He Let Me Die For Her

Synopsis

I was born with a weak heart. To help David Bennett, my husband of seven years, get through a crisis at his company, I gave up the only matching heart donor I ever had. Then I survived on meds day after day, barely holding on. He promised he would find me the perfect heart. But five years passed, and I waited for nothing. I never got another chance at a transplant. Meanwhile, a girl named Emily Shaw lived with us. He had taken her in like a sister. She had only been there for three months before she got the heart he fought tooth and nail to secure. He even charged her surgery to our shared card. Clutching my aching chest, I told him I wanted a divorce. He stood by my bed, tears streaming down his face as he squeezed my hand. "Claire, you're my wife. Once I've made enough money, I'll get you the best doctors. "But Emily is different. She's only eighteen. Without this heart, she won't make it through the winter. "She's the only family I have left. Please, hang in there a little longer, for me, okay?" I looked into his bloodshot eyes, and once again, my heart softened. It wasn't until I started coughing up blood that I went back to the hospital for another check-up, and while I was there, I brought up the heart donor issue. The doctor flipped through my medical records, looking puzzled. "Mrs. Bennett, your heart donor registration was canceled three years ago. Mr. Bennett handled it himself. Didn't you know?" I leaned against the hospital corridor wall. My chest felt heavy and tight, like I was trying to breathe through a soaked rag. My throat was so dry and bitter that I could hardly swallow. I didn't go back to that house that always smelled like medicine. Instead, I bought the first ticket I could get out of town. Before the train started moving, he texted me: [You're not home. Where did you go? Still mad? Don't be so stubborn. I told you I'd figure something out.] But David, I was barely alive. What could you possibly do now?