Hospital.
Emily lay in bed, her nose and eyes red from crying.
"John, one day three years ago, I felt a pain in my chest and couldn't catch my breath, so I went to the hospital for a check-up. The doctor said I had myocarditis because I didn't take a bad cold seriously."
"I've been taking medication for years, but I never expected it to develop into heart failure."
"Tell me, am I not going to live much longer?"
Three years ago, a bad cold.
John closed his eyes. That night, Emily had saved him in the rainstorm and had a high fever the next day that lasted for three days.
She had become like this today because of him.
"You're not going to die," John reassured her.
Emily clung to his hand and sobbed, "But it's not easy to find a heart donor."
As night fell.
Sophia, half-asleep, heard the door open. She groggily got up but was pinned down on the bed before she could sit up.
The man smelled strongly of alcohol, but it wasn't unpleasant.
Moonlight filtered into the room, allowing Sophia to see the man's face clearly.
"John," Sophia's eyes sparkled as the man buried his face in her neck.
She tentatively wrapped her arms around his neck, and John didn't dodge.
Her lips tightened.
"Sophia," the man called her name in a hoarse voice, and such a John made her lose her focus.
"Hmm," she replied with a smile.
She cupped his face in her hands, her fingers curling around his ears. This was her lover, her John.
His warm hands cupped her face, almost covering half of it. John leaned in close to her, allowing Sophia to see his deep pupils, long lashes, and shallow double eyelid fold.
John's thin lips parted, his eyes calm and serene: "Sophia, why isn't it you who is sick?"
"Why isn't it you who is dying?"
There wasn't an especially deep hatred in his eyes, but that made Sophia feel an icy chill to the bone.
Not even hate, how uncaring could he be?
Sophia closed her eyes, but John, she wouldn't live much longer either.
She could fulfill his wish and disappear from his world forever, so his world would brighten up.
John fell into a deep sleep beside her, while Sophia sat huddled on the bed all night.
She left the room before John woke up. He had come to her room drunk, and when he sobered up and realized he had slept with her, he would surely feel extremely disgusted, especially since he thought she was dirty.
Sunlight pierced through the white lace curtains into the room, and the man on the bed stirred, opening his eyes with his arm across his forehead.
Fragments of last night's chaos lingered in his mind but slipped away too quickly for him to grasp.
He realized he was in Sophia's room and instinctively looked at the sheets, which were not the ones he had envisioned.
John rubbed his temples and walked out. At this moment, Sophia was crouched in the bathroom, staring blankly at the spinning washing machine drum.
Footsteps approached from behind, and Sophia immediately stood up, wincing in pain as her legs were really numb.
A strong hand steadied her waist, "About last night..."
John looked into her eyes.
Sophia smiled at him, "You were drunk and threw up all over the bed."
John's lips tightened, and he withdrew his hand. The chaotic fragments in his mind didn't match Sophia's account. He unbuttoned his shirt, perhaps he had been dreaming.
He had dreamed of being with Sophia...
"Do you want eggs and milk for breakfast? I..."
John waved his hand, "I'm going to the hospital to see Emily."
Sophia's smile stiffened for a moment, but she concealed it well.
"Go ahead. Goodbye."
Her phone buzzed, and Sophia glanced down at the message while avoiding his gaze. It was the matching result.
She could donate her heart to Emily.
Sophia looked up, rubbed her sore nose, and called out to John who was about to leave, "Wait."
John turned around. Sophia stood behind him, smiling faintly. Her smile tugged at his heart.
"Just a moment," she said, and turned to run upstairs. She fetched a delicate navy blue gift box from the closet and rushed back downstairs.
"This is for you," she panted, her stomach churning. She bit down hard on her lip, betraying no sign of discomfort.
Inside the box was a tie. John glanced at it and said, "The suit I'm wearing today doesn't match this tie."
Sophia shook her head, "It's okay, you can wear it another time."
Or not, actually, she had bought this tie a long time ago. She had been afraid there might not be another chance to give it to him if she didn't give it to him today.
John was going on a business trip to France for a month. On the third day in France, he received a call from the hospital saying that a terminally ill patient had matched Emily.
This patient was willing to donate her heart to Emily after her death.
John wanted to thank this person properly, but the hospital politely said the patient didn't want to disclose their personal information.
...
"Mr. John, Mrs. Thomas's father's condition is not good."
When John came out of the meeting room, Charles stood in front of him to report.
"How much does it need?"
Charles replied, "Fifteen thousand US dollars."
"Pay for his treatment and ensure he receives the best care."
Charles nodded. John returned to the hotel and lay on the sofa, closing his eyes to rest. He felt like something was missing.
He opened his eyes, picked up his phone, and opened Facebook, scrolling to his chat with Sophia.
This time, when he went on a business trip to France, Sophia hadn't sent him a single message on Facebook.
He scrolled up through her daily chats, to which he rarely replied.
This time, when her father was seriously ill, she didn't tell him either. John frowned and closed the chat window.
He made a call home.
"Where's Sophia?" he asked.
The servant replied respectfully, "Mrs. John went back to her parents' home and said she would move back after you return."
John sighed with relief. Sophia was timid, afraid of thunder, darkness, and pain. She wouldn't want to be alone in a big house.
On the fifteenth day of John's stay in France, the hospital finalized the surgery plan, and Emily underwent multiple examinations.
John also heard that the person donating her heart to Emily was not in good health and was also hospitalized, possibly not surviving more than half a month.
He inquired about her, and the doctor said she had severe colon cancer.
Upon hearing this, John's heart skipped a beat. Colon cancer... Sophia's report also showed colon cancer last time.
Such a coincidence made John uneasy.
He immediately called Sophia. Sophia lay on the hospital bed, looking alarmingly thin in just half a month.
The nurse handed her the phone, and her eyes lit up when she saw the name displayed. This was the first time John had called her proactively.
She trembled as she tried to remove the oxygen mask, but the nurse stopped her. Sophia shook her head.
She took the phone and answered the call.
After a brief silence, John asked her, "I'll be back on the 7th of next month. Can you come home on the 7th?"
"Sure," Sophia smiled.
John sensed something was off about her.
"John, I'm so sleepy. Can you call me tomorrow?"
Her voice lacked energy, and John assumed she hadn't fully woken up. He checked the time; it was 8 AM at home.
Almost instinctively, he said, "Okay, I'll call you tomorrow."
The call ended, and the phone slipped from Sophia's hand. She breathed heavily as the nurse hurriedly put the oxygen mask back on her. Sophia closed her eyes, seeing a blur of white before her.
"I really want to see tomorrow's sunrise," she whispered. "And I really want to answer his call."
But she knew she wouldn't make it.
John finished his work, which was originally supposed to take half a month, in one day. He booked a flight back that night. Before going to the airport, he put on his suit and suddenly remembered something, pulling the tie Sophia had given him out of his suitcase.
The burgundy tie matched perfectly with his suit for the day.
He boarded the plane early and, before turning off his phone, received a message from the hospital.
"Mr. John, the donor passed away two minutes ago. Miss Sophia's heart transplant surgery will be performed in two hours."
The plane landed, and John disembarked. Charles took his suitcase and put it in the car.
"To the hospital," John bent down and got into the car. The seven-hour long-haul flight was exhausting, and John rubbed his temples.
He glanced outside as the sun rose from its low position and pulled out his phone to call Sophia.
He had promised to call her, and he wouldn't break his word.
An unfamiliar ringtone echoed through his phone. Seconds ticked by, but Sophia didn't answer.
Still asleep?
John loosened his tie.
As his car pulled up to the Third Hospital, John navigated through the outpatient building and took the elevator to the skybridge leading to the third floor of the inpatient department. Just as he stepped in, the adjacent elevator opened, revealing a stretcher with a deceased person covered in a white sheet. John caught a glimpse; the hand sticking out from beneath the sheet belonged to a woman.
His heart suddenly constricted, and he was about to see who was pushing the stretcher when the elevator doors started to close.
He reached out to stop them, intending to step out, but a family of three entered instead.
"Thank you," the woman said to John, assuming she'd have to wait for the next elevator.
She hadn't expected someone inside to hold the door open for her.
John dashed out of the elevator and looked around, but the person was nowhere to be found.
"Sir, are you coming back in?" the woman in the elevator called out to his retreating figure.
John felt momentarily disoriented. He returned to the elevator with a chuckle, realizing he must be crazy. For a split second, he thought that woman with the uncovered hand was Sophia.
He was losing it.
Sophia never took off her wedding ring from her left hand; she wore it every single day.
How could that unadorned hand be hers?
Emily had just undergone surgery and was still unconscious. John waited outside for a while.
He called Sophia again, but still no answer.
John stood up and instructed Charles, "To Thomas's place."
Thomas's front door was firmly shut, with no one home.
John sat in the car, chain-smoking. Three hours later, Thomas's car arrived.
Jennifer stepped out, carrying a bag, with the family's nanny following behind, cradling something in her arms. The nanny's eyes were red and swollen.