CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4
"HE WAS THE DONOR..."
Connor stared at the white hospital wristband wrapped around Robert's wrist.
His mind refused to process what he had just heard.
The donor?
No...
That couldn't be right.
"There has to be some mistake," Connor muttered, shaking his head. "He's just... my mother's husband."
Robert lowered his eyes without saying a word.
He looked exhausted.
Not frightened.
Not angry.
Just... tired.
Dr. Andrew Latham slowly stepped between the two men.
"There is no mistake."
"The compatibility tests were completed weeks ago."
Connor laughed nervously.
"No."
"My mother has been waiting for a donor for almost a year."
"That's impossible."
The doctor looked directly into his eyes.
"Yes."
"And while everyone else walked away..."
"...he stayed."
The words hit Connor harder than any punch.
Around them, the hospital lobby had fallen completely silent.
Even the security guards no longer moved.
One of the nurses quietly picked up the old photograph Connor had thrown onto the floor.
She brushed the dust away before handing it back to Robert.
Robert accepted it with a grateful smile.
A tiny gesture...
But somehow it made Connor feel even smaller.
Dr. Latham continued.
"When your mother's kidneys failed..."
"More than twenty volunteers were tested."
"None were compatible."
Connor swallowed.
His throat suddenly felt dry.
"And then..."
The doctor turned toward Robert.
"...Mr. Hale insisted on being tested."
Connor frowned.
"He volunteered?"
"He wasn't even asked."
The doctor nodded.
"He came here alone."
"He told us not to inform your mother."
"He didn't want her to feel guilty."
Connor slowly looked back at Robert.
"You..."
Robert finally spoke.
"It wasn't a difficult decision."
Connor couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You were willing to risk your own life..."
"...for her?"
Robert smiled softly.
"I made a promise."
The answer confused Connor.
"What promise?"
Robert looked toward the operating room doors.
"The day I married your mother..."
"I promised I would never let her face life's hardest battles alone."
Connor felt something tighten inside his chest.
For years...
He had believed Robert only married Margaret for financial security.
That was what his uncle had always told him.
That was what everyone on his father's side of the family believed.
A gold digger.
A manipulator.
Someone pretending to be kind.
Yet...
Nothing he was seeing today matched that image.
"If you care so much..."
Connor asked quietly.
"...why didn't you ever defend yourself?"
Robert gave a faint smile.
"Would it have changed your mind?"
Connor couldn't answer.
Because deep down...
He already knew the truth.
No.
It wouldn't have.
For twenty-two years...
He had refused to listen.
Every kind gesture...
Every sacrifice...
Every birthday Robert quietly organized.
Every school tuition he secretly paid.
Every broken appliance he fixed.
Connor had dismissed them all as an act.
And Robert...
Never tried to convince him otherwise.
The old man simply kept showing up.
Again.
And again.
And again.
A nurse suddenly hurried out of the operating suite.
"Doctor."
"The recipient is ready."
Dr. Latham nodded.
He turned toward Robert.
"It's time."
Robert quietly picked up his small travel bag.
There was almost nothing inside.
A change of clothes.
A toothbrush.
A worn family photograph.
He paused in front of Connor.
For a brief moment...
It looked as if Connor wanted to say something.
An apology.
A question.
Anything.
Instead...
Only silence came out.
Robert gently placed a hand on Connor's shoulder.
"I know you're scared."
Connor looked up.
"When your mother wakes up..."
"Take good care of her."
Connor's lips trembled.
"What if..."
He stopped himself.
Robert smiled.
"I'll be fine."
Then he turned...
And walked toward the operating room without looking back.
Connor stood frozen.
Watching the man he had hated for over two decades...
Walking calmly toward a surgery that could cost him his own life.
The operating room doors slowly began to close.
Just before they shut...
Dr. Latham stopped beside Connor one last time.
"There is something else..."
"...something your mother asked us never to tell you."
Connor slowly turned.
His heartbeat pounded louder than ever.
"What is it?"
May you like
The doctor's expression became unusually serious.
"You've hated the wrong man..."
