Chapter 694: How Do We Choose?
Jake’s vital signs gradually started showing signs of stabilizing on the monitor. After a long wait, Jake finally opened his eyes slowly.
"Mom... Mommy..." Jake struggled to speak. He was very weak, so his voice was very soft. The crying in the ward drowned out Jake’s voice.
He saw how his mother was crying her eyes out as she tightly held onto his hand.
His heart ached and he felt terrible. Jake tried very hard to move his fingers so that Wendy would realize that he was awake.
Finally, Wendy felt Jake’s movements. Wendy looked up. Her eyes were red from all the crying. She saw that Jake’s eyes were opened.
Jake’s lips parted as he called out to her very softly.
"Jake..." Wendy was afraid that her eyes were playing tricks on her. She blinked.
When she was sure that Jake was awake, she was elated. "Jake? Are you awake?
You’re finally awake."
And then Wendy started crying again. "Jake, you must hang in there. I can’t lose you..."
Jake opened his mouth again and tried to say something but he could not speak.
Wendy noticed his lips moving and quickly moved closer to hear what he was saying.
"I... I..." It was very painful for Jake as he tried to speak. "I... will... be... fine..."
"Yes, you will be fine," Wendy repeated Jake’s words.
"Jake, I thought you were going to leave me behind," Leah cried. She wiped away her tears as they fell.
Mrs. Lucas and Mary were overjoyed that Jake was awake, but they knew that Jake was still in danger. He might be awake now, but he might fall unconscious again and never wake up. The doctor had told them on more than one occasion that Jake was not going to make it.
Wendy clutched Jake’s hands, hoping to give him strength to hold on. "Jake, we’re the strongest, aren’t we?"
Jake nodded his head slightly. He felt very tired and awful.
If not for his mother and sister, Jake would have closed his eyes and left everything behind.
But he didn’t dare close his eyes again. He had to endure the pain and make it through,.
"Jake, when you’re well, I’ll let you do whatever you want," said Wendy. "Wherever you want to go, I’ll go with you."
Jake nodded his head slightly again.
"Jake, let Daddy tell you a story," Michael said as he sat down next to Jake’s bed.
"I’ve told Leah so many stories but I’ve never told you one."
They did not dare to let Jake close his eyes again. So they kept talking to him. Be it an hour or a few minutes, they would keep him here with them for as long as possible.
"Once upon a time..." Michael started telling a story in a low and gentle voice.
That night, Michael told many stories. In the past, Jake would not have listened to Michael’s stories. But now he listened in earnest.
He wanted to live. At that moment, he wished to live on more than anyone else did.
And that was how Jake survived through the night.
Painkillers were no longer effective on him. So he had to endure the debilitating painthe entire night.
Sadly, no matter how strong one’s will was, it had its limits. By six in the morning, Jake could not hold out any longer. He did not even have the strength to move his lips.
...
"Jake, you mustn’t close your eyes. Open your eyes..." Wendy shouted when she saw Jake slipping away.
Jake fought with all his might to open his eyes. But he had done his best. He could not hold on any longer.
Jake could no longer speak. He thought to himself, "I’m sorry, Mommy. I can’t hold on any longer. If there is another chance at life, I wish to be your father, and you to be my daughter. That way, I can take care of you, shower you with love..."
"Jake!" Wendy screamed when she saw that Jake’s eyes remained closed. It was a heart wrenching cry.
Everyone else in the ward was crying bitterly. Although they were prepared for the worst, it was nonetheless difficult to accept it when the time came.
"The antidote..." Milo’s voice could be heard before he came into the ward. At the mention of the cure, all eyes turned to the door. They saw Milo running in breathlessly.
He was still trying to catch his breath when Wendy and Michael asked him immediately in unison, "Is the antidote ready?"
Milo swallowed and answered, "We kind of have the antidote."
Wendy immediately looked at Jake and shouted, "Jake! Did you hear that? They have the antidote! Wake up! You can’t give up now!"
Jake’s consciousness was slowly slipping away, but he could hear Wendy’s voice. He couldn’t open his eyes though. The vital signs monitor showed that Jake was still alive.
"What do you mean by ’kind of’?" Wendy quickly asked Milo after realizing that something wasn’t quite right.
Milo was about to explain when he heard footsteps outside the ward. "I’ll let the researchers explain," he said.
Almost immediately, three people entered the ward. They were wearing white lab coats, their faces haggard and weary. They had been working hard in the lab over the past few days.
The lead researcher said, "We have indeed developed the antidote, but because time is running out, we haven’t been able to conduct the final round of testing. If we had one more day, we would be able to give you the right antidote.
"We have three types of the antidote. Only one of them has the correct ratio. As to which one that is, we do not know at this point."
The researcher held out the three types of antidotes and gave them to Wendy. "Mr.
and Mrs. Lucas, we know that Jake is running out of time, so we decided to bring these to you.
"If we had more time, we would have been able to run some tests and get the results by noon tomorrow. Now, you’ll have to make a choice.
"You either choose one out of these three and give it to Jake, or you wait another day."
Wendy and Michael exchanged glances. They had not anticipated such a situation.
"Could we give Jake all three?" Michael asked immediately.
The researcher shook his head. "You can’t. If Jake were to take all three, the dosage would be too high. With his current condition, there’s no way he would be able to handle it. You can only choose one. If you chose the right one, then Jake will be cured. But if you chose the wrong one, then there is nothing more we can do."
...
There was silence in the ward, but not for long. They could not afford to hesitate at this point. They were running out of time.
Wendy looked at Jake’s principal doctor and asked, "Will he live beyond tomorrow?"
The doctor shook his head. "It’s already way past our expectation that Jake is still alive today. His chances of surviving till tomorrow are lower than your chances of choosing the right type of antidote," he told them honestly.
"Which means that if we don’t choose an antidote now, Jake would not be able to survive till tomorrow. But if we were to choose one, then there is hope," said Wendy.
"A one in three chance. While it’s not high, it’s better than having no chance at all.
"What do you think?" Wendy turned to Michael, Mrs. Lucas, and Mary to ask for their opinions.
They didn’t seem to have a choice at this point. Their best bet was to choose one of the three types of antidote for Jake.
Michael nodded immediately, saying, "Let’s choose an antidote."
Mrs. Lucas and Mary nodded in agreement.
Wendy held the three small vials of antidote with shaking hands. She looked over her shoulder at Jake lying on the bed. She blinked her eyes that were red and swollen from crying.
Then she asked the others in the ward, "How do we choose?"
It was such a tough decision. Nobody dared to choose. None of them wanted to cause Jake to lose his life if they made the wrong choice. The atmosphere was thick with tension.
As Jake’s mother, Wendy should be the one making the choice. Whatever the outcome, it was only appropriate for her to bear the consequences. But Wendy was afraid of choosing the wrong antidote.
With trembling hands, Wendy opened each vial and walked over to Jake. She looked at the different colored bottles, unable to make a choice.
"Let me choose," Michael said, walking over to Wendy. "I am Jake’s father. I will make the decision."
Michael did not want Wendy to bear the emotional stress of making the choice for Jake. If he chose the wrong vial, he would be the one bearing all the blame and guilt.
Wendy dodged Michael when she saw him reaching for the vials.
She took a deep breath and said, "I’ll do it." Although her voice was shaking, she sounded firm.
"Wendy, let me choose. I’ve not fulfilled my responsibilities as his father when he was younger. Now, it’s my turn." Michael took the bottles from Wendy’s hands.
Mrs. Lucas and Mary did not dare to volunteer to choose the antidote. At the end of the day, Wendy and Michael were Jake’s parents. Only they had the right to choose for Jake.
But everyone knew that Michael and Wendy were not fighting for the right to choose.
It was because neither wanted the other to bear the consequences of making the wrong choice.
"Wendy, Michael, neither of you should feel any pressure," said Mrs. Lucas. "Nobody knows which vial contains the right antidote. It’s a one in three chance. If, and I am just saying if, it were the wrong one, then that cannot be helped."
"Mrs. Lucas is right," Mary nodded. "That cannot be helped. Nobody is to be blamed for not choosing the right antidote."
Wendy and Michael exchanged glances.
"Since it’s a stab in the dark, why don’t we choose together?" Wendy suggested to Michael. "If we both choose the same bottle, then it’ll be that one. If we choose different bottles, then we’ll use the one that we did not choose. We’ll accept the outcome no matter what happens. What do you think?"
