Brother-in-Law's Crisis, Wife's Drifting with Childhood Friend

My wife's brother Vito Reed fell from a height while installing an air conditioner and wanted to see my wife Vita Reed before he died.

I hurriedly called Vita, but it was her childhood friend Toby Lee who answered the phone.

"We are going to go rafting and will be back in two days. Don't be angry, Ron!"

"Vito is in the ICU. Come back soon!"

I shouted anxiously, but I heard Vita's angry scolding, "Vito is very healthy. Don't curse him!"

Before I could explain, he hung up the phone.

I called again, but the phone was turned off.

Seeing Vito die, I could only cry and apologize, "I'm sorry. I didn't get Vita back."

Three days later, Vita finally came back.

But she said I killed her brother.

***

I had just returned home from shopping for groceries when I received a call from the boss of the construction site.

"Vito fell from the eleventh floor while installing an air conditioner. He's now in the hospital. Come here quickly!"

Hearing that, I quickly put down the food in my hand and ran to the hospital.

During that period, I kept calling Vita, but no one answered.

Vito was Vita's younger brother. He just turned eighteen that year. After finishing the SAT, he was sent by Vita to a construction site to experience life.

At the time, I strongly opposed it. Vita was a backbone of the hospital and I had made some money from stock trading. There was no need for Vito to work to make a living.

But Vita was determined, and Vito didn't want to disappoint her who was his only family since childhood, so he agreed.

But I didn't expect something like that would happen!

When I arrived at the hospital, Vita still didn't answer the phone.

The doctor in charge of the treatment wore a mask and looked at me apologetically, "The patient is too seriously injured. Just go and see him for the last time."

The last time?

I was so frightened that I could be unsteady on my feet.

Vito was only eighteen years old. Before he went out that morning, he smiled and told me that he wanted to eat steak. Now...how did he become a dying man?

"Ron..."

Vito was wearing an oxygen mask, and his face was covered in blood and was completely different from his original lively face.

I burst into tears all of a sudden, holding his hand tightly and shaking my head.

"You can't die. You are our only family..."

"Ron, where's my sister?"

I cried and shook my head, not daring to tell him that his beloved sister had not answered my calls yet.

"Let me see my sister for the last time, okay?"

His voice was already quite weak, and I knew that might be the last time they would see each other.

I was totally panicked.

But I could only pretend to be calm and said, "I will definitely help you call your sister back."

After leaving the ward, I called Vita again.

Fortunately, the call finally went through.

"Ron Gray, what's up?"

It was Toby who answered the phone!

"I forgot to tell you that we are going to go rafting and will be back in two days. Don't be angry, Ron!"

His tone was smug, but I ignored it and yelled into the phone,

"Vito is in the ICU. Come back soon!"

I shouted anxiously, but I heard Vita's angry scolding, "Vito is very healthy. Don't curse him!"

On the other end of the phone, Vita was impatient and disgusted.

"Come back quickly. Vito is really dying..."

Before I could finish, he hung up the phone again.

I could clearly feel that Vito's breathing was gradually getting weaker on the hospital bed.

He was like a glass that would break if touched slightly.

I accompanied him from childhood to adulthood. Since he started middle school, I had been the one who picked him up and dropped him off every day.

Rather than saying he was my brother-in-law, he was more like my son.

That was his only wish before he died, and I must help him realize it!