Chapter 24
DAMIEN
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I sat in the doctor’s office, watching Diana collapse into another wave of dramatic sobs on the floor. At any other time, I might have been moved, maybe even felt a pinch of sympathy, but not anymore. Not when Jeff was the one lying unconscious behind that glass wall, so pale he barely looked alive.
I wanted to be patient with her. I told myself she was Jeff’s mother, and maybe grief distorted her reactions. Maybe panic was just hitting her differently. But deep down, I couldn’t ignore the truth screaming inside me;I didn’t care. Not about her tears. Not about her theatrics. Not after finding out that this could have been handled earlier if she had truly played her role as Jeff’s mother. All I cared about… was Jeff.
And when I walked into his room and saw him, so still, barely breathing beneath those tubes and machines, I felt something crack open inside my chest. Something raw and helpless. My son was fighting for his life, and there was absolutely nothing I could do.
I backed out of the room. I couldn’t bear to watch him like that. Not for another second.
And then… all I could think of was Cia.
Her name hit me like a breath of air. Something about her calmed the noise in my head. I pulled out my phone, ready to call her, just to hear her voice. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to say. I just needed something that reminded me I wasn’t losing everything.
But my thumb hovered over her name for too long.
She’d run here. I knew it. The moment she heard, she’d drop everything. She’d walk into this hospital like she had every right to be here, and Diana would lose her mind. Again. I wasn’t in the mood for another showdown. Not now. Not when Jeff was barely holding on.
So, I put the phone back in my pocket. I’d tell Cia later.
The doctor had stepped out to begin the compatibility tests. He said he’d let us know when the results came in. I told him I didn’t care what it took, bone marrow, blood, my own spine if necessary, I’d give it all for Jeff. And if it turned out that Diana was a match instead, I’d drag her in myself. No excuses.
On my way back to Jeff’s room, I nearly ran into the doctor in the hallway. He had that unreadable look in his eyes, the one professionals wear when they’re about to say something important but don’t want to alarm you.
“We need to talk,” he said.
I nodded. “Alright. Let me get Diana. We’ll come to your office.”
But when I got closer to Jeff’s room, I spotted Diana outside. Her face folded into a worried expression.
“Jeff’s hand twitched,” she said. “I ran to find you.”
Something about the way she was acting crazy, didn’t sit right with me. My gut told me something else was going on, something more than a mother’s panic. But I didn’t push it.
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Chapter 24
I changed my mind, told her to stay with Jeff, then left her behind to go see the doctor.
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Inside his office, I sat across from him, feeling that familiar weight of dread settling in my stomach.
He looked at me carefully. “Where’s Miss Diana?”
“She’s with Jeff,” I said. “Go ahead. You can speak freely. I’ll update her.”
The doctor hesitated for just a second, then asked the question I never expected to hear.
“Is Miss Diana the biological mother of Jeff?”
I blinked. “What?”
“Is she Jeff’s biological mother?”
“Yes,” I said quickly. “Yes, of course. She gave birth to him. Why are you asking me that?”
He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he leaned back and folded his arms.
“Well,” he said, “in certain rare conditions, familial matches aren’t guaranteed. It’s why we need to explore as many compatible donors as possible.”
“Have you gotten the results?” I asked, my chest tightening.
“No, not yet. The fastest accurate results can take up to two days.”
“Two days?” I echoed. “There’s nothing you can do to speed it up?”
“There are rapid tests that can give you results in six hours, but they’re not always reliable. With something as serious as a bone marrow transplant, accuracy is crucial. Two days is already pushing it.”
I exhaled through my nose, frustrated but understanding. “Alright. If Jeff can wait, we’ll wait. But is he stable enough to last that long?”
“He is,” the doctor assured me. “We’re managing his symptoms and keeping him under observation. In the meantime, I strongly suggest you gather other possible donors. Family members, close friends, anyone willing to be tested.”
I nodded. “I’ll arrange it, but why?”
He gave me a sympathetic look. “Well, there’s still a chance that even if you and Miss Diana are both biologically related, neither of you may be a match.”
I stared hard at the doctor. “So why exactly did you ask if Diana is Jeff’s biological mother?”
He paused for a moment, then leaned forward slightly, his voice steady but cautious. “That brings me to something I needed to explain. Remember when I told you Fanconi anemia is a hereditary condition passed down by both parents–specifically, silent carriers?”
I nodded slowly. “Yes… I remember.”
Chapter 24
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“Well,” he said, “when I ran the genetic analysis… you were the only one who tested as a silent carrier. Miss Diana didn’t.”
A sharp pulse thudded in my ears. “Wait…. what does that mean? She’s not a carrier? So I’m the only one who did this to Jeff?”
“No,” the doctor replied quickly, his voice calm but firm. “That’s not how it works. You alone couldn’t have passed it on. One silent carrier is not enough to cause Fanconi anemia in a child. For the disease to develop, both parents must carry the mutated gene. If only one parent is a carrier, the child might inherit the gene, but it would remain silent–never manifesting as the full condition.”
He continued, “When two carriers have a child, there’s a 25% chance the child will suffer from Fanconi anemia, a 50% chance the child will also be a carrier, and a 25% chance the child will be completely unaffected. But it’s biologically impossible for a child to develop this disease if only one parent is a carrier.”
My stomach dropped.
I blinked, trying to make sense of it. “So what are you trying to say?” I asked, voice tightening. “That I’m not Jeff’s father?”
The doctor shook his head. “No, you are. You are his biological father. When the results came in, I ran additional tests to be sure–retested the samples, reviewed the data twice. Then I took the liberty of conducting a paternity test. It confirmed you’re Jeff’s biological father. But Miss Diana… she’s not his biological mother.”
The air left my lungs.
My mind couldn’t keep up. I blinked again, as if he’d said something in another language. “No,” I whispered, then louder, “No, no. That’s not possible. I was there when she gave birth. I remember getting the call. I walked into the hospital and saw her in the ward, holding him.”
“I’m not disputing what you saw,” the doctor said carefully. “But I’m telling you that genetically, biologically, she is not his mother. The test doesn’t lie.”
My jaw clenched as I got up and took a step back. “Show me the report.”
Without hesitation, the doctor pulled open a folder and handed it to me. I scanned the results, even though I could barely focus on the text. My vision blurred slightly. The words were clinical, objective, nothing more than cold data. But they confirmed everything he’d just said.
“She’s not Jeff’s mother…” I repeated under my breath, shaking my head.
“That’s correct,” the doctor said. “Which is why it’s important we identify his real mother, Remember what I mentioned earlier–about siblings being the best possible matches for a bone marrow transplant. If we can locate her and if she has another child, even by a different man, there’s a strong chance that child could be a match. But we need that information quickly.”
I nodded, but my thoughts were no longer in the room. They were racing backward….back to a night I had nearly buried in my memory.
Alicia.
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Chapter 24
The woman I’d met briefly. Red hair, quiet eyes. Her name had been Alicia Stewart.
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But Diana had dark hair when I met her. She told me Alicia was a name she used for work. I’d accepted it at face value. I didn’t question it, because why would I? She had details only someone who was there that night could know. But now…
Now it made sense.
She wasn’t Alicia. She must’ve known about that night from someone else…..maybe from the real Alicia. Maybe she was even close to her. And if that’s true… then the baby Diana claimed as hers….Jeff….wasn’t truly
hers at all.
She took him. Lied about it. Raised him as her own.
And suddenly, everything snapped into place.
The detachment. The indifference. The way she avoided physical affection with him when she thought no one was watching. The rehearsed sobs. The melodrama. It was all a performance.
She never loved him, not the way a mother should. Because she wasn’t his mother.
And the worst part? I didn’t see it.
My hands clenched at my sides as my chest rose and fell unevenly. I wasn’t sure if it was rage or guilt. Maybe both.
How could she look me in the eye all these years, cradle Jeff in her arms, and lie through her teeth? How far did this manipulation go? What else had she stolen?
If she had truly carried Jeff for nine months–if she had felt his first kick, held him fresh out of the womb, watched him sleep night after night–then there was no universe in which she could have overlooked something as alarming as a constant nosebleed.
But she had.
And now, I understood why.
Everything Jeff ever said about her… it all made sense now. That day we had breakfast with Cia, he told us she never played with him. She never read to him. She’d call him a pest.
A child’s words…. dismissed at the time. But now, they rang in my ears like sirens.
Because no real mother would do that to her own flesh and blood.
No real mother would recoil from her child like he was a burden.
She used Jeff. Used him to get to me. And all this while, I kept trying to convince myself that maybe she was struggling. Maybe she just didn’t know how to be a good parent.
But now?
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Chapter 24
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Now I saw it clearly. And whoever Jeff’s real mother was, wherever she might be… she might still be out there, searching, hurting, desperate to find the son she lost.
I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers into my temples. My skull felt like it had been split open. Every breath I took only deepened the pressure behind my eyes.
“My head is throbbing,” I muttered.
The doctor stood up. “Do you want some aspirin?”
I waved him off. “No. I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
But I wasn’t. Nothing about this was fine.
Diana was not Jeff’s mother.
And once Jeff recovered–because he would recover–I wasn’t spending a second longer in the same room as that woman.
My knuckles cracked beneath the tension. If she hadn’t lied… if she hadn’t stolen that child and wormed her way into my life, Jeff would’ve never been under her care. A real mother–his real mother–would have noticed the signs. She would’ve caught it early. She would’ve fought for him like her life depended on it.
He wouldn’t be lying in that hospital bed now, pale and barely breathing.
She put him there.
“I won’t forgive her,” I said under my breath. “I’ll ruin her for what she’s done.”
I was already turning to leave when the doctor spoke again, his voice measured, laced with caution. “Damien, wait. Please. I understand how upset you are. I do. But you need to listen to me.”
I stopped, jaw tight, still facing the door.
“I don’t know what your relationship with Miss Diana is,” he continued, “but I know what I saw in those results. She’s lied about being Jeff’s mother. That’s serious, I agree. But right now, your son needs help. The final test results will be ready in two days. Until then, I need you to let things stay calm.”
He walked closer, voice firmer now.
“There’s a chance she might still be a match for the bone marrow transplant. It happens. Even unrelated donors can sometimes be perfect matches. If she turns out to be compatible and you’ve driven her away, that’s a door we won’t be able to reopen. Jeff can’t afford that.”
I clenched my jaw harder.
“Just… for now,” the doctor said, “let her keep believing you don’t know. Don’t confront her. Don’t act out. Let’s do everything we can to save your son first. That’s what matters.”
I nodded slowly, forcing down the lump in my throat. “Okay, doctor. I hear you. Thank you.”
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Chapter 24
But in my mind, there was no peace. Only smoke and fury.
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I walked out of his office and back down the corridor toward Jeff’s room. My footsteps echoed like distant thunder. I stopped outside the door and looked in.
There she was.
Diana.
Sitting beside my son–my flesh and blood–looking down at him with that same soft expression she’d always worn when someone else was watching. And it was all fake. Every gentle smile. Every tear she’d cried. Every time she threw herself at me and talked about how painful the birth had been, how much she loved Jeff more than her own life–it had all been a lie.
I felt something crack inside me.
A bitter smile curled on my lips.
‘Damien, you’ve been such a fool. For so long, you let yourself be blinded by convenience and guilt. You looked at a woman holding a child and assumed the most obvious thing.
You better pray, Diana. You better pray that by some miracle, your marrow is a match. Because if you can’t save Jeff…
Then may God help you.
Because I won’t.’
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