One Last Call Before Goodbye Chapter 14
That night, Marshall did not return to his own place.
Louise prepared the guest room, so he stayed at the Connell’s house.
Darlene lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
Her phone vibrated.
Marshall: “Can’t sleep?”
Darlene paused, instinctively glancing toward the door.
Marshall: “I can hear you turning over from the next room.”
Darlene couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile and typed back: “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
Marshall: “Thinking about things.”
Darlene: “Thinking about what?”
Marshall was silent for a while before sending another message.
“Thinking about what you were doing when I wasn’t there.”
Darlene stared at the line of text, her fingertips pausing.
She remembered that dream, where she sat alone in a taxi, her stomach hurting so much she couldn’t straighten up, yet she still forced a smile and told the driver, “It’s nothing.”
In the dream, she didn’t tell anyone.
“Probably crying,” she typed, but then deleted it.
In the end, she only sent a simple emoji.
“Go to sleep early, we have to get up early tomorrow.”
Marshall: “Alright. Good night, Lena.”
Darlene: “Good night.”
She put down her phone, turned over, and buried her face in the pillow.
There was a faint sound from the next room, as if someone else had turned over too.
Darlene closed her eyes and suddenly felt that this night didn’t seem as hard to endure as before.
As soon as the sun rose, Marshall took Darlene to the hospital.
Registration, waiting in line, examinations—the whole process took until noon.
The doctor held the new test results, his brows furrowed tightly.
“Ms. Connell, your condition…”
Darlene interrupted him, her voice very calm: “I know, stomach cancer, middle stage.”
Marshall sat beside her, holding her hand the entire time, never letting go.
The doctor glanced at them and sighed: “I recommend you be admitted to the hospital as soon as possible and schedule surgery. If you delay any longer, it may worsen.”
Marshall answered for her: “Alright, we’ll be admitted.”
After leaving the doctor’s office, Darlene kept her head down and walked very slowly.
“Lena.” Marshall called out to her.
Darlene looked up, her eyes a little red.
Her voice trembled: “Mardy, I’m a little scared. What if the surgery fails? What if I don’t make it—”
Before she could finish, Marshall pulled her into his arms.
His arms tightened around her, as if he wanted to merge her into his very bones.
His voice was muffled above her head, with a slight tremor: “It won’t happen. As long as I’m here, you’ll be fine.”
Darlene buried her face in his chest, tears streaming down silently.
People came and went in the corridor; some hurried past, some glanced over curiously.
Marshall did not let go.
It was a long time before Darlene’s emotions gradually calmed down.
She stepped out of Marshall’s embrace, wiped her tears, and took a deep breath.
“Let’s go home and pack up, get ready for the hospital.”
Marshall looked at her and reached out to smooth her messy hair.
“Alright.”
The two of them walked out of the hospital side by side.
The sunlight was lovely, warm on their bodies.
Darlene lifted her head, squinting at the sky.
She thought that maybe, this time, things really would be different.
Suddenly, her phone started to vibrate.
Darlene looked down and saw it was an unfamiliar number.
She hesitated for a moment, but answered anyway.
“Hello?”
A cold female voice came through the receiver.
“Darlene, do you think just because Mardy is protecting you, there’s nothing I can do to you?”
Darlene’s fingertips froze.
Tabitha’s voice continued from the receiver, carrying an undisguised threat.
“Let me tell you, as long as I’m alive, don’t even think about stepping into the Hendrix’s villa.”
“And Louise, she works at Lucid Enterprises, right?”
Darlene’s heart suddenly sank.
“What do you want?”
Tabitha let out a laugh, cold as a winter wind, chilling to the bone.
“I told you, if you leave Mardy, we can stay out of each other’s way. But if you insist on pushing me, then I’ll have to use extreme measures.”