Leah watched the ti passing by gradually. She had been staring at the door of the ward from ti to ti. Wendy peeled an orange for her and asked as she smiled, "What are you looking at, Leah?"
Wendy knew that she was actually waiting for Michael to return.
As expected, Leah said, "I am waiting for Daddy to co back. He said he will be back in two hours. It’s been one hour and forty-eight minutes. Will Daddy lie to ?"
"Of course not. Daddy will not lie to you," said Wendy as she fed Leah so orange.
Wendy then gave so to Jake as well.
Soon, they heard footsteps outside the ward.
"Daddy!" shouted Leah before she saw who was outside the ward.
When Michael appeared, her eyes lit up as she put on a big smile on her face. She wanted to get off the bed and throw herself into Michael’s arms imdiately. But she had a drip needle in her hand, so she could only wait for Michael to approach her.
"Leah..." Michael strode towards her bed and hugged her instantly. He then kissed her chubby cheeks. After that, Michael hugged Wendy. Then, he looked at Jake, who hurriedly took a step back.
Michael felt helpless at Jake’s rejection. He could only sigh inwardly.
"Daddy, you are finally back," smiled Leah.
"Did I take more than two hours?" asked Michael as he looked at the ti.
Leah shook her head and said, "Nope. There’s ten minutes left."
"Have you been waiting for Daddy?" asked Michael gently.
"That’s right," Leah nodded.
Michael reached out to caress Leah’s head, his eyes filled with gentleness.
"I saw the live streaming. So what did Christian have to say about it?" asked Wendy as she lifted her head and looked at Michael.
"He’s agreed to take the blood test. The result will be out tomorrow," said Michael.
"If it is a match, he will co imdiately."
"That’s great," Wendy sighed. "I really hope that it will be a match." Otherwise, Wendy would be at a loss.
Currently, most of the relatives had already taken the blood test, but non of their bone marrows were a match.
The next day felt like it took forever to co. Paul walked into the ward when they were having dinner.
"How is it? Is the result out?" asked Wendy and Michael at the sa ti. They put down their cutlery and rushed towards him hurriedly.
"Yes, the result is out," said Paul as he sighed. "It’s not a match."
"Not a match?" Wendy and Michael looked at each other. They were extrely disappointed. They had gone through so much effort to get the last potential donor.
Yet, it was not a match.
Wendy felt weak in her knees all of a sudden. Michael grabbed her arm before she fell. Wendy blinked as she stroked her hair. She then looked at Paul and asked again, "Could there be a mistake?"
"No," Paul sighed. "I’m afraid that we will have to keep searching for a perfect match."
"Not a match, not a match..." Wendy mumbled.
...
Paul comforted Wendy, who was devastated, "Don’t worry, Corrine. There will be soone out there who will be a match for sure."
"But we are running out of ti," Wendy choked as she sobbed. "I’m afraid that Leah will not be able to hold on much longer..."
"Don’t cry, Mommy," said Leah as she wiped off her own tears. She had burst into tears too when she saw Wendy crying.
Wendy walked towards Leah and hugged her tightly. Her daughter was still so young. She had only just started living.
"Mommy, I will hold on until the day we find a match. Please don’t cry, Mommy. I feel like crying too when I see you cry," Leah burst into tears again as she spoke.
"All right. I will stop crying, darling. I am not crying now," said Wendy as she wiped away the tears on Leah’s face.
She could not cry in front of Leah. Leah would be frightened by her reaction. As a mother, she had to stay calm and be strong. She must be a role model for Leah.
"Is there any other treatnt?" asked Michael as he clenched his fingers into fists.
Paul shook his head and said, "I am afraid that there is no other treatnt. If there is any, I would have told you earlier."
In fact, Michael knew it all along. He asked Paul again as he was not convinced.
"That’s right! My mother..." Wendy said suddenly. She wiped her tears off as she sniffled. "My mother has not told about my relatives yet. There is still hope for us."
Wendy looked around, but Mary was nowhere in sight.
"Grandma should be in the washroom," said Jake as he looked at the washroom with the door shut.
Michael’s grandmother was filled with sadness upon hearing what Paul said. She sighed as she held onto Jake’s small hand.
As expected, Mary soon ca out from the washroom. Wendy dashed forward and knelt in front of her. At Wendy’s behavior, she glanced at Paul and everyone else in the ward. All of them were staring at her.
Mary was not a fool. She knew what Wendy wanted from her. Mary bent over to help Wendy up. Wendy shook her head and refused to stand up.
She cried as she said, "Mom, it was fine for not to ask you anything about my father in the past. But now, my daughter’s life depends on it. I must know everything. Please, Mom. I beg of you. Please tell who my father is, and where I can find him and our relatives.
"Leah doesn’t have much ti left. If sothing happens to Leah, I wouldn’t know what to do. I can’t live without Leah, Mom. Please, Mom. I’m begging you."
Mary’s eyes welled up with tears instantly. She was choking with sobs as she helped Wendy up. "Please, get up. I will tell you everything."
Wendy stood up imdiately.
"In fact, I was preparing to tell you everything," said Mary. "Leah is my granddaughter too. I can’t bear to see her die too."
Mary had been waiting for Christian’s blood test result like everyone else. If it was not a match, Mary would be left with no choice but to tell Wendy about the past, which she had kept locked and hidden in her heart since a very long ti ago.
Mary had never ntioned anything about her past. She certainly had not expected to reveal her past to her own daughter thirty years later.
Mary stared at the window as if she was in the midst of recalling the past.
...
Everyone remained silent in the ward. All of them were waiting for Mary to speak. It was dead silent for a while. Mary seed to be preparing herself.
Then, Mary spoke. "You have been curious about why we don’t have any relatives or friends. The fact is, I did not dare to look for them. I am not from Linton. I am actually from Queens City. My parents used to run a small business in Queens City.
We led a contented life back then.
"I t a man. Perhaps, I was overprotected by my parents since young. I believed everything he told . I even fell in love with him and wanted to marry him against all odds.
"Subsequently, he left. Not only did he leave without , he never returned. As for , I was pregnant with his child. Thirty years ago, it was such a shaless thing to be pregnant before marriage.
"My family was lenient to . They asked to go for an abortion, and then they would take it as nothing had happened. But I refused. I believed that he would co back for .
"I thought of leaving Queens City to give birth to you secretly. I was so naive back then that I thought I could get through it. Every ti I ca to think of how happy we would be as a family after he succeeded in his career, I would feel that all the hardship and the wait was worth it.
"I waited for that day to co. I waited for six years. One day, I saw the news. It turned out that he had carved out a successful career for himself. He had also beco the son-in-law of a famous designer in Rheinsville City..." Wendy frowned. She had a bad feeling about this.
Mary continued, "I tried to contact him. But I couldn’t at that ti because of the restrictions in communication. I did not know how and where to look for him.
"After that, I got to know that he already had a family. He had a daughter too. He was leading a happy life. I was so disappointed. It turned out that he had totally forgotten about .
"Those promises that he told in the past ant nothing."
Mary was crying as she spoke. She was racked with sobs, "I tried to return to Queens City. But I found out that your grandfather died in an accident because of . He ca out to look for on the day he died.
"I wanted to pay respects to him and even apologize to him. But they refused to let know where he was buried. In fact, I know that they will never forgive . I cannot forgive myself either, not for the rest of my life.
"They told umpteen tis, but I refused to listen to them. In the end, not only did I put myself in such a miserable state, I even caused the death of your grandfather.
"I was driven out of the family by your uncles. I am forever forbidden to return to the Stewart family. Indeed, I am not worthy to return to the Stewart family for the rest of my life.
"I am the one who brought misery to the family. I am the one who caused the death of your grandfather. That’s why I’ve been hiding the identity of your father all this ti. I hate him, I hate him so much..." Wendy recalled that when she was a child, Mary had indeed gone overseas once. But Mary did not bring her along. She rembered vaguely that Mary put her under their neighbor’s care before she left. Mary even told her that she might be able to see her grandparents in two days.
But when Mary returned, she was devastated. Wendy saw her crying her heart out in her room a few tis after that day.
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