Divorce Papers or Death Certificate Chapter 5

**Evelyn's POV**

Marcus's steps falter for a second. Then this mocking smile spreads across his face. "Christ, Evelyn. You're really committing to this, huh? Playing dead? That's supposed to make me feel bad?"

He reaches out and grabs the corner of the white sheet, yanking it back hard.

A face so pale it's almost translucent. Eyes shut. Lips purple. The whole body stiff as a mannequin.

Marcus's hand freezes in midair. Whatever he was about to say dies in his throat.

"Evelyn?" He says my name carefully, reaching out to touch my face.

His fingertips brush ice-cold skin.

Marcus jerks his hand back and stumbles backward.

"Cut it out..." His voice is shaking. "Evelyn, open your eyes. I swear to God, open your eyes!"

I'm floating near the ceiling, watching him panic.

The doctor walks over with a clipboard. "Mr. Sterling, this is the death certificate. We need your signature. Miss Evelyn went into cardiac arrest during surgery. We did everything we could, but—"

"Shut the hell up!" Marcus lunges forward and grabs the doctor's coat. "Death certificate? She passed out. That's it. She's full of shit, there's no way she's actually—"

The doctor looks startled but keeps his professional tone. "Mr. Sterling, I'm very sorry for your loss. Also, when we were handling the body, we found extensive external injuries from the past few days... and her brain scan showed—"

Marcus isn't listening. He shoves the doctor aside and goes back to the gurney.

He's trembling as he lifts my hospital gown.

Underneath are countless scars and bruises. My whole body looks like someone worked it over. On my left side, a freshly stitched incision stretches several inches, the skin around it mottled purple and green. That's where they took the kidney.

"What the... who did this..." Marcus drops to his knees, staring at those marks. His whole body is shaking.

It was you. I crouch in front of him and whisper. You sent me to that place and told them to "take care" of me.

But he can't hear me.

The doctor pulls a CT scan from his folder.

"Mr. Sterling, this is what actually killed her." The doctor points at the scan. "Brain tumor. Late stage. The mass was pressing on her brainstem. She could've died any second. Given her condition, forget surgery. She could barely get through a normal day..."

"Putting her through organ transplant surgery like this... it was suicide."

Marcus's mind goes blank.

Her face, deathly pale when she came home from the hospital that day. The way she kept pressing her temples while he called her a faker. How she panicked trying to hide the tissues when her nose bled. What she said before surgery: "If I die on that table, don't cry..."

That wasn't a threat.

That was goodbye.

"God—"

Marcus suddenly doubles over, dry heaving.

"I did this... I killed her..." He's on his knees, hands gripping his hair, making this animal sound. "Fuck—!"

I watch him fall apart. I feel nothing but this terrible calm.

Marcus, your tears are way too late.

---

I don't know how long it takes before Marcus finally staggers out of the hospital.

When he gets back to the house and pushes open the door, there's cheerful laughter coming from the living room.

Marcus stands in the entryway. His clothes still smell like disinfectant. Dried tear tracks on his face.

Kaley spots him first. Her voice immediately goes soft. "Marcus, oh my God. What happened? You look terrible..."

My parents look up. They both freeze when they see him.

"What's going on?" Dad frowns.

Marcus opens his mouth. His voice comes out hoarse. "She's dead."

The living room goes quiet for two seconds.

"Who?" Mom doesn't get it yet.

"Evelyn." Marcus says it slowly. "Your daughter. My wife."

The air feels frozen.

Mom stares for a few seconds, then actually laughs. "What? How does donating a kidney kill someone?"

Marcus pulls two documents from his briefcase and throws them on the coffee table.

A death certificate. And a diagnosis report for late-stage brain cancer.

My parents lean in to look. As they read, Dad's face drains of color. Mom's hands start shaking as she clutches the report.

"No. This can't... how is this..." Mom collapses onto the sofa, then suddenly starts crying.

But even as she cries, she's angry. "Why didn't she say anything? Why hide this from us? Was she trying to make us feel guilty? Is that what this is?"

Dad covers his face. His voice is full of rage. "Right! She has something this serious and doesn't tell anyone. What, she's blaming us now?"

Mom cries harder. "It's not like we treated her that badly! We gave her everything she needed. Why wouldn't she trust us? If she'd just told us, we never would've... now she's dead and what are we supposed to do?"

I'm floating above the living room, listening to them. It's almost funny.

See? Even with me dead, their first instinct is to blame me.

Blame me for not telling them. Blame me for hiding it. Blame me for making them look bad.

Marcus listens to my parents' accusations. Something in his eyes just... goes out. He turns and heads for the door.

"Wait!" Kaley suddenly stands up and chases after him, grabbing his arm at the doorway.

Her eyes are red. Her voice is soft. "I know you're upset. This is... I'm sad too. But she's gone. You should stay tonight. Let me be here for you."

Marcus pulls his arm away, his face blank. "No. I need to be with her."

Kaley's soft expression cracks for a second. "Be with her? Marcus, she's gone. What's the point?"

She steps closer to him. Her voice gets more urgent. "You've been there for me through everything. And now... now that she's not here anymore, we could... I mean, you feel it too, right?"