Goodbye, Mr. Regret

No matter how sincerely Timothy pleaded, Jessica ignored him.

"Tim, since Henry's out of immediate danger, let's just go home."

She was ready to leave.

She couldn't stand by and watch her son go through any more pain.

With everyone in the Lawson family willing to get tested as donors, her fears had eased at worst, Henry would just have to endure a tough recovery.

"Jess."

Timothy hurried after her, calling out, "Aren't you going to stay with him? He's so sick right now, he needs his mother."

Jessica shot him a cool glance. "He needs his mother now that he's ill, but when he was healthy, he couldn't wait to push me aside and choose someone else to call mom. Maybe the one he picked should be the one to take care of him."

"He knows he was wrong. I talked to him about it."

Her lips curled in a frosty smile. "So just because he admits his mistake, I'm supposed to forgive and forget? I carried him for nine months, raised him for seven years, never shied away from the hard parts. And after all that, the second he decides he wants someone else as his mother, I'm supposed to just accept an apology and move on? Mr. Lawson, think carefully. What does a child really understand? Where do you think his attitude comes from?"

"When a woman marries into a family, what gives her the standing for her husband's relatives to respect her? How can she matter to them?"

"No one wants to repeat the same mistakes again and again."

"He's my flesh and blood-I worry about him more than anyone. But as long as he survives, the rest is up to you, his father."

turned and strode

rooted to the spot,

wasn't one to

kept bottled up, never mentioning them in front

his own eyes how his family treated her, seen his own friends' attitude toward

toward Jessica was a reflection

Even Henry's.

understood why she couldn't

she finally voiced, it must have been a pain

endured for

he

was he supposed

It was a

gwhile before

could make himself walk

Henry's hospital room toothyet

Henry was still asleep.

could barely keep

awake all night, then spent the whole day running

feel like

work, couldn't rest at

sucked in a sharp

he didn't dare close his