Before my mother died, she went to a temple and brought back two little blessing dolls.
One was a boy.
Inside it, she tucked Sean’s birthday.
The other was a girl.
Inside it, she tucked mine.
She said they were for peace, health, and for two people in love to stay together forever.
Later, she told me to burn Sean’s doll for him.
But Sean took mine instead.
He said the red-cheeked little girl looked like me.
“Ugly-cute,” he had laughed. “Just like you.”
He said that whenever he looked at it, it felt like he was looking at me.
For years, that doll sat on his office desk.
And I always thought—
When I die, he’ll probably throw it away like trash.
But that doll was my mother’s gift to me.
I wanted it back.
I wanted to place it by her grave, so even after I was gone, it could keep her company for me.
So before going to the cemetery, I stopped by Sean’s office again.
When I arrived, he was watching the morning video of me online.
The one where I had looked at the reporters and calmly said I was dying.
When he saw me come in, he tossed his phone aside.
He didn’t ask anything.
Didn’t say anything.
I glanced toward his desk.
The doll was gone.
I frowned.
“Where’s my blessing doll?”
Before Sean could answer, Chloe came up beside me smiling.
“A few days ago I cut my hand,” she said brightly. “Mr. York felt bad for me, so he gave me that doll.”
“He even said it looked like me.”
Then she giggled.
“But honestly, Megan, I’m way prettier. I don’t look anything like that ugly little thing.”
My fist tightened instantly.
I turned to Sean.
“How dare you give my things away?”
“That was from my mother.”
“How dare you?”
He smiled.
The same infuriating smile that always appeared when he wanted to make me angry.
“Oh, that thing was yours?”
“Sorry. I forgot.”
“I thought it was just some worthless trinket.”
Before he finished speaking, I grabbed the crystal ashtray off his desk and hurled it at him.
He didn’t dodge.
The ashtray struck his forehead.
Blood trickled down at once.
Chloe screamed.
“Are you crazy? Hitting someone over a stupid doll?”
Then she ran out.
A moment later she came back, clutching the little blessing doll in her hand.
She flung it at me.
“Take your trash back!”
“No one cares about cheap junk like this!”
The ceramic doll hit the floor.
And shattered.
Completely.
I stared at the fragments.
My name.
My birthday.
Broken into pieces.
Like my life.
Like something that would never be put back together.
A strange thought flashed through my mind then—
Maybe I really was dying.
Maybe I wasn’t ready.
Maybe I still wanted to see my mother one more time.
Maybe I was terrified she’d be waiting for me and wondering why I was late.
I felt something in my head go blank.
Then I slapped Chloe.
Hard.
“That was my mother’s!” I screamed. “I care! I care!”
I burst into tears halfway through the words.
I lunged for her again, but Sean caught my wrist and stopped me.
My eyes burned.
I looked at him through the blur of tears.
Then I laughed while crying.
“Now you know I’m dying, and you still bully me?”
“Sean York, you really are scum.”
He wiped the tears off my face with one thumb and sneered.
“First the cake. Then the dying act.”
“Megan, is messing with me really that fun?”
“Cry all you want. I’m not going to feel sorry for you anymore.”
Before he could finish, a drop of blood fell from my nose onto the back of his hand.
Then another.
And another.
It was worse than before.
Much worse.
My legs gave out.
Pain crashed through my body so violently I couldn’t stay standing.
I collapsed.
Sean caught me.
For the first time in years, I heard real panic in his voice.
He shouted for an ambulance.
But he couldn’t stop the blood.
No matter what he did, it kept staining his white shirt red.
In my haze, I smelled disinfectant.
Heard hurried footsteps.
And then a doctor’s voice.
“She could have made it to next spring. Maybe longer.”
“But she said she had no money and stopped treatment.”
“Now the disease is out of control. There’s no real point continuing aggressive care.”
Sean’s voice cut in, raw and violent.
“So you’re telling me my wife is dying?”
“You save her.”
“I don’t care what it costs. If you can treat her, treat her. If you can’t, get the hell out and bring in someone who can.”
That day, Sean nearly tore the whole hospital apart.
He pulled in experts from everywhere.
He said it didn’t matter how much he had to spend.
He would keep me alive.
But some things can’t be bought back.
Not even with all the money in the world.