He Only Learned to Cry After She Died

Four years after my death, my husband tried to force me to donate a kidney to his mistress. He showed up at my workplace clutching a consent form. But every single coworker he asked told him the same thing. They'd never seen me. Frustrated, he finally went to my HR Director. "Erin? Didn't she pass away four years ago?" "Complications from the last surgery. Coagulation disorder. The wound never healed. She bled out." My husband didn't believe it. He turned it around and accused them of taking bribes from me. Of conspiring against him. He jabbed a finger in the HR Director's face. "Don't think I don't know she paid you off to lie to me." "You tell Erin Hayes she has until tomorrow afternoon. If she doesn't show, I will use my authority as Emily's legal guardian to dump her right back into the foster system." What he didn't know. His mistress had already taken my little sister. Dragged her away for a live organ harvest. Emily died on that operating table. *** Footsteps pounded down the hallway. I drifted above it all, watching Derek Walker storm into my company. The address he'd dug out of his phone's email trash folder. Three years old. The last trace of me he had. He clutched a document. ORGAN DONATION was printed across the top. "Erin Hayes. Where is she? Get her out here." He shoved the office door open. Several coworkers looked up. Exchanged glances. Finally, someone answered in a small voice. "Erin? She hasn't been to work in a long time..." "How long?" Derek's lip curled. His gaze swept across every face. "Don't play dumb with me. Is she hiding?" No one dared speak. The office went so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat. Derek clicked his tongue in disgust and turned toward the private office. He didn't knock. Breezed right in and slapped the document onto the desk. "Hey. Where's Erin? I've got urgent business with her. Don't tell me you don't know." Mr. Wilson looked up. His brow creased so hard it could trap a fly. "Who are you? This is a workplace. Show some respect." "Respect?" Derek snorted. "I've got every right to find my own wife. What the hell do I need respect for?" "It's you people acting all shifty. Did she pay you off? Are you helping her lie to me?" Mr. Wilson was Operations Director. Hearing someone sling that kind of accusation made his face go dark. "Erin Hayes passed away four years ago. You're her husband, and you didn't know?" His hand was already hovering over the security call button. Two tall guards appeared in the doorway. "Sir, you are illegally trespassing—" The guards seized Derek's arms. He thrashed against them. "Bullshit! Stop putting on this little show for me!" "You think I don't know her? She chickened out over donating a piece of her liver. That kind of coward doesn't just die!" Mr. Wilson gave up trying to reason with him. He pulled up a file on his computer. "Her termination date is four years ago. Marked as deceased." At Wilson's signal, the guards released Derek. The instant he was free, he spun the monitor around. Scanned it. Laughed. "Pretty convincing forgery. How much did she pay you to cover for her like this?" "Sir, respect the facts. Erin Hayes developed a coagulation disorder after surgery. Massive hemorrhaging. She did not survive resuscitation. This is a legal hospital document. What do you mean, 'cover for her'?" "A liver donation surgery?" Derek's brow furrowed. Then he roared. "That makes even less sense!" "Olivia told me it was a minor procedure. How the hell could anyone die from that?" "Enough. You pass this message to Erin. If she doesn't show by tomorrow afternoon, I will personally throw her sister back into the foster system to rot." Even I thought that was insane. And I was the dead woman he was talking about. Mr. Wilson clearly agreed. He shot to his feet. His voice came out tight with suppressed fury. "Sir, Emily Hayes has been missing for a long time. You intend to threaten a dead woman with someone who has already vanished?" Derek froze. For half a second. Then he rolled his eyes. "Keep it up. All of you. Really committed to the act." "Forget it. Play your games. When the deadline hits and she's not there, don't blame me for what happens." He snatched the document and stalked out. The door slammed so hard the glass panels hummed. I was dragged along behind him, staring at his stiff, self-righteous back. Bitterness filled my chest. Right. In his eyes, me donating part of my liver was nothing. Now he wanted my kidney. Still nothing. But when Olivia had nothing more than a fever, he panicked like the world was ending. Never left her side. I guess love versus indifference really is that obvious. Outside, Derek pulled out his phone and called Olivia. His voice softened instantly. "Liv, that bitch Erin is hiding again. Don't worry. I've got plenty of ways to smoke her out..." I looked down at my translucent body. I thought of my sister Emily's desperate eyes in her final moments. A dull ache spread through what was left of my soul. Derek, you don't know. I'm already dead. You definitely don't know what your precious love did to my little sister.

On the phone, Derek kept cooing at her. "Liv, relax. Erin wouldn't dare disobey... We still have her sister." He floored the gas pedal. The city blurred past the window. And my mind was dragged backward. Three years ago. Olivia claimed her condition had suddenly worsened. She needed a second kidney transplant. Matching donors were nearly impossible to find. I was dead. She couldn't find me. So she turned her sights on my sister. Emily. I remember that night. Emily had just finished her night shift at Dunkin'. She was walking home with a stack of thick review books in her arms. A black van screeched to a halt in front of her. The door slid open. Two men jumped out and dragged her inside. She kicked and clawed. Her review books scattered everywhere. Her SAT score report—top percentile—fluttered into the gutter. I screamed and lunged at them. My hands passed right through her body. I couldn't grab anything. I howled as the van peeled away. The only things left behind were her ruined textbooks and one lonely canvas sneaker. They took her to a hospital. The operating room lights were blinding white. Cruel. Emily was strapped to the table. A gag stuffed in her mouth. Tears streaked down her face. Her thin body shook with terror. The restraints cut bloody welts into her wrists and ankles. Olivia stood off to the side. Mask on. Eyes cold as a butcher sizing up meat. That was when I understood. Olivia was never sick. Her "illness" was a front for an organ trafficking operation on the dark web. She wanted Erin's kidney because a buyer had offered a fortune. "Don't worry. It'll be over soon." She patted Emily's cheek. Her tone was light. "Blame your sister for disappearing. Otherwise, we wouldn't need you." Emily shook her head desperately. Muffled sobs choked from her throat. Tears fell in huge drops. I knelt beside the operating table. Screaming. Trying to untie the restraints on her wrists. My hands passed through. Again and again. Nothing. "Emily... Emily!" My soul felt like it was being ripped apart. I watched the anesthetic push into her vein. Her struggle faded. Slower. Weaker. Until only her lashes still trembled. The moment the scalpel broke her skin, I shattered. A shriek tore out of me no one could hear. Ghosts don't get heard when they cry. *** "Liv, Emily's tuition is due. Remind her to register for classes on time." Derek's voice yanked me back. I spun around. Stared hard at his phone screen. Olivia's reply popped up fast. "Already handled it. The girl's been very well-behaved lately." Well-behaved? My Emily was ash. Discarded in the Arizona desert badlands. And this fool Derek was still wiring money to Olivia every month. Calling it "supporting my sister's education." Every cent went straight into Olivia's accounts. Fuel for her spending sprees. I watched him live inside a three-year-old lie. Sending money to a dead girl. "Right," Derek said, as if just remembering. His voice dropped low. "If Erin still doesn't show, get ready to send Emily to the border. Let's see if she dares keep hiding then." Olivia sent back a hesitant emoji. "Is that really okay?" "Why wouldn't it be? If we don't scare her, she'll think we're bluffing." I hovered above the car roof. My soul trembled with rage. Derek, you keep saying you have Emily. You don't even know she's been dead for three years. You'll never know the money you sent for "your sister" every month bought Birkin bags and club tabs for your mistress. You'll never know the hostage you used against me was already a cold corpse. The car stopped at a red light. Derek adjusted his hair in the rearview mirror. Humming. All I could see was Emily. The look in her eyes as she searched the empty air in those last moments. Looking for me. She died waiting for a sister who never came.

Derek rushed to the hospital. Olivia was propped against her pillows. Face pale as paper. IV tubes ran into her arm. The heart monitor beeped its steady rhythm. I sneered inside. If anyone deserved an Oscar, it was Olivia. Where was all that arrogance she'd had while texting? Derek didn't see it. The moment he saw her like this, his voice crumbled. He cupped her face, aching. "Why do you look so terrible? Is the pain back?" Olivia gave him a weak smile. She held his hand. "I'm okay. Seeing you makes it better... Did you find Erin?" Her eyes held his, expectant. Derek's expression stiffened. He shook his head. "Not yet... But she can't hide much longer." Olivia dropped her gaze. A long, slow sigh. "Forget it. Stop looking... Maybe this illness is just God's plan for me." "No." Derek cut her off. His voice shot up. "I am not giving up. You can still be treated. We just need a compatible donor..." "But Erin is still missing." "So what?" He was nearly shouting. His eyes glistened, like he was terrified she'd vanish any second. "She's just hiding. Her sister is still in our hands. She wouldn't dare stay away." Olivia didn't argue. Her expression flickered, unreadable. She closed her eyes. Her fingers traced lightly over the back of his hand. "It's okay, Derek. Having you with me all these years... I'm already content." Derek's tears fell. He bent over and held her. His voice cracked. "Don't say things like that. I will save you." I hovered in the corner of the room. Watching. A dull ache spread through my soul. How long had it been? How long since Derek had looked at me like that? From the moment Olivia moved back from Paris, I vanished from his eyes. Even when I agreed to give her part of my liver. Right before they wheeled me into surgery. He stayed planted at Olivia's bedside. Not a single tear for me. Even now. The only one who could make his eyes go red was Olivia. What a joke. Derek cared for her with painstaking devotion. He didn't leave until she had fallen asleep. He slipped out of the room quietly. He went straight to the doctor's office. "Dr. Rodriguez. Olivia's condition... How much time does she have?" The doctor pushed up his glasses. His face was grim. "At this rate of deterioration... It's hard to say. Without a matching donor, she might not last a week." "A week?" Derek's lips trembled. "And... if we find one?" "Then surgery should happen as soon as possible." The doctor sighed. "But a suitable living donor is rare enough. A second transplant makes it even harder." Derek didn't say anything else. He nodded. Turned and left. The hallway lights stretched his shadow long and lonely. He stood at the window. Dialed a number. "Send more people. Tear the whole city apart looking for Erin Hayes. I want proof. Dead or alive." "Also. Book me a flight to San Francisco. Soonest available." San Francisco. Where Emily was supposed to be "at school." My soul jolted. He was going after Emily himself?

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