My Final Breath

My husband, Garrett, is a judge. To save his dying first love, he signed an order that practically sentenced my kidney to her.

I tried to explain to him that I was already suffering from kidney failure. If I gave up one more kidney, I wouldn't survive the night.

Garrett only looked at me with pure disgust. "Savannah is fighting for her life, and you're still here playing these pathetic games for attention!" he roared. "Do you even have a heart?"

Under his legal authority and forced mandate, I was dragged to the hospital for the transplant.

In the end, as my system collapsed, I died alone in a cold, forgotten corner of the hospital.

......

While Garrett was outside Savannah's room, keeping vigil, I was lying on a frigid operating table, waiting for death.

Tubes were snaked into every part of my body. The beeping of the monitor sounded like a death knell, reminding me that my time was up.

Finally, my heart rate flatlined. At that exact moment, news of Savannah's successful surgery reached the hallway.

The emergency lights in my room flickered off, and my eyes closed forever.

Perhaps my soul was too weighed down by resentment because I didn't move on. Instead, I found myself drifting right next to Garrett.

I watched him hold Savannah, who had just escaped death. His eyes were red with relief and emotion. My heart, or what was left of it, sank into a bottomless pit.

I wanted to ask him if he had felt even a second of worry for me when we were both wheeled into surgery.

The answer was clearly no. After all, Garrett had hired the most ruthless lawyers to win the case against me just to get that kidney.

When they were harvesting my organ, the pain was so intense that sweat soaked through my surgical gown. I called him one last time, my voice trembling with a plea.

"Garrett, I'm sorry, okay? Please don't take my kidney. It hurts so much... I think I'm dying."

I had never begged him before. I thought that if I just gave in and took the blame for everything, he might show some mercy based on our five years together.

But Garrett only let out a cold, sharp laugh over the phone.

"Admitting you're wrong is the least you can do. Saving Savannah is your only shot at redemption."

"Don't think giving her a kidney gets you off the hook for all the ways you've hurt her over the years. We'll settle those accounts once she's recovered."

"You want to die? Fine. But you better apologize to her before you do!"

I tried to open my cracked lips to tell him I never did any of the things he accused me of. But I simply didn't have the strength left.

Garrett wasn't done. He added one final, venomous sentence.

"You disgust me."

The line went dead, and my spirit shattered. Every ounce of love I had for him for five years evaporated into nothingness.

He said I was disgusting. Yet, when he married me, he told me he'd love me forever. He said I was his first choice, his exception, and his only love.

Now that Savannah was back, he had completely forgotten his wife.

Garrett's hand gently stroked Savannah's face, as if she were a piece of priceless, fragile porcelain.

"Thank God... you're alive," he choked out.

His tearful voice and bloodshot eyes told me he hadn't slept a wink. But did he ever stop to think that I was already gone?

Savannah forced a weak smile onto her pale lips.

"Garrett, I'm so sorry I worried you. Where's Lyra? Is she still mad at me? I need to apologize to her."

She made a show of trying to sit up, but it was so obviously fake. Anyone with eyes could see it, yet Garrett was blinded by his own guilt.

Predictably, he gently pressed her back into the pillows and patted her head.

"Silly girl, Lyra is the one who needs to apologize, not you. You're too kind for your own good; people will just keep taking advantage of you."

A passing nurse watched them and couldn't help but comment.

"You two really are a devoted couple."

She looked at Savannah with a smile.

"While you were in surgery, your husband waited in the hallway all night. He didn't move an inch."

Savannah blushed, while Garrett's expression stiffened for a second. He didn't bother to correct the nurse's mistake.

Then the nurse's tone shifted into a deep, heavy sigh.

"It's nothing like the operating room next door. That patient was alone from the moment she came in. She died, and not a single family member showed up to claim the body. So tragic."

Garrett's face twitched slightly. For a moment, a spark of hope ignited in me.

If he could just piece it together and realize that the pathetic woman was me, would he have the decency to bury me?

I waited, but he only let out a shallow sigh.

"That is indeed tragic."

The light in my eyes faded. I laughed at my own stupidity. Garrett's world was entirely consumed by Savannah now; why would he ever think of me?

He didn't pursue the topic. He helped the nurse wheel Savannah back to her private suite.

As they passed the operating room where my body still lay, Garrett paused for a heartbeat.

He glanced inside. My cold corpse was lying there, but my feet were toward the door, so he couldn't see my face.

But if he had looked closely, he would have seen the scar on my ankle. I got that scar years ago while saving his life.

After Garrett settled Savannah into her room, Silas came running down the hall. He brushed past Garrett without a second glance.

Silas grabbed my cold hand, his whole body trembling. He wanted to stroke my hair, but as his fingers touched my frozen forehead, tears streamed down his face.

"You idiot," he whispered. "If you had just married me back then, you wouldn't have ended up dead and forgotten."

Seeing Silas look so disheveled and heartbroken made my ghost-self want to cry. He must have rushed back from out of state the second he heard.

Silas had left the city right after my wedding. He told me Garrett couldn't stand him, and he didn't want to cause me any trouble.

I grew up as an orphan and was adopted by the Vance family when I was seven. Silas was my older brother by name.

At first, he didn't like me, but as the years went by, he became my biggest protector.

I eventually broke ties with my adoptive parents because of Garrett. They wanted me to marry into another wealthy family for a business merger.

I knew they didn't love me; I was just a bargaining chip to them. Silas was the one who helped me escape their house.

I had known about Silas's feelings for a long time. But I couldn't marry himDit would have been a scandal my parents would never allow.

Silas prepared to take my body away. At the same time, Garrett was heading out to get food for Savannah.

She had mentioned craving a specific cake from a bakery twenty miles away, and he didn't hesitate for a second to go get it.

When I was alive, I once asked him to pick up a simple burrito from the shop downstairs on his way home. He told me he was too tired to make the detour.

Silas and Garrett came face to face in the hallway. My body was covered by a white sheet on the gurney.

Garrett recognized Silas immediately.

"Move," Silas said, his voice cold and sharp. Why would he be polite to the man who had effectively killed me?

Garrett's eyes flickered with a strange emotion. He stepped back out of respect for the dead.

But as Silas turned to wheel the gurney away, Garrett's eyes locked onto the scar on my exposed ankle.

"Wait!" Garrett shouted, as if a memory had just been triggered.

He chased after Silas. "Who... who is this person?"

My breath hitched. I was terrified Silas would tell him I was dead, but I was also strangely desperate for him to know. I wanted to see his face when he realized the truth.

Silas went silent for a long moment before he spoke.

"She's my wife."

I was stunned. So was Garrett. Garrett knew everything about my background, including Silas's long-standing crush on me.

"When the hell did you get married?" Garrett blurted out, looking confused.

Silas let out a mocking laugh.

"I don't think that's any of your business, Mr. Judge."

Garrett choked on his words, his expression turning cynical.

"You used to claim you loved Lyra so much. I guess you moved on pretty fast."

Silas stopped walking and turned back to glare at Garrett.

"Compared to what you did, I haven't done nearly enough."

The sarcasm was so thick I knew Garrett had to have felt it.

I followed Silas out of the hospital. I looked back at Garrett one last time, realizing I didn't love him as much as I thought I did.

A month later, it was time for Savannah to be discharged. Garrett was there to pick her up.

Unlike my lonely death with only Silas by my side, Savannah's room was packed with people. Her friends and family were celebrating.

When Garrett walked in, the room erupted in cheers.

"Garrett, when are you finally going to marry our Savannah? You clearly adore her. She's a lucky girl."

Savannah lowered her head shyly, her voice barely a whisper.

"Stop it, guys. Garrett is already married. I don't want Lyra to misunderstand us. I don't want to be the other woman; she'll just make my life miserable again."

One of her friends snorted in derision.

"Who cares about that bitter, jealous woman? Garrett loves you. In a relationship, the one who isn't loved is the real intruder."

"All Lyra does is hurt you. If I were him, I would have divorced her ages ago!"

I found it hilarious. Apparently, in their eyes, I was the villainous third wheel in my own marriage.

Savannah always did this. she manipulated Garrett into believing everything was my fault.

What really hurt was Garrett's silence. He didn't say a word to defend me; he just quietly packed her things while everyone else sat around.

I thought back to our marriage. He promised to love me, but I did all the chores and took all the emotional abuse.

I thought he would protect me from the storms of life. I realized too late that he was the one causing the storms.

"Garrett, Savannah has waited for you all these years. You can't let her down now," one girl said, grabbing his arm to push them together.

My heart felt heavy. This was how they talked about me behind my backDas if I were a criminal who deserved no mercy.

Garrett didn't answer. I suppose he agreed with them.

He took Savannah back to his luxury bachelor pad. It was a place he bought after one of our big fights, a private sanctuary he never once let me enter.

I should have seen it coming. Savannah was his exception. All his rules and principles disappeared when it came to her.

Garrett was tidying up her things when Savannah suddenly walked up and wrapped her arms around his waist.

My chest tightened. I wasn't even cold in my grave yet, and they were already playing house. They acted as if he had never been married at all.

Garrett stiffened. It looked like he wanted to pull away for a second, but Savannah held on tighter.

"Garrett," she whispered against his back. "Give us another chance, please. I didn't mean to leave you back then."

"My mom was so sick... I only took your father's money because I had no other way to save her."

So that was it. The classic tragic misunderstanding involving money and a sick parent. A clich story that Garrett had mourned for years.

Garrett let out a hollow, bitter laugh.

"If you had just told me the truth, we wouldn't have been a tragedy. Do you really think I couldn't provide the money my father did?"

Savannah faltered for a second.

But she was smart. She knew Garrett hated me right now, so she immediately shifted the focus.

"You hated me for leaving, so you just stood by while Lyra bullied me? She hired people to ruin my reputation at work. She even hired thugs to try and... well, you know."

"She wouldn't even donate a kidney to save me. Was that your way of punishing me?"

Lies. Every word out of her mouth was a disgusting lie.

I didn't even know where Savannah worked, let alone how to hire people to ruin her.

I was an orphan with no connections; where would I get a gang of thugs?

If Garrett had investigated for even five minutes, he would have seen the holes in her story. But he chose to believe her blindly.

He had already punished me for those lies. I remembered when he found out about her accusations; he dragged me out of my office in front of all my coworkers.

He looked like a monster, as if I were the scum of the earth.

He actually hired a group of lowlifes to corner me and beat me while he watched.

I had huddled in a corner, shivering and terrified, while those men filmed me being humiliated.

Garrett just sat there, watching the show. He eventually leaned in and shoved his phone in my face.

"If you ever touch Savannah again, I won't hesitate to upload this. I will ruin you for life."

No matter how many times I screamed that it wasn't me, he acted like he was deaf. He never believed a word I said.

Now Savannah was bringing it all up again. Garrett didn't tell her how he had already tortured me on her behalf.

It was so pathetic. Why did he even marry me if he hated me this much?

"Garrett, let's start over. I'll act like you never married her, and you act like I never left. I really do love you."

Savannah saw his dark expression and softened her tone, playing the victim perfectly.

She was an expert at handling him. Garrett fell for it every single time.

When I tried to talk to him while he was angry, he wouldn't even look at me, no matter what I did.

The difference between being loved and being tolerated was glaring. I was a fool for needing to die before I finally saw it.

The man who was always cold and stern with me was a different person with her. His boundaries moved whenever she asked.

I didn't even care about Savannah's lies anymore. I was just tired.

"You just got out of the hospital. You should rest," Garrett said, finally pulling away. He didn't answer her proposal and left the apartment.

Savannah stomped her foot in frustration the moment the door closed.

Garrett went down to his car, but he stopped and looked up at the balcony of our old apartment. It was pitch black.

I used to leave a light on for him every single night, no matter how late he was. He seemed startled by the darkness.

When he got home and opened the door, a wave of stale, cold air hit him. He frowned.

"Lyra! How long are you going to keep throwing this tantrum? So I took you to courtDyou owed that to Savannah!"

He shouted into the empty bedroom, his voice full of irritation and blame.

I stood behind him, laughing silently.

Five years of marriage were erased by a few lies from a stranger. I'm glad I'm dead. If I were alive, I'd probably be facing more of his cruelty tomorrow.

Garrett stormed through the house looking for me. On the dining table, the dinner I had made before going to the hospital was still there. It was covered in mold.

That day had been our fifth anniversary. I had waited and waited, only to be served with a court-ordered organ harvest.

While I was waiting for him, he was probably comforting Savannah, telling her everything would be fine.

He was holding her hand while I was facing the abyss alone.

Garrett looked at the rotting food with a scowl and pulled out his phone.

He dialed my number once, twice... I lost count of how many times he tried. He was never this persistent when I was alive.

Usually, he never called me unless he absolutely had to. Today, he suddenly had plenty of patience.

But no one was going to pick up that phone.

When he couldn't get through, he sent a voice message on WhatsApp.

"Lyra, enough is enough! Do you have any idea what a mess this house is? I haven't even punished you for your behavior yet, and you have the nerve to disappear?"

"You have one hour to get your ass back here, or I'm filing for divorce!"

Divorce? God, I wish. If he had asked for a divorce while I was alive, I would have signed it in a heartbeat.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed. His eyes lit up for a split second, then dimmed when he saw it was a text from Savannah.

I wondered if I was imagining things.

"Garrett, I left something at the hospital. Could you go get it for me?"

He quickly typed back a "Sure." As he put on his jacket, he lingered at the doorway for a moment, looking back into the dark apartment with a conflicted gaze.

I laughed bitterly. It was nearly midnight, but he was still at her beck and call. When I used to have stomach pains in the middle of the night, he complained that the hospital was too far.

I guess the hospital wasn't that far anymore.

Garrett drove back to the hospital and went to Savannah's old ward. On his way, he ran into a nurse.

I recognized her. She was in the room when I died. She had seen the news about the court case and had been the only one who showed me any sympathy.

The nurse saw Garrett and let out a disgusted snort.

"Oh, look who it is. Finally remembered you have a wife who died on the table?"

Garrett froze. He looked at her as if she were speaking a foreign language.

"What are you talking about? Who died?"

The nurse looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Your wife, Lyra. I have no idea how you can call yourself a husband. You knew she had kidney failure and you still forced her to give one up? That's called murder where I come from."