Born As Kidney Donor For My Sister

Five years ago, after graduating from high school.

Elijah, Hallie, and I grew up together.

We attended elementary, middle, and high school together.

In our sophomore year, Elijah and Hallie became a couple.

Although I felt a pang of jealousy, I sincerely smiled and wished them well.

I had loved Elijah for nine years, but this secret was known to no one.

It was the first day of filling out college applications.

They had a heated argument about which university to apply to.

Late at night, I received a call from Elijah.

He was apparently drunk and said, “Hallie, fine, I’ll let you go to Boston. I’m going abroad.”

My heart felt pierced, and I said, “You’ve dialed the wrong number. This is Ashley.”

But he seemed not to hear me and continued drinking.

I asked anxiously, “Where are you?”

Eventually, I found the drunk Elijah at a bar.

It was raining that night, and with the help of a waitress, I managed to get him into a taxi.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

On the way back, the rain grew heavier, and visibility decreased.

In the nick of time, the driver’s brakes failed, and I opened the taxi door, pushing Elijah

out.

Then I fell into the river.

After being rescued, I was in a high fever and unconscious for a week.

When I woke up, the fever had left me deaf.

In the hospital room, I couldn’t hear my

mother’s cries, only seeing her tearful face.

She blamed Elijah, and I could roughly guess from her lip movements:

“Why did you call Ashie?”

“She’s only eighteen!”

“Now she can’t hear anymore…”

At that time, Elijah looked worn out and no longer radiated his usual cheerfulness.

He assured my mother that he wouldn’t abandon me.

Later, he enrolled in the same university as I did.

Mrs. Terry also arranged for me to get a cochlear implant.

Elijah took meticulous care of me, temporarily becoming my ears.

A few days after I woke up, Hallie came to the hospital.

With red, tear–filled eyes, she looked at Elijah and said she had enrolled at a university in Boston, asking if he wanted to join her.

Elijah said he wouldn’t abandon me.

After that, they lost touch.

I thought his promise to stay with me was genuine and that he was simply accompanying me.

It wasn’t until our sophomore year, when we were old enough, that he proposed.

And so, we got married.

There were no ceremonies or social media

announcements.

At that time, I believed his initiative to marry me was wholehearted.

I overlooked his reluctance.

Yet over these six years, Elijah has been incredibly kind to me.

If I hadn’t arrived early today, I would never have overheard his conversation with someone else.

I still don’t know who he was talking to, or why he spoke so maliciously about me.

Later, during dinner, I happened to see him chatting with Hallie.

It suddenly hit me–he had been on the phone with her earlier.