Donate a Kidney to His First Love I'd Rather Walk Away

1: 1

On our engagement day, I couldn't reach Allan Gilbert.

A full table of guests stared at me with strange looks on their faces, and my father kept up an awkward, apologetic smile.

Then a text came through from Allan.

Peggy Pruitt, come to the hospital right now.

Before I could even ask what had happened to him, a second text landed.

"Joyce urgently needs a healthy kidney. If you donate yours to her, we'll get married tomorrow."

1.

I stared at the message he'd sent, and for a long time I couldn't pull myself back together.

Donate a kidney?

And to his first love, no less.

I gripped my phone tight, aching in a way I couldn't put into words.

Ding.

Another message came in.

*Peggy, I'll give you one hour to think it over. If you don't agree, we're breaking up.*

Seeing those words, my tears finally slipped free before I could stop them, dropping onto the phone screen.

I'd thought today would be the perfect finish to our seven-year run together.

I'd even mapped out how the days ahead would be the beginning of our happiness.

But what he was doing now reminded me that all of it had only ever been my own wishful thinking.

His first love would always hold the number one place in his heart.

For her, our relationship could be a bargaining chip. For her, he could throw everything we had away.

Just then my father came over, and seeing my red-rimmed eyes, he asked quickly: "Peggy, this is a happy day, why are you crying? Why isn't Allan here yet? Is he stuck in traffic?"

The next second, the hotel manager walked up too, and asked politely: "Miss Pruitt, there are other clients waiting for the room after you. When will your engagement party be starting?"

I checked the time. Half an hour left until the appointed hour.

So I turned to the manager and answered apologetically: "I'm sorry, could you give me another half hour?"

"Of course."

The manager agreed easily and left the room.

When I turned back, all my family and friends were looking at me with congratulations in their eyes. I forced out a small smile. "Everyone must be hungry. Let's start eating."

The moment I said it, shock spread across every face.

I could read exactly what they were thinking underneath those expressions.

An engagement party with no groom to be engaged towhat kind of thing was that?

My father, seeing the grief all over my face, stepped away to smooth things over and explained to them: "My son-in-law's caught in traffic. Let's not wait on him."

Then he pulled me off into a corner, his eyes full of worry as he looked at me. "Peggy, did you and Allan have a fight?"

"I..."

Just as I was working out how to explain, Allan's call came through, and with it his threatening tone: "Peggy, a life's on the line here. Can you move faster?"

My father didn't hear what Allan said, but he could tell from my face that something was wrong between us, and he cleared his throat hard.

Allan clearly heard my father, and his pitch dropped at once. "Peggy, is your dad right there? Whatever you do, don't tell him about this. He already has a problem with me, and if he finds out, there's no way we'll ever get married."

I glanced at my father, remembering how, back then, just to be with Allan, I'd been ready to cut ties with him entirely.

I knew he still didn't like Allan, but I'd insisted on getting engaged to him anyway.

Back then, all my father said was: Peggy, if you're set on being with him, all I can do is give you my blessing, because you're my daughter. And if the day comes that he mistreats you, don't just take it. Your dad has your back...

"Peggy, Joyce really needs you. The engagement party is only a ceremony. Come to the hospital and donate the kidney first, and we'll go register at the county clerk's office tomorrow."

I asked him one thing. "Allan, have you thought this through?"

"I have. As long as you save Joyce, I'll agree to anything you say from now on."

A moment ago I'd still been comforting myself, telling myself he would never actually do this. Reality slapped that right out of me, and it stung.

Heh.

How ironic.

I steadied myself and said it word by word: "Allan, let's end it here."

2: 2

2.

He let out a small, reflexive laugh. "Peggy, quit joking around and get to the hospital already. Otherwise you're the one who ends up humiliated today."

Right.

In everyone's eyes, I loved him more than he loved me, so of course I'd never leave him easily. Maybe that was exactly why he kept letting me down, again and again, without a shred of hesitation.

Three months ago.

His first love called to say she was flying home, and he rushed off to pick her up from the airport. Then he moved her right into our new place.

Back then I was foolish enough to think that bringing his first love home meant he'd truly let that relationship go. If there were anything left between them, he never would've brought her under my roof.

Then, on my birthday, he was with her.

Once became twice. Every time afterward, he'd find some excuse to keep me calm.

Looking back now, I realize what a complete fool I'd been.

Just then my father snatched the phone away and said to Allan on the line, "Allan Gilbert, since my daughter says the two of you are finished, don't you dare cling to her ever again."

Allan explained frantically, "Uncle, please don't be angry. Peggy and I have already worked it out. We're going to the county clerk's office to file the papers tomorrow. Can you put Peggy on? Please?"

The moment my father heard that, he hung up, his eyes full of fury.

"Good riddance. A man like that doesn't deserve my daughter."

Then he turned to me, his face grave. "Sweetheart, what did the two of you break up over?"

I clenched my fists and didn't dare tell him the truth.

Seeing that I wouldn't speak, he sighed. "Whatever you decide, sweetheart, your dad's behind you."

The next second, a text from Allan came through.

*Peggy, are you going to donate the kidney or not? Joyce James can't hold on much longer. Are you coming to the hospital?*

*Peggy, your whole family's here. You don't want to leave your father with egg on his face, do you?*

My father read the messages, then immediately called the manager over.

"Cancel today's engagement party. Turn it into a small family dinner instead."

The manager looked at him, unsure. "Sir, are you certain?"

I caught his arm, torn. "Dad maybe we could wait a little longer."

He was ready to blow, but he held his temper and pulled me aside, his voice low and earnest. "Sweetheart, today he used your engagement as a bargaining chip to make you give a kidney to another woman. Even if you married him, he'd keep trampling on you for other women."

Right then I could feel everyone in the room watching me. And while I was still trying to figure out how to handle all these relatives, Great-Uncle Cornelius rose from his seat at the head of the table and looked at me.

Great-Uncle Cornelius was the oldest member of our family, and the most respected elder among us.

"Peggy, girl, this is your engagement party, and that scoundrel Allan Gilbert still hasn't shown up. That alone tells you the man can't be relied on at all. If you ask me, this match should be called off, right here."

The moment he said it, the relatives beside him took up the thread. "That's right, Peggy. Who shows up late to his own engagement party? Clearly this Allan Gilbert doesn't value you one bit."

"Exactly. I never liked the look of that boy. Peggy, take it from us, don't go through with this engagement."

Looking around at all of them, every voice full of concern for me, not a hint of blame, everything I'd been holding in came rushing up, and the tears fell before I could stop them.

"I I I'm sorry"

Just then a call came in from an unfamiliar number.

The moment I answered, a woman's voice came through.

"Peggy, I'm so sorry. I'm the one who ruined your engagement party with Allan. Don't worry, Peggy, I'll make Allan come straight over."

3: 3

3.

Before I could get a word out, my father snatched the phone, his face dark with fury, and barked into it, "Tell him not to bother coming."

Whoever was on the other end clearly hadn't expected my father to answer.

A weak voice came right back. "Uncle, I'm so sorry. Allan only wanted Peggy to donate a kidney because he was worried sick about me. Uncle, I won't take Peggy's kidney, I really won't, cough, cough"

A violent fit of coughing crackled through the line.

The next second, I heard a voice I knew too well.

"Joyce, what's wrong? Didn't the doctor tell you not to get out of bed?"

"Allan, I'm fine. You should hurry back and get engaged to Peggy. Don't worry about me."

"Don't talk nonsense. If she won't give you a kidney, I'm not getting engaged to her. Joyce, don't worry. I'll make sure you get a healthy kidney."

Instinctively I looked over at my father and everyone else. Their faces were all furious. If Allan had been standing here, there was no telling how badly he'd have been beaten.

Things had come to this. There was no future for Allan and me, no matter how much I still loved him in my heart.

Allan on the other end had no idea I was on the call. What he said next to his first love was what made me resolve to drive him out of my heart for good.

"Joyce, you know you've always been in my heart. But I've been with Peggy for seven years. I can't just walk away from her. Don't worry, though. Even after I'm married, your business is my business. I'll always take good care of you"

That was as far as I could listen. I said one thing to the two of them on the line. "Allan, my body was given to me by my parents. No one gets to decide the fate of my life except them."

Then, without giving anyone on the other end a chance to react, I hung up. And while I was at it, I dropped Allan's number straight into my blocked list.

When the dinner began, everyone kept a tactful silence and said nothing more. No one asked what had actually happened. We just treated it as an ordinary family gathering.

Just as the food came out, Allan showed up.

He didn't so much as glance at anyone's expression. He simply grabbed me and started hauling me toward the door. When my father tried to stop him, he told him off in a reproachful tone. "Uncle, this is between Joyce and me. You're an elder. You really shouldn't be getting involved."

Allan dragged me out the door by force and found a corner where no one was around.

"Peggy, what's this supposed to mean?"

I shook his hand off, rubbed my wrist, and let out a sarcastic little laugh. "What do I mean? Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? Weren't you going to take care of her for the rest of your life? I'm stepping aside for the two of you. Shouldn't you be happy?"

His body went stiff for a moment, and he didn't dare meet my eyes, guilt written all over him.

"Peggy, you've got it wrong. You're the only one in my heart. Why hold anything against a sick person?"

Then he shot a glance toward the private room and said, "Peggy, you saw it too. All those relatives are here. People came with their blessings to see us get engaged. You don't want to make a scene either, do you?"

"So?"

"Peggy, let's go back in together."

As he spoke he reached for my hand, but I dodged it in disgust. His hand hung there in midair, and his face darkened in an instant, a trace of anger in his voice. "Peggy, I've already come all this way. What exactly are you throwing a tantrum about?"

Ha.

So in his eyes, this was me throwing a tantrum.

"Allan, if I donate the kidney, will you marry me right away?"

4: 4

4.

"Peggy, do you mean it?"

His eyes were full of excitement when he looked at me.

In that instant, I smiled.

Though I couldn't tell whether it was a sad smile, or disappointment, or maybe relief.

The next second, Allan pulled me into his arms and said, all fake feeling, "Peggy, I love you."

After putting on that little show of false devotion, he let go of me just as fast, watching me with a face full of expectation. "Peggy, let's go to the hospital right now. That way Joyce can have a healthy kidney soon."

He started tugging me toward the exit, not noticing in the slightest how utterly unwilling I was.

Just then his phone rang.

He took it out, and his eyes turned tender in an instant. It reminded me of when we first got together, when he used to look at me that same way.

But that was then and this was now. The tenderness in his eyes wasn't for me anymore. It belonged to another woman.

At that moment, I finally understood something.

Maybe the people your parents won't let you be with are the ones you shouldn't be with.

Because they can tell from the way a person acts and speaks whether he's really worth handing your whole life over to.

Clearly my father had seen from the start that Allan wasn't a good man.

A shame I only understood it now.

Allan's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Joyce, I have good news for you. Peggy's going to donate a kidney to you. You'll be better soon. Don't you love the beach? Once you're well, I'll take you there..."

The two of them traded lines over the phone that would make anyone think they were the couple.

I just stood there quietly and listened to the back-and-forth.

Five minutes later.

Allan finally brought himself to hang up.

He checked my expression first, and only after finding I wasn't angry did he let out a breath.

"Peggy, about the marriage license, why don't we wait until after you've donated the kidney and recovered?"

"Sure. Whatever you say."

I nodded and agreed, not caring in the least.

Seeing how readily I answered, Allan looked at me with something I could have sworn was a flicker of guilt, if my eyes weren't playing tricks on me.

He slowly took my hand. "Peggy, thank you. I promise I'll treat you well from now on."

I pulled my hand free. "Forget it. I'm not fortunate enough to deserve your kindness. Save it for someone who needs it."

For an instant, the guilt in his eyes deepened. "Peggy, I know you're angry."

I couldn't help clicking my tongue.

"Allan, you think far too highly of yourself."

That got through to him, and he finally caught the wrongness in my tone. "Peggy, are you scared donating the kidney will hurt your health? Don't worry, I asked the doctor. He said as long as you rest properly there won't be any problems."

Ha.

This was hilarious.

He asked the doctor?

No problems?

Then why didn't he donate his own? Or that woman didn't need a kidney, since nothing would go wrong anyway.

At that point, my father, who had come up behind us at some moment I hadn't noticed, yanked me behind him.

He pointed at Allan and said, "Get out, you animal."

Allan didn't even get angry. He just looked at me. "Peggy, hurry, let's go, we're running out of time."

I looked at him and smiled. "Allan, you've got some nerve. I never said I'd donate my kidney to a stranger."

The moment I said it, Allan panicked.

"Peggy Pruitt, you clearly just said you'd donate the kidney. How can you go back on your word?"

Beside me my father rolled up his sleeves, ready to hit him. Luckily I stopped him. I didn't want my father taking a trip to jail over a piece of trash like this.

Then, with a smile on my face, I said, "What? I never saw you make good on all those things you promised me before. I was just teasing you. Did you really have to take it seriously?"

With that, I pulled the ring off my ring finger and threw it at his face. "Here, you can have it back. From now on, you're you and I'm me. We have nothing to do with each other."