1

  Ding!

“Come to the hospital to donate blood to my mother as soon  as possible!”

The message was from a number saved as my heartbeat.

    

Upon seeing the sender of the message Eric Ferguson smiled.However,the expression on his face changed as quickly as it came.

When Eric Ferguson saw this message, he sighed depressingly.

The message was from his wife,Nicole Shawn.

 It was a rare thing for Eric to get a message from her.But,anytime he does ,it was only to order him to donate blood to her mother.

He thought today was different from the rest of the gloomy days and she texted because she wanted to go on a date with him.However,that was far from the truth.

Ding!

Another message popped up.

 “Don’t  delay any longer because my mother’s life would be in danger.”

The message was accompanied by pictures of a woman in her fifties in the hospital with oxygen masks on her.

Eric saw this message and was moved.But he didn’t make any attempt to leave right away.

Ding!

“I’ll pay you the money as soon as I get my cut from the company.Why are you being such avaricious money lover?”

The sender was almost running out of patience and the tone of the message changed from pleading to ordering .

Eric Ferguson and Nicole Shawn had been married for two years already.Eric loved his wife very much and was willing to do anything to see a smile on her face.

Include sacrificing himself for her.

But Nicole Shawn didn’t share the same notion.

She only married him for his rare blood type.

Since he was willing to do anything for her,she might as well use his rare blood type to heal her sick mother.

Eric Ferguson was reluctant to leave since he had just resumed work at a Fried Chicken restaurant.

He had spent the last few weeks under his wife’s care after he couldn’t get a job no matter how much he tried.

Just last night he got a call from a Fried Chicken restaurant asking him to resume work the next day.If he leaves now,they might fire him.

Eric Ferguson was in a dilemma.

Ring!

The sound of his phone ringing jerked him out of his thoughts.

Eric smiled at the display name and quickly picked it  up.

 “How dare you ignore my messages like that? Didn’t you hear that my mother is in bad shape? Come to the hospital right away!”

Nicole yelled.

“ Why did you take so long to answer my calls? What’s wrong with you,Eric Ferguson?!”

Her tone was filled with anger and impatience.

Eric Ferguson was lost in his thoughts and didn’t hear his phone ringing for that long.

In the past,Eric would always wet himself trying to pick up her calls whenever she bothered to call him.

It’s strange that he took longer to answer.

Eric listened and didn’t say a word.

“ The doctor said my mom’s blood pressure is going down and she needs a blood transfusion as soon as possible.Come to the hospital right away!”

“You’re not saying a word,Eric Ferguson! If it’s about money,I’ll make sure to give you enough if I get my hands on it.Should I count on you to show up?”

Nicole Shawn drastically changed the tone of her voice ,and asked gently.

Eric thought for a second.

“Nicole,I just got a new job and today’s my first day at work,it’s not right for me to leave in the middle of my shift.I’ll come  to the hospital after work hours” 

“What? You can’t do that!” Nicole flared up.

“My mother can’t wait for long.You know how fragile my mother is,right? Come right away” Nicole ordered arrogantly.

 “Don’t make me laugh.What job are you even talking about? You’re just a delivery man in a fried chicken restaurant”

“I’ll take a leave for half a day and go to the hospital.Wait for me”

 Eric Ferguson closed his eyes, said,sighed and ended the conversation.

Eric Ferguson was a married man whose dishonor is known throughout the city for being his wife’s lapdog.

He lived with his wife’s family,the Shawns and was treated like a slave during his two years of marriage to Nicole Shawn.

In the last two years,Eric was treated like trash and the sent respected.

 Eric Ferguson worked like a slave in the Shawn’s family house doing the dishes,cooking , laundry and doing all such things around the house while his wife sits around placing orders.

Even though he does everything nobody truly believes he worked so hard.

At the end of the day ,Eric Ferguson ends up losing every job that he places his hands on because his wife,Nicole would ask him to show up to donate blood to her mother as soon as he resumed work.

Even though he worked so hard, his salary from his menial job had to be handed over to Nicole as soon as he got back home.

    

 Eric worked tirelessly without complaining.

Despite all the sacrifices,Eric never got a chance to get close to Nicole.

 His sight disgusts Nicole.

Eric Ferguson was getting tired of living like trash. 

However, he thought that doing all that would allow him to prove his worth to his wife and convince her to stay with him until they grew old, but what he received in exchange was a big blow on his dignity!

 •••••

“What are you doing standing there,you lazy bum? You have a lot of customers to deliver fried chicken to.Hurry up and don’t waste time!”

Eric turned around to his new boss yelling from behind as she arranged the fried chicken meant for delivery.

It was only then that Eric realized he’s been staring at his phone for too long .

Today was his first day of work and he’s already losing out.

 “ Did you not hear what I said? The customer is waiting at the City Centre Hospital!”

Hearing that, Eric turned around and asked,“ City Hospital?”

 “Yes,come on,move it”

 Eric picked up the fried chicken packets and ran out of the restaurant,boarding a taxi.

   •••••

Eric Ferguson rushed into the hospital forty minutes later,sweating like a Christmas goat.

He was almost out of breath by the time he was standing in front of the ward.

Eric was thirty minutes late to the hospital due to the heavy traffic on the way.

Immediately he arrived at the entrance to the ward,his eyes fell on his wife,Nicole Shawn,standing in front of him with her hands encircling her breasts.

Eric rushed to Nicole with a solemn look.

He wanted to explain.However,Nicole caught him off balance and asked with a tone of disgust.

 “Why did you take so long to get to the hospital,Eric Ferguson? Didn’t I say that my mother was in danger?”

“What have you been up to?”

Nicole yelled loudly.

Eric Ferguson couldn’t say anything,stood there and watched as Nicole vent her anger.

“What are you waiting for? Hurry up,go donate blood to my mother immediately!”

Nicole finally lowered her voice noticing that she was the center of attention for others.

  Eric hurried into his mother-in-law’s room only to be met with her ferocious gaze.

 She was lying on the bed with her eyes fixed on the door.When she saw Eric enter the room she sat up.

 “How dare you come so late? What do you think of yourself? You’re just a piece of trash with a few good blood droplets.Don’t think too highly of yourself at all.If not for my daughter,you’ll be living  on the street like the homeless junk that you are!”

"Is it that hard to donate a few blood droplets ,Eric Ferguson? You're useless! Can't you do anything right? Why should we let you stay with us when a dog would've done better than you?"

The harsh words came from Eric’s mother-in-law, Sophia Shawn. She pointed a finger at his face while she chastised him without a care in the world .

Eric  looked up, and his eyes were bloodshot due to anger.

"Sophia Shawn!" Eric Ferguson gritted his teeth and suppressed the voice in his throat.

"Don't call me by my first name. You're not worthy to  address me like that! You don’t raise your voice at me anymore"

Sophia had an expression of disgust and contempt.

“You are not even worthy of standing next to me.What can you do? You don’t even earn enough to support the family,how dare you think too highly of yourself?!”

Eric Ferguson remained silent and refrained from

talking back.

Sophia was surprised Eric stood up for himself.He never dared raise his eyebrows at her in the last two years and he spoke up for himself in front of her without fear.

Two years ago, Eric saved Nicole Shawn from a mafia don,who was going to molest her and got himself in trouble instead.

While working as a waiter at a bar ,he saw drunk Nicole being dragged into the room by a Mafia don.

Without thinking about himself,he decided to save her.He was almost killed.

He was hit over the head,lost a lot of blood and lost consciousness.Nicole rushed him to the hospital and learned about his rare blood group.

When she thought of the benefits of having a blood bank as a husband.She decided to marry him,while Eric was in love with her.

However,the love was one sided.

Eric Ferguson was unhappy, “ It’s not my fault! You and your daughter forced me to live like this! Never forget that I was a top student at my college,I ended up  like this because of you and Nicole.”  

 “Wow! Tell me about it! It’s not my fault that you chose love over all things.You’ll stay here and only do as I say! You chose this life,don’t you dare complain about this in the future!”

Sophia snapped her fingers off at Eric’s face and smirked.

Eric Ferguson was a top student at the Kingston College of business and graduated with the best result.However,he couldn’t put his degree to a good use since the Shawn family stopped him from doing so.

After getting married to Nicole,he was forced to do the house chores and work menial  jobs to make some money.At the end of the day,the money was spent on Nicole and her mother alone.

Forcing Eric to live like a pauper.

They were afraid that he would stop donating blood if he found a good job and earned a lot of money.

Nicole heard them arguing from the door and rushed into the room.She scowled at Eric.

“ Mom’s in a terrible state and you are yelling at her? If anything happens to mom,I’ll skin you alive”

“Do you know what? Mom is right,your only job is saving mom by simply donating enough blood for her transfusion.You don’t add anything else to our family,why should you act so high and mighty?”

 “Don’t forget your place ,Eric Ferguson!” Nicole snapped.

Eric Ferguson was defeated and didn’t dare say anything more.

Nicole was right,he was just a poor guy with nothing to his name.

  •••••••

Eric Ferguson came out of the cure room after an hour of intensive transfusion.

His face was pale and he looked dehydrated but he held a cup of juice in his hand as he walked out of the cure room.

However ,when Eric looked ahead,he saw his wife standing up close with a strange man with a wide smile on her face

 Eric didn’t know what they talked about that caused Nicole to laugh so much but he was sad.

  

This is the first time Eric saw Nicole smiled like that.

He ever saw a smile or warmth in her eyes when she talks to him and now she was laughing hysterically at another man.

Eric was overwhelmed with jealousy and walked towards them with his fingers clenched.

Standing face to face with the strange man,Eric asked,“ Who are you? How dare you touch my wife like that?”

Eric held his collars and demanded.