Chapter 178 Prove It To Me



In a well-decorated room, a blonde woman was seated at a large table.

She checked her watch repeatedly while sipping on a glass of wine.

On the table, a feast and a, mostly empty, wine bottle.

It was already dark outside, and the prepared meal had grown cold.

The door she had been watching was finally pushed open.

"You're late."

"Sorry. I was stuck in the ER for-"

"Late, again."

The man's slanted eyes narrowed.

Still, he hung his coat and took a seat opposite her.

"It's good." The man commented after taking a bite.

"Cold is what it is."

The blonde woman watched him as he ate.

The two remained silent for a couple of minutes.

"So. About my brother on Saturday-"

"What about it?" She interrupted.

The man sighed.

He thought he was too tired for this kind of thing.

"It's at 2pm. I'm thinking we can-"

"You can't be serious. You want me to go there? Seriously?"

"Of course. Congratulations are in order, and-"

"You want me to congratulate them for having a child?"

He massaged his tired eyes for a bit.

"Our misfortunate shouldn't spoil the others' joy-"

"Oh, this is just great. Spoiling their joy. Well excuse me, I don't feel joyous."

"Jennifer, it's really not-"

"I don't feel joyous, I said. And I don't think I will feel joyous on Saturday either. You can go alone, but I won't congratulate anyone."

"Just because-"

"Just because what? Just because my child died? Just because my daughter never got to see the light of day? Oh. Excuse me. Just because, huh? Okay. Alright. I'll congratulate them, of course. It's your brother after all."

"Jennifer, where is this coming from?"

"Where is... Fuck you. Fuck you, Rei. That's where it's coming from." She finished her glass in one gulp.

"Listen, I get that you're-"

"You don't get shit!" The woman shouted as she threw the empty glass against the wall behind him.

The man immediately pushed himself off the table.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He shouted.

"Wrong with me? Hahaha! Wrong with me? My daughter died, that's what's wrong with me." The man's gaze ran away from hers. "Where were you, huh? Where were you when it happened? Where were you the next day?"

"You know where I was." He muttered.

"Oh, yes. Working. Work, work, work. The only thing that matters."

"People would have died if-"

"OUR DAUGHTER DIED! What is it you don't understand? Our daughter died while you were working. She died, and you went to work the next day. And you ask what's wrong with me? And you want me to go congratulate them?"

"I..." His lips moved, but no words exited his dry throat.

"It's your fault." The woman whispered.

"What?"

"It's your fault. It's your fault she died."

His eyelids twitched.

"It's no one's fault. it's-"

"I never should have been with you. I never should have chosen you."

"What are you saying?"

"It never would have happened, were I with someone else."

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE, JENNIFER! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ON ABOUT? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WHAT ARE YOU GETTING AT? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

"What I want?" She pushed herself off the table and stood up. "A  divorce."

"You... What...?"

"You're cursed. This is all your fault." 

He remained silent.

"I want a divorce."

***

"Huh?" The surgeon, whose was Rei, grabbed James' collar. "Your son wants to live? Then what about my daughter? Why didn't she live?"

James clenched his teeth and averted his gaze.

"Did you... Do everything you could... To save her?" He muttered.

"My wife had a miscarriage," She was, now, his ex-wife. "There was nothing anyone could have done."

James didn't utter a word for a couple of seconds.

"Given the opportunity, my son will survive."

The surgeon pushed him away with great force.

James fell to the ground, and his back hit the wall.

"Out... Get out..."

"Please, just-"

"I SAID GET OUT!"

James stood up and stared at the seething surgeon in front of him.

Ultimately, he left.

The door closed behind him, and the surgeon was left alone.

Rei walked over to his desk, grabbed the half-empty glass, and took a sip.

"FUCK!" He shouted as he threw the glass against the wall, shattering it into countless pieces.

The eyes of a desperate man. Rei knew them.

Having lost a huge chunk of his life, only two things remained.

Only two things kept him going.

His work, and the bottle.

"He wants to live... What kind of delusional... I've never operated on a child, let alone a baby so tiny and...!"

Rei's clenched fist hit the disk.

Three minutes later,

Click-

"Diana. Get me everyone you can." 

He left hurriedly, without waiting for the nurse's response.

'I'll have that child prove it to me.'

...

One hour later, Rei stood in front of a room he knew well.

"Sir, with all due respect this is very much against protocol-"

"I didn't ask your opinion."

"Sir, this-"

"Not a word."

"Who will take responsibility if-"

"I'm operating on this child, even if it's the last thing I do in this hospital."

"But sir..."

Rei entered the Operating Room, ignoring the rest of that warning. It was background noise to him, and not anything more.

'Prove to me that you will fight to live.'

He washed his hands and arms, as he had countless times.

'Prove to me that you want to live.'

He put on replicas of the sterile gown and gloves he had worn countless times.

'Prove to me...'

The surgeon walked over, and there he was.

'That she didn't want to live.'

A tiny baby, whose heart was smaller than any of the countless hearts Rei had operated on.

'Prove to me...'

A baby whose chances of survival were less than 10%.

A baby whose life, even if saved, would be filled with struggle and tribulations.

'That it wasn't my fault.'

The surgeon had seen countless similar cases.

Yet, this one was different.

"Knife." The surgeon demanded from those around him.

***

I'm operating on this child, even if it's the last thing I do in this hospital-

As fate would have it, operating on that child was the last thing Rei did inside that hospital.