Him Over Her Son

I hung up the phone and tidied my dead son's hair.

Before entering the operating theater, Andy asked me hopefully, "Daddy, will I see Mommy when I wake up?"

I answered definitively, "You will. Just sleep well, Andy."

I had let him down. Vivian was not even there when he passed.

Perhaps sensing something, Vivian kept texting me to ask about Andy's situation. I read her messages without replying to them, but I did not block her either.

Early morning the following day, I was at the hospital dealing with Andy's after-death paperwork when I bumped into Vivian.

Jason rushed into the hospital with Luke in his arms, while Vivian was running next to him, yelling at the nurses, "Help him!"

Passersby immediately moved aside to let them through. I could not move in time, so she was suddenly in front of me.

She stopped in front of me and said, "Charlie, Luke suddenly passed out. I'm taking him in to get him checked."

I nodded and moved aside. She looked at me with a little confusion, not understanding why I was suddenly being so generous.

In the past, whenever she favored Luke, I would often stop her and complain about it, yet I moved aside without saying anything.

Vivian let go of Luke's hand and walked over to me. "Charlie, don't get mad. I'll arrange for Andy's liver transplant right away."

Jason called out to her and tugged her hand. "Vivian, please don't go. Charlie, I know you hate Luke for taking away Vivian's love, but he's just a child. Please don't take it out on him."

In the end, Vivian chose to be with Jason. She turned and left without looking back.

One of the nurses said to Jason, "Sir, don't worry. Dr. Grant is known for loving her husband. As long as you say the word, there's nothing Dr. Grant can't do. You're her husband, unlike some shameless lover who doesn't know their place."

The other nurses seemed to pick up on the gossip and started to comment on the situation.

"So, he's the lover. How shameless of him to not avoid her husband."

"Yes, when his son was admitted, he kept saying that he was Dr. Grant's husband. He wanted the dean to operate on his son."

"What a shameless man. His motherless son deserved to die."

Back then, Vivian said that she would like to keep her private life private, so she had never once taken Andy and I to any of the events in the hospital. She would not even let her colleagues know of our existence.

When Jason returned to the country, she brought Jason to attend all of her hospital's events on the guise that Jason knew no one in the country. She introduced Jason to all of her colleagues.

When her colleagues mistook Jason for her husband, she did not even correct them. She merely smiled.

That was why all of her colleagues in the hospital thought that Jason and Luke were her husband and son, while Andy and I were just some love affair that she had.

Vivian stopped me in the corridors and went in to kiss me, but I swerved.

"Vivian, this is a place of work."

Vivian's arms hung awkwardly in mid-air. She said with a slight pout, "Charlie, please don't be mad. I'll give my liver to Andy soon."

I lowered my head to hide my face. "There's no need anymore."

Andy was dead. His mother, who stood him up, had no right to see him. How sad would Andy be if he found out that his mother, whom he kept hoping to come and see him, was spending her time with someone else's son!

Vivian noticed that I was upset. She took out two boxes from her bag. "This is for you and Andy."

Inside the box for Andy was an action figure. I looked at it in a daze.

Last year on Andy's birthday, Vivian was out on a business trip. Andy had asked for a real action figure for his birthday, so Vivian videocalled Andy to get him to pick one.

When she returned, the action figure that Andy chose ended up in Luke’s arms.

Andy cried, but Vivian merely chided him for being petty and told him to share with Luke.

She finally got Andy the action figure, but it was too late. Andy was no longer alive.

Seeing my non-reaction, Vivian panicked a little. She went up to tug me on my arm.

Just when she was about to say something, Jason appeared and said, "Vivian, the doctors said that Luke has developed kidney failure. He needs a kidney transplant."

Vivian replied anxiously, "Don't worry. I'll do a compatibility test right away. I won't let anything happen to Luke."

She left with Jason, but I called out to her, "Vivian, are you not going to visit Andy?"