Over the last two months, they grew closer. There was no doubt that she had changed his life for the better. He squeezed her hand tightly as the doctor entered the room.
It was difficult to see her being so heartbroken. His heart felt heavy as he witnessed the tears rolling down her cheek. The doctor began speaking to the pair, and what she said caused his heart to shatter into a million pieces.
Love At First Sight
Chester and Mindy married each other at the age of 25 after dating for years. Mindy was the most popular girl in the school. She was the head cheerleader with a smile that melted Chester’s heart. She was perfect.
As high school ended, Chester left the small town to pursue higher education, whereas Mindy remained to become a caregiver. Chester came home over the holidays, and that’s when he learned that Mindy was his grandmother’s caretaker.
No Time To Waste
Mindy and Chester always had a special connection, even in high school. After spending years apart, seeing her again was like a breath of fresh air. Without the constraints of high school, the couple was finally able to explore their love for each other.
Chester asked Mindy out on a couple of dates, and the rest is history. The young couple had a destination wedding, and all seemed to be perfect. However, they soon learned that all that glitters is not gold.
A Difficult Situation
Chester and Mindy loved each other deeply but trouble-plagued their marriage. The moment Chester had to travel for work, things began falling apart.
One of his friends informed him that his wife was being unfaithful. He couldn’t believe that his wife would disregard her vows, so as soon as he got home, he confronted her. Things went downhill from there, and eventually, the couple got divorced.
A Worsening Situation
After the divorce, Chester truly lost sight of himself. He threw himself into his career, but aside from that, every other aspect of his life was falling apart.
Mindy broke his heart, and he had a difficult time moving on. He couldn’t accept the fact that she had thrown their beautiful life away. Over the years, Chester learned that time does not heal at all, and his condition worsened. Until he met a young woman named Ana.
A Different Kind Of Love
Chester met her when he was well into his fifties. His marriage to Mindy dissolved more than twenty years ago by that point. He wasn’t aware of it, but he was healed from the pain his previous marriage brought him.
From the beginning, Ana was different. From the moment Chester met Mindy, they had been enthralled by each other, but Chester savored the slow burn with Ana.
The Conference That Changed Everything
Chester's company was one of the organizers of the convention where Ana and Chester met. Chester was smitten with the girl's way of carrying herself in spite of her being no more than twenty-five years old.
As Chester surveyed her, he was struck by her professional appearance and his sense that she was one of the best-educated, intelligent, and charismatic people he had ever seen. He invited her to a coffee as the convention began to wind down.
A Blossoming Romance
Chester had a hard time keeping track of the following month. His dates with Ana had been filled with fun as they explored restaurants, fairs, cinemas, and conventions in their city.
Although everything was ideal between them, Chester started to worry a little bit about a significant aspect of their developing relationship.
Not Rushing Things
The only romantic thing Chester and Ana had ever done together was hold hands and hug each other.
With Ana, Chester wanted to take things slow, as he remembered how he rushed things with Mindy twenty years ago. As he drove to meet up with her for a second date, disaster struck.
An Unfortunate Accident
Taking things slowly with Ana seemed to be Chester's primary concern, and he was thinking about how he could explain it to her.
Despite the fact that the car was rushing toward him, he wasn't aware of it. His forearm was jutting out of his left side, with a bone protruding from his head when he awoke on the cold tarmac.
The Hospital
Chester woke up in the hospital with a teary Ana by his side the following day. A doctor stood above him, a metallic board in hand and a solemn look on her face.
The doctor explained everything that happened, detailing that Chester had been involved in a gruesome accident, and if it weren’t for Ana, he wouldn’t be awake that morning. But she also revealed something else that made Chester’s lips part.
The News
“You lost a lot of blood, Mr. Reginald,” the doctor began. “The hospital has been in dire shortage of blood, so we needed a donor.” Her eyes flitted over to Ana, “She called your phone as the EMTs brought you in, and we informed her of your situation.
When she heard you needed blood, she volunteered immediately.” Her eyes turned away, and as if forcing herself to speak, she added, “While we were doing some preliminary compatibility tests on both your blood, we discovered something.”
A Heartbreaking Discovery
Coming closer with her board in hand, the doctor said, “We found remarkable resemblances in your blood. And when we ran a DNA test, we discovered you two are related.”
She presented her board, and though her lips continued moving, Chester couldn’t hear anything. His ears buzzed, and his eyes stung. They were related. How?
An Only Child
Chester had been an only child. He also knew and was pretty close to all his nieces and nephews. Whatever the doctor was telling him was either factually wrong, or she was pulling some sick prank.
But as Chester pondered the situation, trying to figure out what was happening, he realized something that made his mind pause.
What If
The doctor said Chester and Ana were related. She didn’t specify how. What if Chester was interacting with his little sister or cousin?
He knew his parents well, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have secrets that they kept from him. But Ana was too young to fit the description in his mind. He quickly scrapped that idea from his mind.