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" Where is she? " - Those were the first words spoken by Roux Addington as he stopped before the receptionist at the lobby. By now, the employees at the hospital couldn't care less about his outlook. It was something they had grown accustomed to. His appearance after being phoned about another of his wife's near death attack always had something to say through his outlook.
He had probably rushed all the way from his company to the hospital to be there- to make sure she was still breathing despite her failing heart. It was either his band had snapped off his curls, or his clothes were disheveled- something was always there to give off his love and concern regarding his childhood love.
" Top floor. PR 6 " the receptionist handed the man a key card and he snatched it from her hand before he took off again. Everyone could see how worried Roux Addington was about his wife's health. Dark bags had begun forming underneath his eyes due to the stress. It was either a call from his company or a call from the hospital or a call from his children's school.
As soon as the elevator stopped, the doors opened and Roux dashed out- straight towards the door labelled with a number six. Once he found it, he barged into the room and instantly spotted a nurse standing beside his wife's bed- holding a medical clipboard. His eyes darted to his wife's conscious form, and he rushed towards her immediately.
The woman was breathing with the assistance of the oxygen mask placed around her nose. Her eyes glinted as they spotted her husband, and her hand immediately reached out to him, craving his touch.
Roux took a sit on the bed besides his pale wife and took her hands in his before placing a kiss on both of them without taking his eyes off her, like he feared she would disappear.
" How many? "
The nurse, already knowing what he meant had answered - " three valves "
Roux had let out a cuss in a low voice and Thea hearing it had glared at him- silently reprimanding him for his choice of words, but Roux couldn't care less. Thea was suffering from a heart valve disease, and she needed a transplant as soon as possible, but unfortunately, there hadn't been any donors even with her being at the top of the list.
Kidney, liver, and blood donors were one thing, but hearts were another. The heart was like the most important thing giving life and Thea was slowly losing hers with just one working valve in her heart opening and closing properly. Roux was surprised Thea was still alive considering the majority of the blood flow through her heart to her body had been disrupted.
" Excuse us Cassy, thank you " Thea said to her with a charming smile after she had taken off her oxygen mask. The girl had surely been a beauty- even with her sickness and paling skin tone, she still looked beautiful.
The couple's eyes followed the kind nurse like that of a hawk as she exited the room with a wink before they fully focused on each other.
" What do you want me to do now? " Roux asked his wife teasingly and she shook her head with a warm smile. He knew her too well. To the rest of the world, the twenty-six-year-old billionaire would be seen as cold, but to his wife and his children- he was undoubtedly what they wanted in a husband and a father.
" What makes you conclude that I want something from you? " She narrowed her eyes at him. Her eyes had lost their usual glow and her voice had become smaller- reminding Roux that the woman before him was weak. Teasing him that with all the billions stocked up in his account, he still hadn't been able to find a heart for his wife.
Donors were not completely out of the list, but the doctors had advised that Thea settled for a Transcatheter aortic valve replacement since they doubted her stability. She needed a catheter inserted into her leg or chest and guided to her heart as soon as possible, but Thea being Thea had decided to wait for a donor rather than go through surgery.
" Before you became my wife, you were my childhood friend, yes? " Roux quirked his brow at his wife in a questioning manner, and the frail woman let out a weak laugh. He knew she could laugh louder but in her current state, she needed to be as careful as possible before being transferred to Durham, North Carolina to wait for a donor the next day. There she would get better treatment and if in some months, she didn't get a donor, they would settle for surgery.
" I have a request " she shifted his hands closer as a sombre silence engulfed the air.
" Anything my love, and it will become a verity " Roux placed delicate kisses on the woman's thin fingers with an assumption that she had something materialistic to request for. He knew that despite his wife's kindness, sometimes she could be extremely avaricious.
" I met this girl who works at a coffee shop..." she started, leaving Roux confused about the inclination of their conversation.
" What about her? "
" I really like her, she's nice, and she's extremely humble, and I'm not sure if I'll make it- " Noticing where the conversation was heading, Roux jerked up from the bed with a frown. He couldn't believe what she was implying.
Girl? Did she want him to get married to a stranger because she believed she was going to die? Did she doubt his abilities to get the best doctors in the world to save her life? Did she not love him anymore? Different thoughts raced through his head.
" I don't know what's running through your head right now, but I'll take this minute to tell you that suggestion is completely ludicrous, " he seethed and begun pacing the room in anxiety.
Thea, on the other hand, smiled at her husband's behavior. She didn't expect a different reaction from him to even begin with.
Noticing the smile on his wife's face, Roux had asked- " what are you smiling about? "
Shaking her head at how childish he looked, Thea stretched her weak hand towards him, and he grumbled stubbornly, " Can you at least come sit with me, so I could finish what I was saying? "
Roux glared at the wall before him before mumbling the words- " I don't want to talk " making Thea shake her head at his childish antics.
" Fine, then I won't eat also " she grumbled and folded her thin arms. She wanted to prove to him that she could also be stubborn too, and it worked when he had sat back down on the bed and continued his glaring at the wall.
Begrudgingly, Roux had mumbled out his next words- " Continue with what you were saying "
" Hmm...as I was saying, she's extremely kind and, and I know she is going to be the perfect match for you. I want you to get married to her once I leave because I know I won't make it out alive. You don't need to do anything you don't want to, she would just stay and look after you and our kids as a mother would "
Thea could see the hurt flash in Roux's eyes, and it didn't help to reduce the pang she felt in her heart. Uttering those words alone had hurt her even more than they had hurt him. She knew she wasn't going to make it, and she wanted a woman like Raina McCoy by his side when she's gone. For him and for their children.
She had seen the girl give out food and money to the homeless people, expecting nothing from them in return. She had seen the girl give away her coat during a rainy day to an old woman. She had seen where the girl lived. She had seen where the girl worked. She had approached the girl and spoken to her even. She knew the girl was struggling to survive, but she always carried a smile on her face.
A smile is the biggest mask for pain.
The girl had been through a lot- she didn't know what. She didn't know the girl that much. All she knew was that Raina McCoy was going to be a great mother to her children and wife to her husband when she died.
And she felt at peace knowing that at least.
" Trust me on this one, If not for me, do it for Ethan and Emma " Roux hated that she had dragged their five-year-old twins into this discussion. He hated how his wife had lost hope in her possible survival. He hated how, for the first time ever- Roux Addington couldn't do anything to save the day.
" You will survive, Thea " he stated, but rather than assuring her, he was assuring himself. He was now saying it to believe it because she didn't anymore. He was believing for both of them, but even he had started losing hope also- he preferred not to believe that he would lose her. He couldn't accept the facts laid down before him. She might not even make it alive to Durham.
" I won't, trust me. Do it for me- take it as my dying wish, " Thea said with a fake giggle, earning a glare from her husband. He didn't find anything funny in the situation but leave it to his sick wife to make a joke even in the saddest moments.
" I don't want to- I can't "
" Then do it for our kids " she smiled at him, and he stared back at her with hurt. Her failing heart was breaking even more as she saw the amount of hurt he had held in his eyes.
" Don't hold your tears in, you will drown your heart. Come on " Thea spread her arms out and Roux gladly hugged the woman's frail body. The only emotion the couple were feeling was pain- both their pain had wrung together like vines.
In as much as it would hurt them both to make such a decision, they had to put their children first. The kids were so innocent, and Thea did not want to give them the opportunity to even miss their mother for a minute. That was the only reason Raina McCoy had agreed to consider it in the first place. She knew what it felt like to grow up without a mother.
" I would promise to do as you have asked, my love. But don't ever expect me to love another woman. My heart belongs to you- forever "