Chapter 2
As Lily stepped out to the hospital entrance, the icy air hit her lungs, and only then did she feel a bit of strength return to her body.
She pulled out her old phone with a cracked screen and sent a message to Eric.
She typed, [Once I wrap things up here, I'll be home in three days.]
Eric replied almost instantly, his excitement practically jumping off the screen. [That's wonderful. Mom and Dad are gonna be over the moon. They've been waiting for this day forever.]
Staring at those words on the screen, Lily finally broke down. Tears streamed down her face, but this time, they weren't for Jason. They were for the genuine warmth of family she'd waited so long to feel.
Her fingers trembled as she replied, [See you then.]
After sending the message, Lily felt completely drained, like all the strength had been sucked out of her. She dragged herself back to her rented room.
The place was a dump. The walls were so damp that chunks of paint had flaked off, revealing the bricks beneath.
It was so run-down nobody else would even consider renting it.
But Lily had no other options. She put Jason through four years of college with her own hard-earned money, and as soon as he graduated, he talked her into tying the knot right away.
For the past two years, she'd been saving up to open a pastry shop. Every day, she got up at three in the morning to work, on her feet nonstop, never resting for a moment.
When her life was finally starting to turn around, when she could see a faint glimmer of hope, Jason suddenly fell victim to his so-called "illness."
The day Jason, looking so fragile and in so much pain, told her he had kidney failure and might not have much time left, Lily clung to him, sobbing her heart out.
She said, "Honey, I don't care if I have to sell everything, I'll do whatever it takes to save you. I can't lose you. If it comes down to it, I'll give you my kidney. I want you to stay with me, always."
Jason was all Lily had back then. If he were gone, she wouldn't want to go on living.
Lily looked around the rundown place they called home.
The three-legged table was propped up with bricks, and the battered sofa was draped with some cheap fabric she'd scored online. The dim bulb kept flickering, making that annoying sizzling noise.
The secondhand fridge she'd bought for 100 bucks rumbled loudly, sounding like it was about to quit on her any minute.
Lily looked around at all the shabby stuff, thinking about how she'd been scrimping and saving every cent to scrape together enough for Jason's surgery.
She'd make a single bread last for two meals, couldn't even spare a buck for bottled water, so she'd fill up at the public restroom and drink tap water instead. Whenever she got a ripped bill, she'd carefully patch it up with clear tape.
Thinking about all this, Lily let out a laugh that was more bitter than anything else, while fat tears kept falling, splashing onto her sneakers—they were already falling apart, patched up with glue again and again.
Lily felt like the world's number one idiot. She walked up to the mirror, the one she'd rescued from the trash.
The surface was cloudy and cracked, showing her haggard, exhausted face.
The yellowed T-shirt she was wearing was one she'd grabbed online three years ago for less than two dollars. She'd worn it through three whole summers.
Her shoes were falling apart, the soles and uppers barely holding together, but she couldn't bring herself to throw them away.
While other 25-year-olds were living their best lives, looking all polished, Lily was so thin she was barely recognizable, her skin sallow, her eyes sunken.
Lily reached up and brushed her hollow cheeks, as a tide of grief crashed through her chest.
She opened her mouth and let out a whimper, soft and broken. She was drowning in despair, completely lost.