My rented room was only five blocks from an organ donation center.

It was a distance that I was well acquainted with.

If I were quick enough, I could haul myself over quickly. My kidney would still be warm when it was transplanted into Rachelle’s body.

A piercing ache suddenly lanced through my tummy. It felt like a knife had punctured through it.

It hurt so much that I rolled off my bed and landed on the floor. My forehead was covered in sweat.

There were painkillers in my drawer, but I could not take them.

Most painkillers damaged the kidneys, and I could not give Rachelle a damaged kidney.

“Come on, Ryleigh. Just smile and bear it. It’ll be over soon.”

I bit the corner of my blanket and curled up into a ball in the dark.

The screen of my phone suddenly lit up with a notification.

Rachelle had posted a photo on social media.

It was a picture of her arm taken during dialysis. Her skin was marred with needle scars.

The caption read:

[Blood may be thicker than water, but it’s not stronger than some people’s ruthlessness. I don’t want to be an older sister again in my next life.]

Tears fell from my eyes. They streamed down my face and mixed with my snot.

‘I’m sorry, Rachelle. Let me be the older sister in our next lives,’ I thought.

By the third day in the underground room, I had lost track of whether it was day or night.

There were more and more bruises on my body. I looked like I had been beaten up.

I knew that the bruises were a sign that my platelets were not functioning.

I took out some foundation and layered it onto my arms. It took nearly the whole bottle of foundation to cover up the startling purple bruises.

There was a flurry of knocks at the door.

“I know you’re in there, Ryleigh! Open the door!” It was Dad’s voice. He sounded angry enough to kill.

My heart skipped a beat.

How had they found me here?

In a panic, I scrambled up from the floor. Since I moved so suddenly, my vision went dark for a few seconds.

I leaned against the wall and threw all the bloodied tissues in the trash and tied up the bag. Then, I patted more foundation and powder on my face.

Only when I managed to look a bit less pale and not like a walking corpse did I go to open the door.

I opened the door only a slit when a big, rough hand reached in and grabbed me by the collar.

Then, I felt a slap on my cheek.

I stumbled backward and bumped into the small table behind me.

Dad stood at the door. His expression was thunderous.

Jonah stood behind him with a face full of disappointment and distaste.

“You wretch! Rachelle’s in the emergency room at the hospital right now, but you’re hiding out here?” Dad scolded me with one finger pointed right at me. Spittle landed on my face.

I licked the blood at the corner of my lips and forced myself upright.

I could not collapse. I could not do that just yet.

“If you want me to stop hiding, then pay me.” I extended a hand out to Jonah. “I want 500 thousand dollars and nothing less. As long as you pay me, I’ll go to the hospital right now for the transplant.”

As he looked at my hand, Jonah slowly narrowed his eyes.

He had held my hand countless times, but he looked at it in disgust this time.

“When did you become this way, Ryleigh?” Jonah’s voice was hoarse and questioning. “Where’s the Ryleigh I knew? She would’ve gone hungry for two days just to save a stray cat.”

“People change, Jonah.” I scoffed. Then, I turned around so that I would not have to look at him anymore.

“Helping a stray cat doesn’t require surgery. We’re talking about a kidney here, Jonah. I want to get married and have kids. What if people don’t want me if I’m down a kidney? Is it so wrong that I’m asking for a little bit of compensation?”

Dad was so angry that he trembled. He raised his arm, looking ready to slap me again.

Jonah stopped him.

“Don’t hit her.” Jonah looked at me. His gaze was as cold as ice. “It would just be a waste of effort.”

Jonah took an envelope from his bag and flung it viciously in my face.

The edge of the envelope hit me in the eye. I felt a sting of pain.

“There’s 100 thousand dollars here. It’s the money I saved to get married. We’re done after this, Ryleigh. You’re not worthy of being Rachelle’s sister or of being my wife.”

The thick stack of money landed on the floor.

I leaned down and picked it up. I blew the dust off the banknotes.

“Only 100 thousand dollars? You’re really poor.” I pursed my lips in distaste. “Alright, I’ll take this money since we used to be together. But you can forget about me donating my kidney.”

“How dare you?!” Dad picked up a broom outside the door and lunged at me.

But I slammed the door closed and put the wooden door between me and his curses.

Outside, Dad was still kicking the door, but Jonah pulled him back.

“We should go! It’s pointless to beg someone like that. I’m determined to save Rachelle even if I have to sell my blood plasma or take a loan from a loan shark.”

Their footsteps receded.

I leaned into the door and slid down to the floor. The cement was cold under me as I finally dared to let out my cough.

I coughed up blood, and it stained the money in my hands.

This was money Jonah had worked hard for over three years to save so that we could have a nice wedding.

I carefully cleaned the blood from the money and shoved it all into a metal box under my pillow.

There was more than 40 thousand dollars in there that I had saved up myself.

It was all the money I had made in the past few years. I had saved and scrimped by going as far as to sell my own hair.

But it was far from enough.

‘I’m sorry, Rachelle. I can’t even make 500 thousand dollars that you desperately need,’ I thought.

I looked at my bloody hands and suddenly burst into laughter.

Jonah had been about me. I hoped that he would forget me after this.

He could marry Rachelle. She was much nicer than I and far gentler.

The most important thing was that Rachelle would soon have a healthy kidney.

As for myself, I would soon become a rotting corpse.

That night, after Jonah left, I got a high fever. My bones ached terribly.

I knew that I did not have much time left.

As long as I was clear-headed, I had to finish up what I had to do.

I used all my strength to pull an old backpack from under the bed. It held a form for organ donation. I had secretly gone to the Red Cross to get this a month ago.

When the staff there saw how young I was, she tried her best to get me to think things over.

But I only smiled and said, “I want to do a good thing. I could choke on water and die for all we know. If something like that happens, at least my organs won’t go to waste.”

I took out a pen and wrote my name down. My hands shook so much that the words were crooked.

In the field for the intended recipient, I carefully wrote Rachelle’s name.

I was terrified that I would spell her name wrong and my kidney would end up somewhere else.

Once I filled in the form, I carefully put it into a waterproof bag and hung it around my neck.

This was my lifeline. It was what I had to produce before I could go and meet my maker.

Once that was done, I took out my phone.

I wanted to leave my family something, but I knew that I currently looked frightening.

My face was bloodless, and my lips were dried and cracked. My gums were red and swollen.

Rachelle would surely be sad if she saw me like this.

She was always so smart and knew me well from when I was younger.

I dug through my drawers to find a particular red dress. It was a piece of clothing I had forced myself to buy. It cost 300 dollars.

When I brought it home, Dad had scolded me for being lavish. Although she did not say anything, I could see the reproach in Rachelle’s eyes.

I had bought that dress exactly for this day.

I put on some bold, daring makeup. I used the reddest lipstick and patted on a thick layer of foundation. I even put on a dramatic pair of sunglasses to hide my sunken eyes.

I put my phone against a cup of instant noodles and turned on the camera to record.

The woman on the screen was in an ostentatious red dress and smiling wickedly.

“Hey, old man, dowdy lady, and, um, Jonah…” I said. My voice was a little hoarse.

I quickly cleared my throat and acted like everything was fine.

“By the time you see this video, I’ll already be on the other side and living it up. Don’t cry. I’m a bad person, and I’ll be causing trouble down there for the devil. I was lying to you about that 500 thousand dollars. I’m not that greedy…”

At this point, I paused. I could feel something hot surging up my throat, wanting to get out. But I forced it down again.

I continued, “Dad, stop smoking so much. It’s bad for your lungs. Rachelle, don’t be too nice to your husband. You can’t give men too much leeway. Jonah…”

At the mention of his name, I felt like something was crushing my heart.

“Forget me, Jonah. I’ve had a bad run in this life. In the next life, if I don’t get sick, I will surely marry you.”

In the end, I could not hold back the tears anymore, and they flowed freely.

“It doesn’t hurt, really. Honestly, it doesn’t. I’m just feeling a little sleepy now, so I’ll take a nap.”

The second I hit the button to end the recording, I slumped onto the table. My tears messed up the makeup on my face.

I saved the video and fiddled with the settings for it to send at a set time.

I set it so that it would be sent after three days.

If I was dead by then, this video would be my final testament.

If I was still alive…

No, I would not make it until then.

I could feel my life ebbing from my body bit by bit.

My savings in the metal box and Jonah’s 100 thousand dollars totaled up to 143 thousand dollars.

I took out a piece of paper and wrote the number of Rachelle’s attending doctor on it.

I stuck the slip of paper to the back of my phone.

After doing all that, I went back to lie down on my bed and clutched the plush teddy Jonah had given me.

The teddy was very old, and some of its stuffing was coming out.

It was raggedy and barely worth anything, just like me.

However, my kidney had to be perfect.

I needed to make sure that it would be delivered into Rachelle’s body in pristine condition.

The final day came quicker than I imagined.

It was raining heavily that day and thunder rumbled loudly, shaking the underground room.

Lying in bed, I could hardly feel the pain anymore. My body was light and floaty, as if my soul was already half out of it.

My vision began to blur and go dark.

I knew that my time was up.

However, I could not die here. The room was too secluded, and the landlord only came once a month to collect the rent.

If I died here, my corpse would be rotting by the time someone found me. My kidney would be useless by then.

Rachelle was still at the hospital waiting for me to save her. I had to go to the hospital.

With the last of my strength, I rolled and fell out of bed.

I had lost sensation in my legs, so it was impossible for me to stand up. I could only crawl.

I was like a paralyzed dog. I used my arms to hold myself up from the floor and dragged myself slowly toward the door.

I had to travel five blocks.

It was usually a five-minute walk.

The journey was more like a marathon at this point.

I pushed open the door, and the storm instantly drenched my red dress.

The icy rain lashed my face and woke me up a little.

There were not many people on the street, and only the occasional passing car splashed up water from the road.

I crawled over a muddy pothole and over the coarse concrete. My arms were grazed, and my blood mixed with the rainwater.

However, I did not feel any pain at all.

I only had one thought in my mind: I had to keep moving forward, just a little bit more.

“Hey, is that a person?”

A couple sharing an umbrella was passing me by.

“Don’t be nosy. She’s probably drunk. Just look at her!”

“You’re right. She’s all dressed up. There must be something wrong with her.”

They walked faster and did not spare me a second glance.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. My throat was a mess of clotted blood.

But that was fine. I did not need anyone to help me. It only mattered that someone would see me and send me to the emergency room.

I saw the sign for the hospital through the rain. In the darkness, it shone like hope.

It was just a block away.

I dug my finger in the cracks of the pavement, and two of my nails fell out.

It was just half a block away.

My vision went completely dark. I could only rely on my instincts as I pulled myself forward.

‘Rachelle, I’m coming,’ I thought.

I had finally gotten myself to the automatic doors of the emergency room lobby.

The doors sensed my presence and opened. The warmth greeted me.

With the last of my strength, I pulled out the waterproof bag from around my neck and clutched it in my hand.

Then, I fell into darkness.

The second I collapsed, I heard the shrill scream of a nurse.

“Someone, help! A woman fainted at the door!”

“Goodness, that’s blood! Get a stretcher!”

Someone had found me.

‘I’ve won this round, Rachelle,’ I thought.