Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Yates advised, "Try them one by one if you must, but it'll take forever. That's not a real solution. The best thing to do is reach out to every hospital you can see if there's a match somewhere."

"I'll go talk to Jessy about it," Vince replied.

He knocked on Jessica's door, but there was no answer, even after a long pause.

With no other choice, he opened the door and stepped inside.

Jessica was still lying in bed.

Vince hurried to her side, calling, "Jessy, Jessy..."

She didn't respond at all.

"Jessy, wake up. Come on, Jessy."

Finally, Jessica's eyes fluttered open, and the first thing she felt was a wave of

pain in her abdomen that made it hard to breathe.

"Vince... it hurts..."

Her voice was little more than a whisper, her brows knit tightly in pain.

Vince quickly helped her sit up, grabbing a pillow to prop behind her back. "Where's your medication? Take your pills first, then I'll drive you to the hospital."

"They're in my bag."

Vince rushed to pour her a glass of water, fished the pills out of her purse, and handed them to her.

He'd read about her illness online—apparently, it could be excruciating when it flared up.

It had been almost four months since her diagnosis. Thankfully, the cancer hadn't spread any further; in fact, there were signs it might even be shrinking. Otherwise, by now she'd probably be bedridden.

She'd been doing relatively well the past few days.

It must have been last night—she'd gotten so upset, and the stress had set off another attack.noveldrama

"I'm taking you to the hospital."

"Are Mom and Dad home?"

Even now, Jessica was worried about their parents finding out. She hated the idea of them getting hurt by this.

"They left early to visit Grandpa at the hospital. Jessy, let's go."

Vince felt wretched. His bone marrow wasn't a match for hers-if it had been, they could have started the surgery by now.

"It's okay. This happens every time. The meds help a little. Let me rest for a bit first."

Jessica's phone buzzed.

It was Carlisle calling.

Jessica answered. Carlisle had good news to share, and he also wanted to check in since she hadn't shown up at the movie premiere last night. He'd tried to get in touch, but he'd been swamped and it was too late by the time he was free.

"Vince, can you hand me my phone?"

Carlisle couldn't speak, so they always used sign language to communicate.

He told Jessica that the premiere had pulled in nearly $300 million at the box office on opening day—a record high. Their film was being screened in more theaters than any other.

It really was fantastic news.

Jessica congratulated him.

Carlisle's hands trembled a little as he signed back-he was convinced it was all thanks to her.

He asked why she hadn't been there. Jessica told him something had come up at the last minute, and she probably wouldn't be able to help with the film anymore. She asked him to take care of everything for her. sŵnovel

She was too exhausted to talk for long and ended the call soon after.

Vince had already seen the headlines about the movie's success that morning. A runaway hit.

But right now, he couldn't bring himself to care.

He sat at the edge of her bed, his voice rough. "Jessy... I... I wasn't a match."

Jessica hadn't really expected him to be. She knew all too well-hope could be cruel.

"It's okay. If it were that easy to find a match, there wouldn't be so many people dying from this disease."

"Jessy, we can't keep hiding this. I think we have to tell Mom and Dad-let them get tested, too. And Herbert, we should tell him. He's a doctor he has connections. Time is everything now-we can't afford to wait any longer!"