My Ex-Fiance The Detective Who Arrested Me Chapter 06
I stared at Clara. None of it maade sense.
“That’s the patient from Bed Fifteen…”
“He wasn’t even that bad. He was talking to my mom
just last night.”
“The evening nurse asked if he wanted to sign an
organ donation form. He said no at first, but he thought signing it would bring him good karma. Like a bargain with God to spare his life.”
“And by this morning, he was dying. Clara, did you…”
I looked at his face, gray now, and waxy, and the tears
came before I could stop them.
Clara sighed.
“Hazel, after everything I’ve done for you, this is what you think of me?”
“He signed voluntarily. I’m just carrying out his
wishes. And yes, making a profit.”
“One man’s organs can save five lives. To those five people, I’m their savior.”
I cut her off.
“You killed him, Clara!”
“He was alive. You murdered him. That’s not medicine.
That’s a crime!”
Clara held up her hands, palms out, looking wounded and innocent.
“But they chose this.”
“He was sick. He couldn’t afford treatment. I offered to
help. Said I’d cover his medication. He was grateful.”
“I just didn’t mention the pills weren’t meant to cure him. They were meant to speed things along.”
“He would’ve died anyway once he stopped getting
treatment. It was just a matter of time. So tell me, what exactly did I do wrong?”
I shook my head. The woman standing in front of me was a stranger.
“Clara, you weren’t always like this…”
“Come with me. Turn yourself in. You can’t keep doing this.”
I grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the stairs.
Clara ripped her arm free.
“Keep doing this? Who the hell are you to judge me?”
“You have a mom. A boyfriend. You’ve never had to
worry about money or do work you hated just to survive.”
“I’m just trying to make something of myself. You don’t get to stand there and tell me I’m wrong.”
Clara’s eyes dropped to the switchblade in my hand. A
smile touched her mouth.
“How about I show you what it’s like, Hazel? To lose control. To have no say in what happens to you.”
“Let’s see how righteous you are when you’re the one backed into a corner.”
Before I could move, Clara grabbed my wrist.
And drove the blade into her own abdomen.
Blood spattered my face before I even understood what had happened.
Clara staggered back half a step, pulled out her phone,
and called Arthur, who had been waiting for her upstairs.
“Arthur, help me.”
“You came to see me about your mom’s treatment two days ago. Hazel found out and lost it. She thinks I’m
trying to steal you from her. She stabbed me, Arthur.
She stabbed me!”
“Clara! You’re insane!”
I scrambled for something to stop the bleeding,
grabbing gauze from the surgical tray to press against the wound.
Arthur burst through the door and shoved me back.
“Get away from her! Haven’t you done enough?!”
He scooped Clara up in his arms and ran toward his cruiser.
I ran after them to the hospital. I had to tell Arthur the truth.
I pushed the hospital room door open. Arthur had his
back to me, holding Clara’s hand, his thumb gently stroking her knuckles.
The way he looked at her, I’d never seen that kind of
tenderness from him before.
Clara caught my eye over his shoulder. A small smile
touched her lips. She held up her phone without a word.
On the screen was a photo of Clara with my mom,
taken during one of Clara’s rounds.
My mom was smiling, warm, trusting, completely unaware.
The message was clear.
If I said a word to Arthur, Clara would go after my mom.
A second later, Clara shoved the phone away and
shrank back against the pillows, her face folding into
perfect terror.
“Hazel, please! There’s nothing between Arthur and
me. I swear!”