Chapter 3

3.

I followed Ashford to the hospital. My transparent body passed through the walls. I hovered by the door.

Whitney lay in the bed. Her face was paper-white.

She saw him walk in. Her hand lifted, fragile.

"Ash…"

Tears fell from his eyes instantly. He threw himself to the bedside and gripped her hand.

"Whit, don't be scared. I will save you."

I floated near the ceiling, watching. The heat from the ICU vents passed right through me. I felt nothing.

Last time he demanded my kidney, it was the same scene. Whitney in the bed, playing fragile. Him drowning in pity. I was in the next room, my body screaming from the surgery. He didn't even glance at my door.

Love and its absence. Impossible to hide.

"Ash, about the kidney…"

Whitney's voice was soft. Her eyes were full of expectation.

His face twitched. His gaze slid away.

"I… I haven't found her yet."

She understood immediately. She gave a bitter little smile and arranged her face into something generous.

"Maybe we should stop. She hates me for taking you away. I understand why she wouldn't want to save me. This life with you has been enough. I just hope we find each other sooner in the next one."

Ashford shattered at her words. He gripped the sheets.

"I won't let you die. I'll tear apart all of Manhattan. I will find her. And if I can't, I'll find someone else."

He wiped his face. He walked out without looking back.

I followed him out of the hospital. He drove straight to the children's hospital. The one where Luna spent her life.

He stormed into the inpatient wing. He shoved his phone at the front desk nurse. An old photo of Luna. He forced his voice calm.

"My daughter. Luna Lynch. What room is she in?"

The nurse checked the computer. Her face changed.

"Sir… Luna Lynch… she passed away three years ago."

"Don't waste my time. Take me to her."

He slammed the desk. The nurse jumped back.

"Sir, the child did pass away three years ago. Her medical records state…"

"Bullshit."

That word was a trigger. Ashford exploded. He swept a rack of patient files off the counter. They crashed to the floor.

"You're all in on it with Ivy Shaw. She's alive. Last time she…"

His voice died. He couldn't pinpoint when "last time" was.

Security rushed in. They grabbed him. Dragged him toward the door.

Ashford struggled, wild, screaming.

"Liars. All of you. Give me my daughter. I need her to make Ivy Shaw give up her kidney."

They threw him out the front doors. He landed on the steps, a mess.

I floated behind him. His carefully styled hair was a wreck. His custom suit was covered in grime.

The irony was suffocating. He had no idea his wife was dead. He didn't even care that his own child was gone.

There was only one person in his world. Whitney.

He cursed under his breath. Then an idea hit him. He grabbed his phone.

"O'Brien. I'm suing NewYork-Presbyterian. They're colluding with Ivy Shaw."

The voice on the other end tried to soothe him. Ashford just got louder.

"I'm not crazy. My daughter is alive. Ivy paid off the hospital."

I floated in front of him. His eyes were bloodshot.

The tragedy of it was almost funny. He still didn't know that the "little thing" he kept cursing was his own flesh and blood.

He hung up. He wobbled to his feet. His mouth kept moving.

"It's fine. I have other options. Whitney needs the kidney. Ivy will show herself."

A smile cracked his face. Wrong. Unhinged.

"Yes. She cares so much about that kid. I'll just use the kid as leverage."

I watched his unraveling. And I understood.

In his eyes, me and Luna would never matter. Not compared to Whitney. Not ever.