Chapter 17: Chapter 17

PERCIE Eight months ago...

“Go, Emma! You can do it!” Grandpa was shouting as soon as the race started. Hundreds of participants had joined in different categories. Emma was one of them.

“Em! You can make it to the finish line!” I yelled as loud as I could. She may not be as fast as the others, but she made me so proud. My heart swelled. What could I say? I was her number one supporter.

I couldn’t help but laughed as Emma tried so hard. Still, she was left behind by a few participants.

I followed her through as she raced with them. I also brought a towel, her backpack, and bottled water. I strode from the crowd of cheerers, but I couldn’t avoid bumping with the people busy cheering their athletes.

In just less than fifty meters, Emma was already exhausted. My throat clogged. Looking so pale as white, she sweated profusely.

“Em, are you okay?” My voice shook.

She halted in the middle of the road. Shen then started with labored breathing. She was on the left side of the road while I was following her from the right. What’s wrong with her?

As my heart beat wildly in my chest, I froze deadly in my tracks as if I just turned into a stone. I wanted to cross to come to her, but my feet weighed tons.

“Emma! Em, you can move away to the side now, sweetheart!” I yelled. “I think that’s enough. You’ve already made me proud.” I started to shake. My body chilled with dread.

She didn’t respond.

My heart just stopped. I felt like someone just threw me a bucket of water. Realization hit me hard in my chest. This was what all about— about what she told me last night. No, Em.

“Emma, I’m coming to you!” I shouted louder than before.

My breathing caught. Emma didn’t move.

Her head fell forward. She wasn’t moving at all.

I froze again, staring with my wide eyes.

My breath stopped. My blood pounded in my ears. All I could hear was my grandparents’ voice shouting for help, but I couldn’t just move. I was so shocked by what I saw until someone shook me for attention.

“Percie, we have to take Emma to the hospital,” Grandma said with a trembling voice.

Speechless, I turned to face Grandma. Her tears just fell from her eyes like a stream.

I shut my mouth close. I didn’t know I was crying until I wiped my tears on my cheeks, and my vision blurred.

Grandma grabbed my hand to cross the street. People gathered around when the athletes had passed by.

I was just watching there, my body numbing. Everything just faded around me. I felt lost again.

The paramedics placed Emma on the stretcher. They already put an oxygen mask on her.

Grandpa kept mentioning Emma’s name. They immediately pushed the stretcher inside the ambulance and closed the door behind them. I let them take Emma away from me, and I couldn’t do anything than watched the vehicle drove off.

“Let’s get to the hospital, Percie. Now!” Grandpa ordered.

“Yeah. The—the hospital.” I stuttered. Either way, I followed him with Grandma out of the crowd.

“What happened, Grandpa?” My voice came out a squeak. “She’s gonna be okay, right?”

“We’ll talk in the hospital, Percie. I can’t answer you right now.” Grandpa snapped.

“I thought she’s okay.” Those were the last words that came out from me.

I stayed silent in a cab as we rode to the hospital. Grandpa and Grandma didn’t talk to me anymore. I closed my eyes instead and prayed over and over again that Emma would be okay. I recalled jumbled thoughts in my head, but nothing made sense.

The doctor came out from where Emma was checked in.

“Who’s the relative of Emma Holmes?” the doctor asked.

I raised my hand. She didn’t ask again the moment she saw me.

“They are my grandparents.”

“How’s Emma, doc?” I asked right away. I saw her name written in her blue scrub suits.

“I’m Dr. Elena Mills, the Nephrologist on duty.”

My brows furrowed. “Nephrologist? Doesn’t she need a neurologist?”

Grandpa cleared his throat. “Dr. Mills, can you tell us how’s she doing?”

I saw the grief in grandpa’s face. Grandma wrapped her arms around herself.

“What’s going on, Grandpa?” I raised my voice a little bit out of frustration.

“Let the doctor tells us, Percival.”

“Do you know when was the last time she had hemodialysis?” Dr. Mills asked.

What is she talking about? I held my hands up. “Whoa! Whoa! Hold on. You must be talking about the wrong patient, the wrong Emma. My Emma has Spinal Cord Injury, lower limbs paralysis, and she doesn’t have a kidney problem. Please, go away.” I waved my hand at her. “I need a doctor who can tell me what happened to my Emma.” I glared at her.

“I know, Percie. This is all shocking, but she’s telling us the same Emma, your Emma, and our Emma,” Grandpa admitted guiltily.

“What do you mean she’s the same Emma, Grandpa? Emma’s kidneys are okay. Please, I want to see Emma right now.”

I strode to one of the rooms separated by curtains and searched for Emma. I drew all the curtains until I found her lying in bed. I stopped dead tracks.

I almost didn’t recognize her. She was my Emma. She has tubes, probes, wires attached to her. The sounds from the machines and monitors were deafening.

I stood there in front of her and kept shaking my head. I tried telling myself that this wasn’t Emma, and I was just having a nightmare again, but the more I looked at her, the more reality hit me hard. It’s her.

Grandma kept rubbing my arms, but it didn’t help. “What happened to her, Grandpa, Grandma? Tell me why Emma looks like this? Like—like a pufferfish?” I shook myself to cry.

“She’s been on dialysis for three months now, Percie,” Grandpa explained.

“And you, Grandma, and Emma had no plan on telling me about it? How could you keep something like this from me? How could she do this to me?

And why she had to join that race if she was sick?” I pulled my hair and cried until I was too exhausted and dragged myself down the floor.

“You know why, Percie,” he answered quietly.

“No, I don’t know why Grandpa. Please, just tell me!” I helped myself up to sit beside Emma. I couldn’t stand any longer. My energy had drained down. I was so emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted. I covered my face with my hands and shook to cry.

This wasn’t happening again.

“The accident damaged Emma’s only right kidney. Her condition also caused her to have urinary tract infection, then recently acute kidney failure,”

Grandpa explained.

“What do you mean her only right kidney? What happened to her left?” My brows furrowed in confusion. Why wasn’t I aware of this? Why did she keep it from me? I was beyond confused. I couldn’t remember Emma had kidney surgery.

My mind couldn’t process anything. At this moment, nothing made sense.

It was so frustrating. Why did she have to hide it from me?

“She was born with a solitary kidney, Percie,” The doctor answered.

“Then why do I have two?” I faced the doctor.

“I can donate one kidney, right? I’m sure we’re a perfect match. Please, doctor, she doesn’t have to go on dialysis. I am giving my kidney. I’ll do it right now. What should we do? Sign papers, cross-matching, compatibility? We have the same blood type. We’re both type A . We have the same blood running in our veins, same DNA. We’re twins and Didi. Please, do it right now.” I grabbed Dr. Mills’ hand and begged her.

“I’m sorry, Percie.”

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