Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Henry paced anxiously outside Sheila's emergency room, looking every bit the little grown-up as he wore a path back and forth.

Meanwhile, Timothy was waiting outside the door of Jessica's emergency room.

Jessica had collapsed from a sudden high fever brought on by stress. It wasn't long before she gradually opened her eyes, still groggy. Her attending physician, noticing she was awake, hurried to her side.

"Ms. Greene, you can't keep neglecting your health like this! Your condition is already serious, and now you've let yourself get soaked and come down with a high fever. You have to be admitted for treatment-no more delays!"

Drifting in and out of consciousness, Jessica remembered fainting in Timothy's

arms.

Did he bring her to the hospital?

If he was just outside, it wouldn't take much for him to find out about her cancer.

If he knew, there was no way he'd let her keep working. She couldn't let that happen.

to find a way to get away from him,

didn't have her phone, and she couldn't answer the doctor's questions aloud.

notepad and pen. Jessica, hands trembling with weakness, scribbled a message: "Doctor, I'm sorry, but I can't be admitted right now. My husband is outside. If he

way she could appeal to the doctor's

find out eventually, and they'll only worry more if you keep it from them. The outcome

that. She'd already made plans to go abroad soon, hoping doctors

Timothy or Henry to know-she thought they wouldn't care, and she couldn't bear

else, she didn't want them to

I'm planning to go soon and see if

her secret before,

terminal illness alone. But Jessica's repeated hospital visits, always for

getting worse. But seeing

Jessica handed back the notepad and pen, closed her eyes, and soon drifted off