A Daughter's Court

At the hospital, the doctor leading the rescue effort said Evelyn was in dire straits, needing blood right away.

However, her blood type was rare, nowhere to be found in the hospital's reserves.

Upon seeing me, the doctor clutched at my wrist, desperate, "Ms. Smith! You're her mother. You could be a match! Please, go with the nurse to get tested!"

I kept my smile. "I'm sorry, but a transfusion could weaken my immune system, and I'd rather not."

Jessica was on me in a flash, gripping my arm. "Laura! Inside there, that's your daughter, the one you carried for nine months! How can you just stand there and say no?!"

I brushed her off, my voice calm as though I were commenting on the day's weather.

"Lowered immunity could lead to catching a cold, and I'd rather not risk it."

Everyone around was floored, unable to fathom a mother's heart so cruel.

"Besides, Evelyn's an adult. If she's chosen this path for herself, then it's her right. We shouldn't waste the hospital's time and resources," I said.

If killing were not a crime, the glares from the nurses and doctors around me said they would tear me apart on the spot.

Their eyes blazed with a fury that was palpable.

However, they held back.

The head of the ER, a seasoned doctor in his fifties, was the first to get a grip on his emotions.

He peeled off his drenched mask, inhaled deeply, and bowed low before me, his voice filled with a desperate sincerity, "Ms. Smith, I've been in medicine for thirty years, and I've saved lives enough to stretch from here to the block's end. I'm begging you now, doctor to civilian, to save Evelyn. She's barely twenty, her whole life ahead of her!"

No sooner had he finished than over 20 medical staff lined up, bowing in unison, pleading with me.

Their display was so moving that even the onlookers in the waiting area were wiping away tears.

However, I was as unmoved as when I had walked in, my voice steady and unshaken, "I'm sorry, but my answer remains the same."

"How can you be so cold-hearted?!" A young nurse lost her composure, her tears hitting the floor with a soft splash.

At that moment, a guy in a hoodie barrelled through, knocking into me and making me stumble.

He yanked up his sleeves, yelling, "I've got Rh-negative blood! Use mine! We might not be kin, but I can't just watch someone die!"

Time seemed to stand still until at last, the OR's red light clicked off.

The doctor emerged, weariness etched on his face that broke into a relieved grin.

"We got the blood through! She's safe now!"

The corridor erupted in cheers.

However, the vitriol online multiplied by the second.

The screen was plastered with messages.

[That monster of a mother deserves to die!]

My personal details were blasted across the internet: my social security number, my address, my phone number.

My phone buzzed nonstop with threats.

[Prepare for your funeral.]

[Step outside, and you're done for.]

[I'm coming over tonight. Let's see how you like feeling helpless.]

Outside the hospital, chaos reigned as a crowd waved signs that screamed, "Cold-blooded monster, out of our hospital!"

Someone was shouting at the building, their voice raw with fury.

"Your dog gets fancy iron pills, but your daughter's stuck sipping cold water for meals! Where's your conscience, or did the dog gobble that up too?"

"Let's get her out of here! She needs to apologize to Evelyn!"

Without the cops at the door keeping things in check, the seething crowd would have barged in and snatched me up by then.

Jessica came up to me, her eyes puffy and red.

"Are you ready to talk? What's your deal with Evelyn? What's really going on here?"

I spun on my heel, following the police down the emergency exit, tossing a careless remark over my shoulder, "Stay tuned to the live stream. You won't want to miss the drama that's about to unfold."

On the seventh night, Jessica burst through my front door.