He Let Our Daughter Die, I Became A Tycoon's Bride novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: Every Unit of AB Negative
Hattie bleeds in a Slenale hospital while Neil gives the city's rare blood to his secretary, so Penelope calls the one man who promised her anything and he says the blood will be there within the hour.
"Every unit of AB negative we have, now!" the doctor shouted down the emergency hall.
The double doors swung shut behind him.
My daughter was on the other side of them.
I dragged myself along the wall on a leg cut open to the bone.
"Doctor, please. Will she live?"
He turned and saw the blood soaking my jeans.
"She lost a lot, and she's critical," he said. "But you need a surgeon too. Where's your husband?"
"He won't pick up."
I had been holding the phone so long it felt hot in my hand.
The crash was an hour ago.
Hattie and I were coming home from kindergarten pickup when a truck ran the light.
Our driver died in the front seat.
Hattie and I were thrown against the back doors.
She is six years old.
I had called my husband, Neil, thirty-one times, and he was probably stuck in a meeting.
"Breathe," the doctor said, softer now. "AB negative is rare, but the blood bank got a big shipment this week."
"The best specialists in Slenale are on their way. Once she has the blood, she has a good chance."
My knees almost gave.
I grabbed his sleeve.
"Thank you. Do whatever it takes. My husband will reward everyone who helps. He runs Garner Group, he's..."
"Doctor!"
A nurse ran toward us, out of breath.
She was holding a pink slip of paper.
"The blood bank says Neil Garner took the entire AB negative stock this morning. His secretary has anemia and felt dizzy, so he ordered all of it sent to her."
The hall tilted.
The doctor read the slip over her shoulder.
At the bottom was Neil's signature, with the word DIVERTED stamped beside it.
I had seen a pink slip like that exactly once before.
It was the night my father died, and a nurse had pushed one at me without looking up.
I never read it.
"Call Mr. Garner," the doctor told her. "Tell him a child's life is at risk."
"I already did," the nurse said. "He told me his secretary's life matters as much as anyone's."
"Then the specialists," the doctor said. "How soon?"
The nurse's face fell.
"They aren't coming. Mr. Garner's office redirected them to her too."
I stood there with my back against the wall.
Thirty-one calls to my husband, and he had found time to do this.
I looked up the number for his secretary, Kirsten Lowe, and called her.
"Penelope?" Kirsten's voice was soft and kind. "What's wrong?"
Neil's voice came through right behind hers, close to the phone.
"Tell her Kirsten is still faint. If we give the blood back and she gets worse, what then?"
"Put him on," I said.
Kirsten sighed.
"Neil, I told you to answer her. Now she's taking it out on me."
A rustle.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Penelope?" Neil said. "Kirsten is sick, and I'm responsible for her. Are you so jealous you can't let me look after her for a few hours?"
I bit my lip until it bled.
"Hattie and I were in a crash. She's bleeding. She needs AB negative and a critical care team right now. Send the blood back or she'll die."
The line was quiet.
"You've gone too far," Neil said, and his voice was cold. "Lying about our daughter because you want me away from her? What kind of mother does that?"
He hung up.
I called again.
The call would not connect.
He had blocked me.
I called his assistants and his friends and the men he golfed with, one number after another.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Garner," each one said. "Mr. Garner told us not to pass on your messages."
One of them added, "He said to stop using your daughter to get attention."
I slid down the wall to the floor.
Her small hand had been so cold in the ambulance.
The doctor crouched beside me and spoke low.
"Every specialist in Slenale takes orders from your husband, and the blood supply too. Your only chance is Leacrest. It's the next city."
"But the road is five hours, and your daughter doesn't have five hours."
Leacrest.
I stopped breathing.
There was one person in Leacrest who could do this.
He was the last person I had ever wanted to ask.
I opened my blocked contacts with a hand that would not hold still.
His number was still there after six years.
I pressed call.
He answered on the second ring.
"Penelope."
"Years ago you told me you would give me anything I asked," I said, "if I agreed to marry you. Does that promise still stand?"
"It does."
His voice was low and steady, and it did not ask why.
I shut my eyes.
"My daughter was badly hurt in a car crash. She needs AB negative blood and critical care specialists, and my husband..."
"Does the hospital have a helipad?" Cillian Draper said.
"Yes, on the roof."
"I'll have the blood and a full medical team there within the hour."
The line went dead.
I looked up at the doctor and said, "A helicopter is coming."
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