My blood pounded in my ears and my heart raced a million times faster than it should've. I was anxious, tipsy, unsettled, just standing there, tapping my foot on the floor and chewing on my lips as I watched the light ascend the circular buttons on the elevator. I didn't understand why he all of a sudden wanted to see me but I didn't ask, after the call last night, I rushed down here the next morning, feeling a little guilty for lying to Killian but it was a necessary evil.

The elevator arrived on the VIP floor and I scrambled out as soon as the doors slid open. Room 16 was just around the corner. The two guards standing by the door nodded for me to enter but I stood there for a moment, valiantly attempting to calm down and gather my thoughts. When my heart steadied to its regular rhythm, and I could breathe normally, I sort to open the door, but someone on the other end beat me to it.

The door opened and revealed a doctor. "You must be Mrs. Fobster. The one I spoke to on the phone last night?"

I nodded. "Yes, that's me. How is my grandfather-in-law?"

His shoulders dropped. He had a sad look on his face, the kind of look you did not want to see on a doctor's face.  "All I can say for now is that he is in a very critical condition."

My eyebrows pulled together as I processed his words. "What do you mean he's in a critical condition?" I snapped irritably. "I thought you said the heart transplant was a success?"

"It was." His gray eyes were bleak as he ran his hand through his hair. "But it's been over a month and evidently, his body is beginning to reject the heart."

Deep ragged breaths escaped my throat as I tried to fathom what I had just heard. "Then-then get a new one. His family can afford it."

"I've already put in word but finding a new heart donor might take months, and I'm afraid months is what he doesn't have."

Something felt like it was squeezing my heart. I couldn't believe what he was saying. "Are you saying he's going to die?"

"Statistically speaking, yes." He sighed. "But at this point, there isn't much we can do but hope he responds to treatment."

He couldn't die. If something happened to him, Killian would...no way! my subconscious metaphorically screamed at me. I couldn't let that thought form in my head. "Is it okay for me to go and see him now?"

He nodded. "Yes, he's been demanding for you."

"Thanks," my voice was shaking. I wasn't sure what I was thanking him for, but the word flew out of me because it was the only word that I could think about.

When he left, I took a deep, steadying breath and shook my head before pushing the door open.

My heart hammered as I made my way toward the bed. God, it was much worst than I'd thought.

I couldn't tell if he was asleep because his eyes were closed but his body looked lifeless with the amounts of tubes and added monitors attached to it.

He seemed to have noticed my presence along the line because his eyes snapped open, a groan moving past his lips as he turned his head to me. "Hope..."

Something in my chest melted. It was his voice, but it wasn't like anything I'd ever heard from his lips; So broken, so grim.

"You...came." He was counting his words, finding it hard to speak. His lips stretched into a hideous approximation of a smile as his hand reached out for mine. "Come...sit by me."

I took his hand and rested my hips on the edge of his bed. His palms were cold, too cold, and the scarlet from his veins had drained to a dull color.

Seeing him this way turned my hormones into a wreck but I tried my best not to break down and cry because it seemed like I had done enough of that last night.

I gazed down into his eyes and the color that once danced around every time we visited had vanished. I squeezed his hand gently, hoping to generate some kind of warmth but they remained cold. "How are you feeling?

"Like I could wrestle a tiger." He joked in a tired voice and I should've laughed but I couldn't. I felt too defeated to do so and it amazed me how he could still do such a good job at feeling so unbothered.

"You shouldn't joke around with this, Mr. Edward. You don't look well at all."

He tried to chuckle but a cough came out instead. "You should drink some water," I urged before grabbing the cup and placing it on his lips.

He managed to rouse himself enough to take a few sips and I waited until he finished before setting it back down on the bedside table. "Thank you." He said weakly. "I'm just really tired these days."

"I know but you need to hang in there, at least until they get a new heart donor."

"You don't understand Hope." He breathed deeply, shutting his eyes for a brief moment. "I am tired. I am tired of feeling like this. I'm dying and I can't continue to fight."

"You're not dying. They'll get you a new heart in no time and you'll be fine." I assured, trying to be strong even though his words hurt me.

"I'd like to believe that too but the signs are clear. I'm dy—"

"You won't die, sir." I cut him, squeezing his hands in mine.

He mustered up a smile. "Saying otherwise doesn't change the reality of things."

My lips pursed. I hated how I couldn't form words. I wanted to be able to say all the right things to make him
feel better, but I couldn't. "I should call Killian. He'll know what to say."

He shook his head quickly. "I don't want him seeing me this way."

"But he needs to know what is going on with you."  

"I have a stubborn boy for a grandson." He groaned. "If he finds out about this I will be flown out of the country for another surgery but I don't want that. I'm tired Hope, I want to rest with my wife and daughter in peace."

I still wasn't in agreement with the idea of keeping this away from Killian. "If he finds out about this, he'll be upset with both of us."

"Hopefully by then, I'd be dead."

"Mr. Edward! You have to stop talking
like this."

He chuckled. "Now you're starting to sound like him." He sighed. "I wish I could be here for him but I can't." He gave my hand a light squeeze. "You can Hope and that is why I called you here. I want you to promise me one thing."

My brows furrowed. "What?"

"That you'll stay by my little boy no matter what."

My stomach tightened.

It felt like the weight of the world had been dropped on my shoulders and the heaviness pressed against my chest. "What you are asking of me is quite impossible sir. Your son doesn't love me and the only reason he married me was because of his child."

"You're wrong." There was a hint of desperation in his voice but I didn't want to give in. He said it himself. We weren't in a relationship. We were never going to be. This...whatever we had right now was one-sided and I wasn't sure I could live with that forever. "He does love you."

"You know, everyone keeps telling me the same thing over and over that he loves me and I want to believe it but until he says so himself it's never going to be true, and as much as I want to grant you this wish I'm not sure I'm willing to stick by a man who doesn't love me."

I was hurting his feelings. I knew this and it broke my heart but I deserved to be selfish too. When I envisioned my future, it was with a man I loved and with a man who loved me in return. I had watched my mother suffer in the arms of the men she claimed she loved. They all left because it was always one-sided. And I didn't want that for myself. I didn't want to be abandoned in the end. I didn't want to be anyone's burden. Maybe it was old-fashioned but I wanted love. Real love.

He smiled. "You love him too, don't you?"

I blinked back my tears and looked at him. There was no use hiding it. "I think I might have fallen for him but it doesn't matter because he doesn't feel the same way."

"Have you told him?"

His question took me by surprise. "Not really."

"Hope," he was reaching for me again. "Someone has to make the first move, otherwise you both will never get anywhere."

The thought of telling Killian how I felt scared me. "I don't want to scare him away."

"If he's feeling the same, he won't run away from you but you have to try. Hope, I understand you and I know I'm in no position to do this but if you need to take the first step please do it. You're the only one he has. You and this baby."

"No, I'm not. He has his friends, his family, his sisters. He has you because you're not dying. He doesn't need me." I didn't want to get emotional but all these thoughts were pushing me to the edge. I closed my eyes, feeling a stray tear roll down my cheek. Before it could completely fall, I harshly wiped it away. "I'm sorry...I just can't promise you."

I just couldn't.