done while Luna was unconscious, and we watched the whole time! Could Luna have bribed him while she was unconscious?!"