My Kidney His Victory My Silent Goodbye

Back in my small apartment, I watched the IV fluid drip, drop by drop, into my arm.

The cold liquid flowing through my veins chilled me to the bone, just like that stormy night four years ago.

That day, after his mother's funeral, the vibrant, brilliant young man I loved had knelt before me.

Liam looked up, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Why? Why are you breaking up with me now?"

I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, my nails digging into my palms to keep from breaking down.

I forced the well-rehearsed mask of disgust onto my face.

"Why else? Because I've had enough!"

"Look at yourself. No father, no mother, no family money, and you can barely even get on the field. You still dream of winning a Super Bowl?"

"The team is talking about cutting you. What future do I have with you? Why should I waste my youth on a sick man!"

The shock and hurt in Liam's eyes stabbed my heart, a bitter poison corroding me from the inside.

I had even arranged for a tabloid reporter to take staged "intimate" photos of me with his rival, ensuring he would see them.

"I don't believe you... You don't mean that..."

He was crying so hard that every word trembled.

"Elara... you're just messing with me, right? You're all I have left. Please... please don't leave me..."

The rain that night was a torrent.

Rainwater mixed with tears on my face, so cold my bones ached.

I closed my eyes and turned away.

"Elara!"

Liam's voice, thick with despair, echoed behind me.

"If you take one more step, I swear I’ll kill myself right here!"

I didn't dare stop. I didn't dare look back.

A screech of tires, then the sickening crunch of metal on metal.

Liam had been speeding through the rain and had crashed into the guardrail.

Through my sobs, I frantically called 911, begging them to save him.

But I couldn't turn back. I couldn't let it all be for nothing.

Liam was rushed to the hospital. The car accident triggered a severe organ rejection episode, and his life hung by a thread.

"The best option is an experimental therapy called plasmapheresis. But as the original donor, it will put extreme stress on your remaining kidney."

I just nodded. "Begin. Extract as much as you can. Save it for him."

Outside the treatment room, I watched the unconscious Liam through the glass, his expression pained as if he were trapped in a nightmare.

That was the last time I let myself imagine smoothing his brow, the last time I let myself imagine holding his hands.

*Just live. Please. Get your dream, live the life you want. If you hate me forever... it’s worth it.*