The notification sound pierced through the silence of the room, its blue glow illuminating Pervis’s pale face in the darkness. His trembling fingers struggled to unlock the phone screen as another wave of fever washed over him.
Anna: Need you at the hospital. Noah requires another transfusion. Come immediately.
Pervis stared at the message, his lips curving into a bitter smile that held no warmth. The phone felt impossibly heavy in his hands as he scrolled through their conversation history—a monotonous record of identical requests stretching back months. Every message from his wife followed the same pattern: hospital, blood transfusion, Noah.
“Always the same,” he whispered to himself, his voice hoarse from the fever that had been burning through him for days.
Pervis put down his phone. He no longer wanted to keep obeying Anna’s orders. However, the notification sound from his phone kept ringing.
However, it was not Anna. The sender’s address was unfamiliar, but curiosity compelled him to open it despite his weakened state. The image that loaded made his blood run cold.
The sender’s address was unfamiliar, but curiosity compelled him to open it despite his weakened state. The image that loaded made his blood run cold.
Anna lay on a hospital bed, her clothes disheveled, her hair scattered across the pillow. But it wasn’t the state of her appearance that struck him—it was the intimate way another man’s hand rested on her shoulder, just visible at the edge of the frame.
The accompanying message was brief but devastating: “How can a loser like you still have the face to stay by Anna’s side? Don’t you see? Her love for me far surpasses her love for you—you’re the most unnecessary one in this relationship!”
Pervis’s hands shook as he set the phone down. The fever that had been consuming him for days suddenly felt insignificant compared to the chill spreading through his chest. Four years of marriage reduced to this—a series of blood donations and a photograph that shattered every illusion he’d carefully maintained.
“Four years,” he murmured, his voice barely audible. “Four years of giving everything.”
Pervis’s hands trembled. Over the years, he had given everything to Anna. When she said she wanted to take care of her best friend’s younger brother, Noah, he unhesitatingly donated blood for him—almost every month, Anna forced him to give blood.
And yet, this was the outcome he got?
Thinking of the feelings he had guarded so carefully, only to be met with Anna’s growing indifference, Pervis felt his heart turn completely cold.
He had given Anna his true heart, believing that as long as he gave enough, Anna would eventually love him.
But when his sincerity was trampled on again and again, the photos Noah sent became the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
So many years of marriage now seemed like a joke, and perhaps it was time to end this farce once and for all.
Despite his weakness, Pervis forced himself to stand. His legs wobbled beneath him, but determination carried him forward. He pulled on his jacket with mechanical precision and stepped out into the cold night air.
The taxi ride to the hospital passed in a blur of streetlights and silence.
The hospital’s fluorescent lights were harsh against his fevered skin as Pervis made his way through the familiar corridors. He’d walked these halls so many times that his feet carried him automatically to the hematology wing.
Anna stood outside Noah’s room, her posture rigid and her expression cold. She wore the same designer coat she’d bought last month—with his money, he realized with a bitter twist of irony.
“You’re late,” she said without looking up from her phone. Her tone carried the same indifference she might use with a delivery person. “I texted you an hour ago.”
Pervis studied his wife’s face, searching for any trace of the woman he’d fallen in love with. Her features remained as beautiful as ever, but there was something hollow in her eyes when she finally looked at him.
“I said you’re late, Pervis. Noah’s been waiting.”
“I heard you the first time,” he replied, his voice steady despite the fever coursing through him.
Anna’s eyebrows rose slightly at his tone—it was unlike him to respond with anything other than immediate compliance.
“Are you feeling unwell? You look terrible.”
“I’m fine,” Pervis said, though they both knew it was a lie. “But I have something to discuss with you before I give blood.”
“Discuss?” Anna’s lips pressed into a thin line. “What could we possibly need to discuss? Noah needs a transfusion, and you’re the only compatible donor we trust. It’s simple.”
“Is it?” Pervis reached into his jacket pocket, his fingers closing around the folded papers he’d prepared weeks ago but never had the courage to present. “I want to make a deal with you, Anna.”
Anna’s expression shifted from impatience to suspicion. She crossed her arms, the gesture creating an invisible barrier between them.
“A deal? What kind of deal?” Anna’s expression shifted to one of weary annoyance. “How much money do you want this time, Pervis? I’ve already given you more than enough to live comfortably. Must you always be so greedy?”
“Stop with your endless jealousy and childish temper. I’m only taking care of my best friend’s younger brother. Even if you want to sulk, there should be a limit,” Anna said with a frown of helplessness.
“I don’t need a single penny,” Pervis said calmly, his voice steady despite the fever burning through him. “I only need you to sign this document.”
Anna’s frown deepened as she stared at the papers in his hands. The fluorescent hospital lights cast harsh shadows across her face, making her expression appear even colder than usual.
“What is this document?” she demanded, her tone sharp with irritation.
Before Pervis could respond, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the corridor. A doctor in white scrubs rushed out of Noah’s room, his face etched with concern and frustration.
“Mrs. Anna!” the doctor called out breathlessly. “Noah is throwing a tantrum again. He’s refusing all treatment and demanding to see you. If you don’t go in there right now, he won’t cooperate with the transfusion procedure.”
Anna’s entire demeanor transformed in an instant. The cold mask she wore around Pervis melted away, replaced by a warm, pampering smile that lit up her features. It was a smile Pervis had never seen her direct toward him—not once in their four years of marriage.
“Of course, I’ll be right there,” Anna said softly to the doctor, her voice filled with genuine concern and affection.
Without even glancing at the document properly, Anna grabbed a pen from her purse and scrawled her signature across the bottom of the page. She thrust the papers back at Pervis with careless indifference.
“Whatever you want to buy, just buy it,” she said dismissively, already turning toward Noah’s room. “A new car, electronics, clothes—I don’t care. As long as you keep giving Noah blood, I can agree to any request you have.”
She paused at the doorway, not bothering to look back at him. “Just make sure you’re ready for the transfusion in ten minutes.”
With that, Anna disappeared into Noah’s room, leaving Pervis standing alone in the sterile corridor. Through the slightly open door, he could hear her voice become gentle and soothing as she spoke to Noah.
Pervis looked down at the signed divorce papers in his hands, his face remaining completely expressionless. The document felt both weightless and infinitely heavy at the same time. After four years of being treated like nothing more than a walking blood bank, it was finally over.
In the silence of his heart, one thought echoed clearly: There will be no next time.
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
