She Took My Rib for Her First Love

At the party before the wedding, Ursula Henson's childhood friend shoved me down the staircase.

Several ribs snapped on the spot, and one of them nearly pierced through my chest.

Ursula went pale with panic, calling in the best medical team that very night to save me.

I thought she was afraid of losing me.

But inside the operating room, I heard her calmly instruct the doctor:

“Make sure you keep him alive. Aaron Joyce's concert is only days away, and it absolutely cannot be dragged down by something this ugly.”

“And take out his fifth rib for me. Aaron's new guitar still needs a set of bone picks.”

The doctor's eyes went wide with disbelief.

“But that's the rib closest to the heart. If it's gone, he'll be living with all kinds of complications for the rest of his life.”

“Thomas Harding probably won't be able to work as a captain anymore, either. He clawed his way up to that position. Are you certain?”

Ursula let out a soft laugh.

“His career, worthy of comparison to Aaron's dream? Aaron said it himself: because it's the rib closest to the heart, the pick made from it has more soul, and the music will sound all the more beautiful.”

“I promised him I'd make his first concert absolutely perfect. Enough talk. Worst case, I'll support Thomas for the rest of his life.”

I closed my eyes in grief, tears sliding from their corners.

So it turned out that in her heart, I would never matter as much as Aaron.

Then there was no reason left to go through with this marriage.

……

“Ms. Henson, if we implant a titanium rib, not only will it never fuse with the body, but every time the weather turns cloudy or rainy, Mr. Harding will suffer unbearable chest pain. If the frame shifts from an impact, it could well tear through the pleura, and he'd be facing the danger of open-chest surgery.”

“Honestly, the ribs of cattle or sheep can be used to make bone picks too. If nothing else works, there are plenty of body donors who could……”

Ursula cut the doctor off impatiently:

“No. Aaron thinks cattle and sheep ribs aren't smooth enough, no soul to them, the sound they make can't stir the audience's souls.”

“He has to be at rehearsal for the sound check by daybreak, and I'm making the pick for him myself. I don't have the spare time to go looking for another source.”

“Besides, I'm about to marry Thomas. He'll be living in comfort at home from now on, so what danger could there be? If it hurts, he can just bear with it. It's not going to rain every single day, after all.”

The doctor glanced at the blood on my body, saw my fingertips trembling faintly.

Knowing I could hear, and unable to bear it, he pressed on:

“But a guitar pick is so thin. We only need to take a small piece of bone. At least that way, Mr. Harding's rib cage would stay structurally whole, his breathing would be almost entirely unharmed, and he might even keep his job.”

“Why do you insist on taking the whole rib?”

Ursula scoffed:

“How long does a single pick even last? What if it breaks or gets lost? Aaron fought hard to get where he is today. His concert can't afford a single slip, so of course I'm going to prepare a few extras for him.”

“As for Thomas……after the wedding I'll hire a few more caretakers to look after him. He ought to be satisfied with that. Enough talk, get on with it!”

The anesthesia kept me from opening my eyes, and even more from speaking.

All I had was a heart as cold as the operating table.

I badly wanted to ask her: and the eight years I ground through to become a captain, was that easy?

When I woke, it was already the next day.

Faint morning light spilled in outside.

The bedside was empty.

I picked up my phone and saw that Aaron had posted to his Instagram feed an hour earlier.

It was a shot of Ursula sitting in his instrument room, her profile turned as she polished a guitar pick for him.

The caption read:

【So grateful that in every important moment of my life, you've been there, lifting me up.】

My rib had become a prop for them to flaunt their love.

“Thomas, you're awake?”

The door pushed open, and Ursula walked in, taking my hand, her eyes full of concern.