"Mrs. Smith, thanks to modern medicine, we've got a fighting chance against cancer. I reckon if we start treatment..."
"How long before I kick the bucket?" Olivia Johnson butted in, a tremble in her speech, disrupting the doctor's attempts to reassure her.
After experiencing a scary symptom of bleeding after intimacy with her husband Noah Smith, she'd been hit with a terminal cervical cancer diagnosis.
"Don't count on more than three months..." the Doc countered, nervously pushing his specs up his nose.
It felt like a giant hand had just sucker-punched Olivia's chest, tears pooling in her eyes...
Before she knew it, she was hightailing it out of the room.
Now it was her turn, a decade after losing her folks had irrevocably wrecked her world.
At the ripe age of twenty-three, she was forced to stare death in the face.
Years worth of held back tears erupted in a deluge as she fled, blind with grief, from the consultation room.
Running out, she spotted a familiar tall figure cruising by her. Noah!
Why was her man at the hospital?
She dashed after him, catching him disappearing into a premium intensive care wing labeled: Charlotte Brown.
Turns out, Noah had been away from home because his old flame was back. But what was wrong with her?
She next found herself in the Dean's office, getting her hands on Charlotte's medical reports and Noah's kidney transplant paperwork.
Under regular circumstances, these classified records were impossible to get unless the patient or a family member asked for them. But Olivia, being the chair of the Johnson Family who owned the hospital, held all the cards.
Advanced kidney disease equaled an immediate kidney transplant for Charlotte. Noah was all set to offer his kidney to his old sweetheart, but it was no good; they weren't compatible.
Would Noah feel for her if he learned about her cancer? Olivia dialed Noah's number with bated breath. After what felt like a lifetime, his irked voice blurted out, "What do you want?"
Casting her doubts aside, Olivia mustered, "Noah, I miss you."
All she craved now was him, his comforting arms...
"I'm busy," came Noah's curt response, shattering her fantasy.
That's when it dawned on Olivia that he was tied up with Charlotte. Gathering her courage, she asked, "What's taking up your time?"
"I'm with Charlotte. She's back!"
His acknowledgment didn't shock her. Olivia understood it was not his honesty nor his refusal to lie, but his sheer disregard for her as his wife.
Desiring to voice her emotions yet unable to express them, Olivia remembered that no one knew of her grim news yet.
"Noah, could you rub my legs? They hurt..." Charlotte's seductive plea shockingly echoed through the phone call.
Biting back her words, Olivia told Noah, "I'll be waiting for you tonight."
"Not gonna happen!" replied Noah, being straight up as always.
Pretending to be unaffected, Olivia burst out, "I've found a kidney match for Charlotte..." Rolling down her car window, she let the rain pour in, each cold drop kissing her cheek.
Just like that, silence filled the other side of the line.
"Honey, I'll be waiting." With those words, Olivia hung up.
