Chapter 4

Caden paced the hospital corridors, his heart pounding as he searched for my mother''s room. He had been up and down the ward three times, but there was no sign of her anywhere.

A nurse happened to walk by, and Caden reached out, catching her hand. "Excuse me, where''s Mrs. Stanley? She was in this room, right?"

The nurse paused, giving Caden a once-over before answering, "Ah, the lady with the late-stage cancer? She checked out thirteen days ago. Said something about celebrating an anniversary with her daughter and son-in-law."

"And you are?" the nurse inquired. "Her cancer is spreading fast. She doesn''t have much time left. Make sure she''s well taken care of."

Caden''s mind reeled. "That can''t be right. Her cancer was at an intermediate stage, and the treatments were working, weren''t they?"

"I''m not too sure about the details. If you''re family, you might want to check with her primary doctor."

With that, the nurse hurried off, leaving Caden to collapse against the wall, his legs giving out beneath him.

"Why didn''t anyone tell me Mom''s cancer was terminal?"

I struggled to breathe, the shock gripping me because I was in the dark too.

Just the day before our anniversary, Mom had said she felt a lot better and wanted to get some fresh air.

I had plans to hit the snowy slopes for some skiing and promised to take her along the next day.

"Mom..."

There she was, her smile warm as she gently dabbed at the tears in my eyes. "This isn''t so bad, you know? After I''m gone, we''ll still be together, mother and daughter. That''s kind of a blessing, isn''t it, sweetheart?"

Tears blurred my vision as I nodded.

Lost in thought, Caden was jolted back to reality by Kelly''s frail voice on the phone. "Caden, did you find Ms. Vanessa? Is she coming to do the match today?"

"Don''t worry, Kelly. I''ll handle it. Just focus on getting better and leave the rest to me," Caden reassured her.

Through her sobs, Kelly managed to say, "I know Vanessa doesn''t want to donate her bone marrow to me anymore. She''s avoiding it, and I don''t hold it against her. I really don''t..."

It looked like I had been caught red-handed, accused of hiding just to avoid giving her my bone marrow.

Caden was quiet for a few heartbeats.

To my surprise, he did not side with Kelly. He said, "That''s not it. I haven''t even gotten in touch with her yet. She probably doesn''t know how sick you are, so how could she have guessed and hidden away?"

Kelly was taken aback.

She hurried to clear things up, "Caden, you''ve got it all wrong, I didn''t mean that."

Caden cut her off, "Kelly, relax. As long as Vanessa is out there somewhere, I''ll find her. And if she''s already gone, I''ll make sure she gives you that bone marrow before she rests in peace."

Kelly let out a relieved sigh.

After the call, Caden got up from the floor. He stared at the empty hospital room and muttered, "Until I see a body, I refuse to believe you''re gone.

"You''re my wife, Caden''s wife. You can''t just die without my say-so!"

Back home, he called the bank first thing and froze my cards. He knew I was not one for cash. No cards meant no money, which he figured would make me come crawling back or at least call him.

However, if he checked the bank, he would see I had not spent a dime in over 10 days.

After sorting that out, he got lost in his phone''s photo gallery.

I hovered behind him, watching as he stared at the picture I had taken on the snowy mountain.

The night passed without him sleeping a wink, just fixated on that photo, lost in thought.

The phone''s ring shattered the quiet of the study. It was the police.

"Mr. Hall, we''ve been in touch with the search and rescue. They''ve found your wife, I''m sorry to say she''s passed. Please accept our condolences.

"And, just a hundred meters from her, we found another body, which turned out to be her mother. The team''s hoping you can take care of bringing them home soon."

Caden snatched the car keys and bolted out the door.

Mom and I were hot on his heels, racing to the rescue team''s headquarters.

In his rush, Caden slammed into a guy rocking a designer suit right in the rescue team''s lobby.

I knew the guy. It was Jett.

Jett stumbled back a couple of steps. When he caught his balance and saw Caden, his face twisted in surprise.

"Hey, if it isn''t Mr. Hall. Skipping out on your hospital date with your sweetheart to come here? And in such a mad dash, too."

Caden mumbled a quick sorry and darted past him, heading straight for the elevators.

However, Jett was not letting it go. He tailed Caden, all the way to the office.

Propped against the door, Jett could not help but tease, "I thought you were too busy playing nurse to your darling at the hospital to even think about work. What''s got you visiting this neck of the woods?"

Caden was not in the mood for chat, just fixed his gaze on the staffer across the room. "I''m Vanessa''s family, I..." His voice choked up, struggling to get the words out.

The staffer checked his records, "Mr. Hall, please follow me."

Jett, who had been all laid-back, suddenly got fired up. "What''s that? What are you doing here?"

Caden shot him a look, "I''m here to pick up Vanessa''s body."

Jett''s eyes reddened with fury. "What are you blabbering about? She was fine when I left the country. How could she be dead already?

"It''s your fault, isn''t it? You did this to her. You killed her for your precious lover!"

Caden shoved Jett aside. "I have no clue what you''re on about."

Jett peered at him, a twisted smirk creeping onto his face.

"So, Vanessa''s gone. Who are you planning to use to save your girlfriend now?"

The silence that followed was heavy, like a blanket of stillness had settled over us.

I just stood there, watching Caden in the quiet.

He did not seem too torn up about my passing.

It made sense, though. Our beef was beyond fixing, and his old flame was back in the picture. Why would he waste another thought on me?

Still, I was shocked and felt sort of touched that he showed up to claim my body from the rescue squad.

My eyes felt like they were burning, like I wanted to cry. Of course, how could a ghost cry?

Why did being a spirit still hurt like that?

Jett went on, "You haven''t heard? Vanessa quit her job with me. She''s three months along and wants to relax at home with the baby bump."

Caden just stood there, all stone-faced, dodging Jett''s sharp look.

Jett cracked a smile. "Man, if I''d known, I would''ve chased her no matter how much she played hard to get.

"She''s way out of your league, dude."

He strolled over to where I was floating, glanced up like he could actually see me, and grinned, "Hope upstairs has your back, so you don''t bump into a Caden in your next life."

Watching Jett walk away, I did not know whether to laugh or be mad.

He helped mess up my life, but he''s the only one feeling bad about the love I threw away.

After Jett bounced, Caden''s expression got darker and darker.

The worker, who had been waiting forever, was getting antsy. "Come on, I''ve got places to be."

Caden wobbled after the guy, his phone blowing up in his pocket, but he was not about to pick up.