Goodbye, Mr. Regret

He asked which hospital Henry was in. For Timothy, this was a good sign-it meant Jessica was worried about their son.

He immediately texted Vince, letting him know he was on his way to Riverside Hospital. He didn't have any more details yet.

Vince snapped his phone shut, stood up, and took Jessica's hand. "Come on. Let's go to the hospital."

Mrs. Zimmerman called after them, "Drive safe, you two. Don't go too fast."

When they arrived, Timothy and Mabel were already waiting outside the emergency room.

As soon as Mabel spotted Jessica, she rushed over. "Ma'am!"

Mabel was clearly anxious. As angry as Henry's behavior had made her, he was still Jessica's son-a part of her, no matter what. Even if Jessica had given up custody in the divorce, there was no way she'd want anything bad to happen to her child.

"What happened to Henry? How did he suddenly lose consciousness?"

"I don't really know," Mabel said, wringing her hands. "We were just having dinner and he fainted out of nowhere. It scared me half to death."

Jessica frowned. "Has he seemed off lately? Anything unusual?"

"A few days ago, Miss Sallie took him home, and he's been staying at the Lawson place ever since. Mr. Lawson only brought him back today. He seemed fine."

But Jessica couldn't shake a sense of unease.

Vince tried to reassure her. "Don't worry. He's always been a healthy kid. He'll be alright."

Timothy, seeing Jessica desperate for answers, pulled out his phone and called Naylor Lawson.

"Dad, has Henry seemed unwell at all while he's been at your place these past few days?"

"No, nothing. He's been perfectly fine, just like always."

It was all so sudden, Timothy had no idea what to make of it.

"Why are you asking all of a sudden?"

"He fainted at dinner."

"What? How could that happen? Which hospital? I'll come right away."

Normally, Henry didn't give Naylor much cause for concern, but he was still his grandson of course he worried.

"He's in the emergency room now. There's nothing you can do right now, and too many people will just make it chaotic. I'll call you when he's out."

With that, Timothy hung up.

Everyone in the family cared deeply about Henry. If they all rushed over, it would only be a scene of panic and confusion.

Timothy walked over to Jessica. "I just called home. He's been fine these past few days-nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe it's nothing serious, don't worry."

But Jessica couldn't hold back anymore. Her voice trembled with anger. "You've only been looking after him for such a short time, and he collapses? Tell me, how were you taking care of him?"

"I-" Timothy faltered. The truth was,

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he hadn't spent much time looking after Henry. Since Jessica left, only been dropping him off and picking him up from school, sometimes sending him to the Lawson house, or leaving him in Sallie's care.

"I'm sorry. I didn't take good enough care of him."

The truth was, taking care of their son wasn't something he was good at-not like Jessica was. Their home really couldn't function without her.

Jessica didn't want to argue with Timothy anymore. She'd always been the one to take care of these things; he'd always been too busy with work.

For Timothy, though, guilt weighed heavily on him now.

Before, when everything ran smoothly, he hadn't noticed anything amiss. Only now, when something had gone wrong, did he realize Jessica was the heart of their family-irreplaceable.

Over an hour later, the doors to the emergency room finally opened.

Timothy hurried over to the doctor. "How's my son?"

"He lost consciousness due to aplastic anemia. We were able to stabilize him in time, but he's receiving a transfusion of red blood cells and platelets now. However, to fully cure this, he'll eventually need a bone marrow transplant."

Jessica's voice shook as she tried to keep it together. "My son has always had regular checkups-his last was only four months ago. There was nothing like this on his records. How could he suddenly develop aplastic anemia?"