Janice stood in the quiet sterile room of the hospital, the acrid smell of the hospital disinfectants infesting her nostrils as she stood in the hospital gown, her hands clutched to the consent forms that's awaiting her signature to save a life.
Only her breathing and that of Nelson, struggling for his life could be heard in the silent room.
For the past nine months, her husband, Nelson Smith has been fighting for his life due to kidney failure, and without surgery, he has less than four months to live.
Nobody in his family matched after tests were done. Not even his siblings, parents, or cousins, except one person; Janice Capuno, his wife.
"Mrs. Smith, I know this might be hard on you, but you have to be strong, not just for yourself, but for your husband." Nurse Tiana said calmly, patting her back when she saw the uncertainty in Janice's expression.
"Ms. Smith, you have thirty minutes left to get yourself ready for prep." The surgeon said when he stopped by to check on her.
Even though she had been hoping and praying for this surgery to be successful, her heart never stopped sinking, a mixture of emotions swirled inside her, excitement, fear, and relief.
After the next thirty minutes, she'll have only one kidney to survive on for the rest of her life.
'What if that one fails in the near future and she finds it difficult to get a match?' she thought, but immediately, she shut her eyes closed to dismiss fear and all negative thoughts.
Besides, she has made up her mind already. She's ready to cut open her body to save the man she had promised to love in sickness and in health, and nothing will make her to back down because she can't afford her husband's blood to be on her hands when she knows that she has every opportunity to save him.
Ten minutes later, the nurses came to Prep Nelson. They gave him a mild sedative to relax him before the main amnesia.
Janice held his hands, her eyes on the verge of tears as she whispered words of encouragement and love to her husband, while she watched his gradually failing eyes.
"Babe...my phone... switch it off... battery" Nelson muttered, pointing a finger at his bag before finally falling asleep.
Janice picked up the phone to switch it off, but before she pressed the power button, the screen light flashed as a whatsapp notification popped up. It was from Tricia, Nelson's college sweetheart, the same woman he wanted to marry years back but she abandoned him when he couldn't meet up to her financial standard.
"Babe, has the fool gone into the theatre yet? I can't wait for this to be over. Once you get the kidney, we're done with her." The message read.
Janice blinked, her blood turned ice and her body stiffened up immediately. A sharp pain struck her heart as if being pierced by a double edged sword.
Before she could blink again, another notification popped up, a debit alert from his bank for a transfer done to Tricia.
She tried to unlock the phone, but the password she knew has been changed. Her body began to quiver.
She pressed her thumb, and luckily enough, her thumbprint was still saved in the phone, so it got unlocked instantly.
Without hesitation, she logged into his bank app and scrolled through the recent transactions history, her entire body stiffened.
It all started five months ago. The same month that Nelson began to act cold towards her. The same month that she complained about feeling unloved, but Nelson waved it off with the lame excuse of being under the trauma of kidney failure, and since then, he stopped all forms of intimacy with her. In just five months, the amount of money that Nelson had sent to Tricia was ten times what he had spent on her as his wife of three years.
She quickly scrolled up their WhatsApp chats, her eyes were already sullen with tears and her hands began to tremble that the phone almost fell off.
Date: 3 months ago
Nelson: The doctor said Janice is a match. Thank God, I don't have to spend millions to buy a kidney.
Tricia: Are you sure you can tolerate her? You said you wanted to divorce her next month.
Nelson: I have to pretend babe. I have to be sweet. Once I get the kidney and recover, I will file for a divorce. I can't be with a woman that has only one kidney. I need a complete woman like you.
Date: Last week
Tricia: Hope she doesn't back out.
Nelson: She won't. She's stupidly in love. She's already convinced that I'm buying her a car and as well taking her to Canada for the two weeks vacation as I've promised. She doesn't know that the only thing she's getting is a divorce.
'Hmmmmmm.' Janice breathed deeply, her eyes filled with tears as she looked at her sleeping husband. He looks peaceful and innocent.
For three years, she abandoned her wealthy family identity and her career as an ambitious interior designer in California and willingly relocated to New York after marrying Nelson Smith against her family's wishes.
Instead of happiness, she was treated as a servant by her mother in-law, mocked as a gold-digger by her sister in-law, but amidst all, Nelson never stops loving and defending her.
For that, she ensured to use her connections, secretly working underground to uplift his business and give him a bigger name in the society, from a common struggling business man to the President of the Smiths Enterprise, the largest textile and manufacturing industry in the city.
For nine months, she washed, fed and prayed for him, yet, instead of seeing her as a wife, he only saw her as a foolish organ donor to be discarded like a squeezed orange once he gets what he wants.
Janice squeezed her eyes shut to force back the tears that were threatening to fall when she heard footsteps approaching.
"It's almost time. You need to come with me." The surgeon said as he entered.
Janice glanced at the watch on her wrist, there's just fifteen minutes left, and the waiting room is flooded already with family and close friends waiting to hear the success of the surgery.
"Ok doctor. But can you please give me a few minutes? I need to use the restroom." She said, her voice calm and frail.
The doctor nodded. " But don't take too long. This is the critical hour."
Janice looked at the consent forms in hands, thankfully, she was yet to endorse her signature.
Without hesitation, she took her phone and slouched to the restroom.
Every word from the conversation flashed her memory, and this time, she couldn't hold her tears back anymore.
The hospital gown she wore was already soaked in tears while she wept and thought of the best way out, but her brain became totally blank.
Suddenly, her phone began to ring.
When she looked at the caller ID, she heaved a sigh of relief.
It was Dian, her best friend–the only person who never mocks her decision.
“Hi Janice, sorry for taking too long to come. I'll be at the hospital in the…” Dian tried to explain when Janice cut in impatiently.
"Dian, don't bother coming to the hospital anymore. I'll text you an address where we can meet."
She looked at her reflection in the mirror, a smug smile washed over her face.
"You want to get my kidney for free while you save your money to have a better life with your mistress...then let me show you a better way to save enough money." Janice thought to herself with a wicked smirk, and without hesitation she logged into his bank app and made a transfer of 99.9 billion out of the 100 billion left in his account.