Love Lost to a Deal

The plastic grocery bags crinkled against my legs as Sebastian and I walked home from the store. The evening air carried the faint scent of jasmine from someone's garden, mingling with the exhaust fumes from passing cars. We'd been living together for five years now—five years of shared dinners, shared dreams, and shared bills we sometimes struggled to pay.

"Mrs. Peterson promised to drop off her casserole recipe tomorrow," Sebastian said, his fingers intertwined with mine. "She said it's been in her family for generations."

I smiled, watching the streetlights cast golden pools on the sidewalk. "As long as it doesn't have anchovies. I draw the line at anchovies."

"Noted." He squeezed my hand. "No anchovies for Miss Picky."

The neighborhood was quiet at this hour—just a few cars passing, someone's television drifting through an open window. Ordinary. Safe.

Then everything changed.

The squeal of tires cut through the peaceful evening. A black sedan swerved wildly, its headlights dancing erratically across the road.

"Sebastian!" I screamed, my body reacting before my mind could process what was happening.

Time slowed. I saw the panic in the driver's eyes through the windshield. I saw Sebastian frozen in place, his expression shifting from confusion to terror. I saw the car hurtling toward him.

There wasn't time to think. There was only time to act.

I lunged forward, throwing myself in front of Sebastian. My arms wrapped around him as I pushed him back with all my strength.

"Go!" I shouted.

The last thing I felt was his shock of disbelief before the impact sent us both flying.

---

Beeping machines. Urgent voices. The antiseptic smell that could only belong to a hospital.

"Elsie! Can you hear me?" Someone was shaking my shoulder. "We need to move now!"

I tried to speak, but my mouth wouldn't cooperate. Pain radiated through my body in waves, each breath a struggle.

"BP dropping! Get an IV started!"

Through the haze of pain, I searched for Sebastian. He was being lifted onto a stretcher nearby, his face ghostly pale.

"Seb..." I managed to whisper.

"Ma'am, stay still." A paramedic pressed an oxygen mask to my face. "You're both going to the same hospital."

The ambulance ride passed in fragments of consciousness. Sirens wailing. Someone cutting away my clothes. The metallic taste of blood in my mouth.

"Multiple contusions... possible internal bleeding... needs surgery immediately..."

Sebastian's hand found mine somewhere in the chaos. His grip was weak but determined.

"Stay with me," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the sirens.

I wanted to promise I would. But darkness was closing in, and I couldn't fight it anymore.

---

I floated in and out of consciousness. Bright lights. Masked faces. The cold bite of surgical tools.

"Prep for emergency surgery," a voice commanded. "Get Dr. Chen in here stat."

Someone was holding my hand—not Sebastian's hand, but a woman's. Small, cool fingers wrapped around mine.

"Blood work just came back," another voice said urgently. "There's something you need to see."

Footsteps hurried away. Then more voices, hushed but intense.

"The DNA results... they can't be wrong..."

"Sir, ma'am, I need you to come with me immediately."

I forced my eyes open, searching for Sebastian. But instead, I saw strangers—a well-dressed couple standing just outside the curtain. The woman was clutching the man's arm, her knuckles white with tension.

"Is she..." the woman began, her voice trembling.

"She's Elsie Coleman," a doctor confirmed, checking my chart. "But according to our blood work and the DNA database, she's also your biological daughter."

The woman's hand flew to her mouth. Behind her stood a younger woman—beautiful, perfectly composed except for the horror in her eyes.

"No," the younger woman whispered. "It can't be her."

The man pulled out his phone, his movements mechanical. "I need to make some calls. This could be a mistake."

But the look on his face told me it wasn't a mistake. Something was happening—something that would change everything.

---

In a private conference room down the hall, voices rose and fell. I couldn't make out the words, but the tone was urgent, desperate.

"I won't let her ruin everything!" The younger woman's voice cracked with emotion. "We have to do something!"

"Faye, calm down," the man said firmly.

"Her boyfriend needs specialized treatment," Faye continued, her voice suddenly calculating. "Expensive treatment. We could save him—in exchange for something."

"What are you suggesting?" the woman asked hesitantly.

"He could be my boyfriend," Faye said. "For two years. Just pretend, until I make him fall in love with me for real. No one would question why he's with me then."

Silence fell over the room.

"That would give us time," the man said slowly. "Time to make sure she doesn't disrupt our family."

"But what about Elsie?" the woman whispered.

No one answered her question. Instead, the man's voice hardened with resolve.

"Make the call, Faye. Tell them we accept their terms."

In the sterile hospital hallway, no one noticed me listening from my gurney as my world began to crumble.