Chapter 2

Nellie waited in the corridor for Jeremy to come out of anesthesia. She didn't leave, even when her legs ached from standing too long. I stood beside her, watching, my chest prickling with a sharp, unbearable ache. So even a soul could still feel pain. I remembered the last time I'd broken a bone. Nellie hadn't been there during surgery. Afterward, when the anesthesia wore off, and the pain was so bad I could barely breathe, I couldn't even find her to help me walk to the bathroom. "Dr. Shaw… Mr. Hayes is not breathing." The intern nurse came running with a pale face. I was the Mr. Hayes she was talking about. I thought Nellie would be shocked when she heard I'd died. That she might regret it, or at least feel sad. Instead, she frowned impatiently and snapped, "How much did Horatio pay you? How dare you help him lie to me? It's just a kidney. How could it kill him?" The nurse gasped. "No, ever since you left the OR, Mr. Hayes hasn't been breathing…" "Shut up! Do you want to lose your chance at becoming a full-time staff member? Go back and tell him that if he keeps throwing tantrums and getting jealous over nothing, then we'll get a divorce!" The way the intern tried to defend me filled me with bitter sadness. Even a stranger was willing to stand up for me, yet in Nellie's eyes, I was nothing more than a scheming, petty man driven by jealousy. Her threat shut the nurse up completely. I knew how hard it was for medical staff to earn a permanent position. Nellie knew it even better. "If I ever hear you helping Horatio deceive me again, don't blame me for being ruthless!" With that, she turned and walked back into the ward. Jeremy had woken up. I watched as his eyes slowly opened. Nellie immediately stepped forward, clasping both his hands, her gaze filled with tenderness. "How do you feel? Any pain? Should I check again?" Her anxious expression made my chest tighten. I used to think she was just cold by nature, incapable of empathy. I'd even foolishly believed that as long as I loved her enough, I could teach her how to love in return. However, at this moment, I finally understood. She wasn't incapable of love. She just didn't love me. Jeremy didn't answer her directly. Instead, he glanced around the room, then asked softly, looking guilty. "Where's Horatio? Is he mad at me? I shouldn't have switched his car or driven drunk…" Halfway through, his voice broke, and he trailed off. The truth was, the car I'd been driving hadn't even been mine. I'd just bought a new one with top-tier safety features. However, Jeremy insisted on driving his own beat-up car to see Nellie, some old junker that had changed hands who knows how many times. When I was rushing to leave on a business trip and discovered my car had been taken, I went to Nellie in anger. She'd only glanced at me coolly and said, "Don't think having money makes you special. It's just a car. Jeremy needs it more. He's used to a better life. "When he goes out to see people, appearances matter. Didn't he already give you his car? It's not like you were born into luxury anyway. You didn't complain back when you were driving that old clunker." Jeremy had been a rich heir before his family went bankrupt. I knew that much. What I didn't know was that no matter how hard I worked my way up from the bottom, in Nellie's eyes, I'd never measured up. I had urgent business and didn't have time to argue about it, so I drove Jeremy's car instead. The moment I started it, something felt off. However, I shrugged it off and made it to my destination safely. On the way home, I ran head-on into Jeremy, who was driving drunk. I could've slammed the brakes, but something was wrong with the brakes. No matter how hard I pressed, nothing happened. The crash came too suddenly. His airbags didn't even deploy. I fell straight into a deep coma. Meanwhile, Jeremy, driving my car, walked away with only minor scratches. "How could he be angry? If he weren't a terrible driver, how would he have hit you?" Nellie's sharp words snapped me back to reality. My head rang with her words. I could see Jeremy smirk triumphantly. "Anyway, it's my fault. I'll apologize to Horatio right now." However, he made no move to get up. Nellie immediately pressed him back down, disgust written plainly across her face when she mentioned me. "He doesn't deserve it. He's always jealous, always competing with you. He's a grown man and still acts like a child. If he doesn't think he did anything wrong, then let him sit alone and reflect." I laughed. I was already dead. What was there left for me to reflect on?