One Last Call Before Goodbye Chapter 19
Outside the operating room, the corridor was so quiet that the ticking of the wall clock could be heard.
Louise sat on the long bench, her hands clasped on her knees, her knuckles turning white from her own grip.
Marshall stood by the window, his back to her, one hand in his pocket, the other hanging at his side, his fingertips trembling slightly.
Time passed very slowly.
Every minute seemed to stretch a hundred times longer.
Louise checked her phone several times, and looked at the door of the operating room just as often.
The red light above the door stayed on, like an eye that refused to close.
“Mardy.” She finally spoke.
Marshall turned around, his face expressionless, but his eyes were rimmed with red.
Louise’s voice was not loud, but in the empty corridor it was clear: “Lena messaged me.”
“Tell me the truth, what kind of deal did you make with your mother?”
Marshall was silent for a few seconds, then walked back and sat down on the bench beside her.
“We made a bet.”
“What kind of bet?”
Marshall looked at the operating room door: “Three years. She gives me three years, and I have to build up the company without any help from the family. She won’t interfere with me and Lena, and she won’t touch your job.”
“And if you can’t do it?”
His voice was very calm: “If I can’t, I’ll go back and take over the family business, and from then on, I’ll do whatever she tells me to do.”
Louise looked at him, her chest feeling as if something was blocking it.
Her voice trembled a little: “Three years… Can Lena really wait three years?”
Marshall lowered his head and looked at his own hands.
“That’s why I can’t lose.”
The corridor was quiet for a long time.
Louise leaned back against the bench, looked up at the ceiling, and tears silently streamed down her face.
She remembered when Darlene was eighteen, the first time she mentioned Marshall in front of her, her eyes full of light, saying, “Louie, I think I’ve met someone really special.”
She remembered Darlene’s twentieth birthday, holding that ceramic figurine, smiling as if she owned the whole world.
She remembered the day Darlene told her she was sick. The first thing she said wasn’t “I’m scared,” but “It’s a good thing we’re breaking up, otherwise I’d just drag him down.”
Silly girl.
Suddenly, Louise spoke: “Marshall.”
“Hm?”
“Promise me one thing.”
Marshall looked at Louise: “Go ahead.”
Louise turned to look at him, her expression very serious: “No matter what happens, you can’t fall before Lena does. She needs you.”
Marshall looked into her eyes and nodded.
“I promise you.”
The light in the operating room went out.
Both of them stood up at the same time, took a step forward together, and then stopped at the same moment.
The door opened, and the attending doctor came out first, taking off his mask, a trace of exhaustion but also a relaxed smile on his face.
“The surgery was very successful. The lesion was removed cleanly, and there was no sign of metastasis. The patient has been transferred to the general ward and will wake up once the anesthesia wears off.”
Louise’s legs went weak, and she steadied herself against the wall.
Marshall stood where he was, as if he had been frozen in place.
“Thank you, doctor.” His voice trembled, but he tried to keep it steady. “Thank you.”
“Take good care of the patient. The recovery period ahead is crucial.”
“We will.”
The two of them almost ran to the general ward.
The moment they opened the door, they saw Darlene lying quietly on the hospital bed.
Her face was pale, her lips without a trace of color, but her chest was rising and falling evenly.
She was still alive.
Marshall walked to the bedside, looked down at her, reached out, and gently touched the back of her hand with his fingertips. It was cold.
He held her hand in his palm, bent down, and pressed his forehead to the back of her hand.
He made no sound, but Louise saw his shoulders shaking.
Louise stood at the door, watching this scene, covering her mouth as tears streamed down uncontrollably.
She did not go in. She gently closed the door, leaned against the wall in the corridor, and finally sobbed out loud.