Heartless People

FIFTEEN

No state, no government exists. What does in fact exist is a man, or a few men,

in power over many men.

~ Rose Wilder Lane

LAUREN.

2:52 PM

This felt different.

Camila and I had a running joke that the hospital was her second home. Between the two of us, she was the one that always ended up there, first when
she was stabbed and lost our child, then after her car accident where her mother shot her. After that, there was her pregnancy with Ethan, which led to her
kidnapping. She also had issues with the births of Elisa and Lucas and now this. On her way to the hospital, she ended up in the hospital.

I would have laughed if she were beside me. I would have laughed and said she had the worst luck in history. But she wasn't with me, and for some reason, this time felt different from all those times. The more I thought about it, the further into a black hole I fell. My hearing seemed to be the first thing to go.

Everything was silent then my vision seemed to tunnel, no matter how hard I tried to focus. I was dying and that scared me because it meant she was dying.

Our kids are fucked.

Ethan would never smile again.

Lucas would just break down. He wouldn't make it.

Elisa ,my princess with us both gone, I couldn't even bring myself to imagine the person she'd become.

Why is it so hard for me to protect them? Why am I always failing her? I should die. A person who cannot protect her family doesn't deserve them—I should die.

"LAUREN!"

Glancing up, my blurred vision cleared enough to see the doors opening.

"Camz?" I whispered, but it wasn't her coming out. A doctor pulled off his scrub cap, exposing his red hair as he took a deep breath before his eyes locked
with mine. "My wife?"

"Shes stable."

I took a deep breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. Fighting back the tears, I nodded. "When can I see her—"

"Mrs. Jauregui, Im Doctor Fortmen. Your wife is stable, but she needs a heart. We have her in a medically induced coma right now and she is being
moved to the intensive care unit. Her condition is critical, but we managed to stop the bleeding. However, if she doesnt get a new heart in the next day or so—"

"Get her a fucking heart, then! Shes the goddamn governor!" I barked into his face. What was this? If she needed a heart, then give her heart. What the
fuck! Id rip mine out right then.

"Mrs. Jauregui, it can't be just any heart. Rejection is high in critical cases such as these, and on top of that, her blood type is the rarest in the world. It will
take time. She is at the very top of the list but—"

"But nothing." Fine, they needed a heart, I was going to get her a heart. "The person needs to be AB negative, what else?"

"Mrs. Jauregui, Im not sure what you are thinking—"

"WHAT ELSE!" I was tempted to kill him right there.

Stepping right in his face, making sure he saw me clearly, I asked simply, "Do you know who I am?"

"I know she is the governor, but—"

"I didn't ask if you knew who my wife was. I asked if you knew who I am. Me, Lauren Michelle Jauregui."