Too Late: The Innocent Traitor I Destroyed

na

wo days systematic

didn't truly feel. I packed a single bag, lightweight and efficient. I burned the few photos I

s re

ing companion now, a sharp reminder that my t

e the wedding,

the private hospital wing

ing the door open with unnecessary force. They didn't speak. Th

, stumbling as they threw me

d, not looking back.

at the hospita

uting conflicting orders. Amidst the bedlam, I saw M

ked him, my legs t

"There was an accident at the rehearsal dinner. A c

red a

word tasting like bile

continued, his voice tight. "AB nega

outh. I was AB negative. It was one of the few thi

appeared from

to his chest. He looked wild, desperate, a man unraveled. He saw me and stormed over,

his eyes manic. "Y

He was terrified.

ly, my voice barely

me. "You owe us this. You took m

dn't

s and heavy medication. He didn't know that draining me now,

I tried to say, m

e doctors, ignoring me. "Take it

looking at my frail fra

d no to the *C

Sofia's. They pushed me onto a gurney,

or at the tapestry of bruises, the fresh needle marks

ed, turning to Dan

hand against the wall, the

t him one

ia, his hand pressed flat against the pane. He loved her. Or he thought he

ispered into

. I nodded at th

ke

he sickening warmth of life being siphoned from my body. I turned m

g rolling over me. The rhythmic beeping of the monitor slowed. M

ght as the darkness rose up to meet

unds of the hospital-the shouting, the a

e's voice echoed, di

et