The Substitute Bride

"Charles, please hold on. How will I live without you? What will happen to the children? Wake up, please! See, if you wake up, we will stay together, I promise. Charles, can you hear me? Wake up, please," Sheryl shouted, tears rolling down in profusion over her cheeks.

The ambulance van arrived swiftly.

The doctors and nurses rolled Charles onto the stretcher. Sheryl got into the ambulance with them.

On the way to the hospital, the nurses hooked Charles up to an IV drip. The nurses tried their best to assure Sheryl that Charles was going to be fine. But Sheryl couldn't hear them at all. She held Charles' hands tightly and her eyes were fixed on his pale, blood splattered face.

She was afraid that if she took her eyes off him even once, Charles would be gone forever.

Up until the time that they arrived at the hospital, Sheryl held Charles' hands. She wouldn't move a step away from him. She kept pace as he was wheeled towards the emergency room, still holding his hand until she was finally stopped by the medical staff.

"Families can't go into the operating room. Please, wait outside." Sheryl followed the medical staff to the emergency room, clutching Charles' hand and not willing to let go. The doctor had to push Sheryl away. Every minute counted. The sooner Charles got the life-saving surgery, the better his chances at survival would be.

The emergency room's thick metal door closed in Sheryl's face. Still, she tried to look through the glass until he was wheeled completely out of her sight. Although it was just a door, Sheryl felt like Charles had gone a thousand miles away from her.

Waiting impatiently outside the ER, Sheryl looked very pale. She stared at the door, wondering when the operation would be over.

She couldn't leave because she didn't want Charles to not see her when he came out of surgery.

After what had felt like an eternity, the door finally flung open. But the red light was still on, which meant that the operation wasn't over yet.

"Doctor, what's wrong? How is Charles?" Sheryl walked to the doctor quickly, anxiously demanding answers.

The doctor took off his mask and explained, "The patient is bleeding excessively. We need a blood transfusion right now. But we can't give it to him because our blood bank doesn't have enough blood!"

'The hospital doesn't have enough blood!'

The doctor's words left Sheryl dumbfounded. But she reacted quickly. She rolled up her sleeves and said, "Doctor, I'm blood type O. I'm a universal donor. Draw my blood. Save him."

The doctor looked at Sheryl's face and then nodded at the nurse who was standing next to him. He said, "Take her to the blood lab."

Sheryl felt even more anxious than the nurse. They quickened their pace to reach the blood lab, where they could collect the blood and process it.

As soon, as they had finished the procedure, Sheryl start

ow.

They silently waited outside of the emergency room, hoping that the operation would end quickly, and praying for Charles.

Later, Isla came to the hospital too. The first thing she noticed was Sheryl's pale and lifeless face.

"Sheryl, you scared me! What is wrong with you?" Isla cried aloud as soon as she saw Sheryl.

Isla's cry made Sheryl become alert.

Sheryl looked at Isla and then looked at Nick and Cassie. They were all so worried about her. And yet she ignored their concern and kindness, drowning herself in the sorrow and worry regarding something that might never happen. She felt guilty to ignore her friends like this.

"Sorry, Isla. I'm absolutely fine. I am just worried about Charles. I'm sorry that I made you guys worry so much about me." Sheryl's lips were pale too. Yet she managed to smile at her friends and tried to comfort them.

But her smile was awful. Everyone could tell from her smile that she was not okay.

"Stop it, Sher. That is the worst smile I have ever seen on your face!" Isla pulled Sheryl into her arms and patted her back. She wished to ease Sheryl's anxiety a little bit with this small gesture of kindness.

Sheryl had stopped crying many hours earlier. But as she found herself in Isla's arms, she burst into tears all over again. She buried her face and murmured, "What if something happens to him, Isla?"

Isla's heart wrenched to see Sheryl like this. She comforted her gently, "He is going to be fine, Sheryl! He's Charles, the CEO of the Shining Company. He is very tough and strong. I'm sure he can get through this!"

Right at that moment, the police arrived.

When Sheryl called the ambulance, she had called the police too. Her sixth sense told her that it wasn't just a simple hit-and-run accident and that she needed the help from the police to track down the driver.

"Are you the informant Sheryl?" The police cut straight to the point.