That question was testing human nature. Momentarily, I was at a loss for words. As I looked at my phone, I started to feel ill at ease.
Valerie grabbed hold of my wrist. Dejected, she looked at me and said, "Oh Arianna, We can never do that. Anne is indeed adorable and the apple of our eyes. Be that as it may, we cannot put our family’s reputation at stake. Your father and I are in our twilight years. Thus, this does not bother us. However, the same can't be said of Hendrix and you. Both of you are soon-to-be parents. Life is still a long journey. You may think you can just shrug this issue off, but you have to think of the consequences that may befall your unborn child. We can’t help it if it's Anne's fate to perish from her disease... But you must never be impulsive."
I understood what Valerie meant. I knew what I should do after weighing the pros and cons of the issues... However, I was only human. To me, it did not matter if Anne was my biological child or not. After all, she was a daughter to me.
I looked at Valerie and sighed, "Mom, Anne is my daughter. No mother would ever give up on their child. If the bone marrow and kidney are procured not by heinous means, why shouldn't we give it a
try for the sake of Anne?"
She looked at me incredulously. "Are you crazy? How could human organs sold in the black market not be procured that way?!"
I knew my words would fall on deaf ears. If the organs came from someone who had passed on due to accidents and if his or her organs could give people a new lease of life, why couldn’t we pay the deceased's next-of-kin in exchange for the organs? Though this may come across as inhuman, the deceased would eventually be cremated anyway. Hence, why not extract the organs so that other patients could get another shot at life?
"Mom, let's not overthink," I said. "Stay here and keep Anne company. I'll look for dad. Let me clarify with him before we decide on our next steps..." I guess it was too soon to jump the gun.
Valerie looked at me and reminded me, "Anyway, remember to put the Moore and the Roberts families above everything else. Don't ruin your future. Do you understand?"
I nodded and replied, "Yes, I do."
As I left the hospital, I called Hendrix. However, the call did not connect. I tried calling Pedro but to no avail, and I felt very distressed.
I was annoyed to find Sebastian calling me at this moment. I answered the call and said irritably, "What is it?!"
He laughed and said, "Whoa, somebody is flying off the handle. It seems that something big must have happened. Why don't you come and meet me? Perhaps I could cheer you up."
"I'll hang up if there's nothing important," I said. I did not want to waste my time talking to this lunatic.
He sighed and said, "Wait a second. I got wind of Pedro hurrying to Asherton. I reckoned that Josiah's bone marrow isn't a match, huh? So your dad is planning to head over to Asherton to look for..."
My suppressed anger shot through the roof. I exclaimed, "Sebastian, you lunatic. What are you trying to do?"
"I’ve told you..." he said matter-of-factly. "I can help you to get what you want so that your child does not have to put up with the pain from chemotherapy. Just calm down. I have solutions to your problem. What do you think? Shall we meet up?"
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