Mrs. Miller yanked me over to her side again. As she held back her disgust, she tugged down the collar of my shirt to inspect my shoulder.
“The birthmark matches too. Honey, this is really our son!” she said.
My adoptive mother finally gave up struggling. She lay limp on the ground, her eyes filled with venom as she glared at me.
Under the envious gazes of the villagers, I stepped into the luxury car.
The familiar countryside faded into the distance as we drove away. I was finally returning to the Miller Family.
On the way, no one spoke. Maybe it was because we had been separated for too long. The silence was heavy.
Then suddenly, Mrs. Miller’s phone rang. Her face lit up with the gentlest, most doting smile the moment she saw the caller ID.
"Leo, Daddy and Mommy are on their way back. Be good at the hospital, okay? You’ll be able to have your surgery very soon.”
The person on the other end was my older brother, Leo Miller. He’d been suffering from leukemia since childhood and he was their most precious treasure.
As for me … I was born for the sole purpose of saving him.
I never expected that after all these years away, he’d still be alive.
The moment we got back to the Miller residence, Mrs. Miller instructed a maid to show me to the bathroom so I could shower.
Inside the bathroom, I tried turning on the hot water, but could not figure out how. I was about to go ask for help from the maid when I heard voices coming from my room.
I quietly turned on the water to mask any sound, then leaned close to the bathroom door and peeked through the gap.
I heard Mrs. Miller ask Mr. Miller, “That boy's name, David Brown, is so awful. Should we just change it back?”
Mr. Miller snorted. “Why bother? He’s just a walking blood bank for Leo. Whatever his name doesn’t even matter.”
Mrs. Miller agreed. “I’ll have the maid slip something in his water. Once he falls asleep, we’ll head to the hospital. Leo can’t wait any longer.”
They walked out of the room as they talked.
I quietly closed the bathroom door and took a cold shower instead.
When I finished taking a bath, sure enough, there was a glass of water waiting for me on the nightstand.
I poured half of it into the sink and carefully placed the cup back to make it look like I’d drunk it. Then I lay on the bed and closed my eyes.
The mattress was soft and I was bone-tired. For just a second, I actually wanted to fall asleep. However, I pinched my thigh hard enough to jolt myself awake.
Time passed for a long time as I was waiting while pretending to sleep. Eventually, the bedroom door creaked open.
Mrs. Miller's voice came softly by my ear. “David? David?”
I kept my eyes closed and did not answer her.
A few moments later, several people came in. Quietly, they lifted me from the bed.
I was carried into the same van they’d used to bring Caleb. The ride was not long before the van came to a stop. Then they carried me off the hall.
I heard Mrs. Miller speaking. “Doctor, this is Leo’s biological younger brother. Hurry up with the transplant.”
The doctor sounded uncertain. “Young Master Miller’s last transplant failed because the bone marrow didn’t match. His body is already rejecting it. If it happens again, the consequences could be fatal.”
“I recommend running another compatibility test. Just to be sure," he advised.
Mrs. Miller immediately became worried. "No! Leo couldn't wait anymore! A new test takes days! His condition’s deteriorating by the hour! Can you guarantee he’ll live long enough to wait for results?"
The doctor didn’t respond.
Mrs. Miller pushed on, “I had this child through IVF. We screened the embryo beforehand to make sure he’d be a matching transplant donor for Leo. Last time, we made a mistake because we had the wrong boy. However, this one is his true biological brother. There’s no mistake now!”
“Just do the surgery. I want Leo to live!” she urged.
Mr. Miller added earnestly, “Doctor, we promise you, he is Leo's real brother.”
Eventually, he blew a breath of defeat and said, "Alright."
They pushed me into the operating room.
Since they had already drugged me with a sleeping pill, Mr. and Mrs. Miller were afraid additional anesthesia would interfere with a successful bone marrow retraction for Leo. So, they told the doctor not to give him any anesthesia.
The doctor began extracting bone marrow from my spine and a wave of excruciating pain crashed over me. However. to keep them from realizing I was still conscious, I clenched my jaw and endured it.
Just as I was about to pass out from the pain, the bone marrow extraction finally ended.
They wheeled me out of the operating room. The doctor took my bone marrow to be transplanted into Leo.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller had no time to look at me. They paced anxiously in front of the OR, their faces full of worry.
A long while passed before the doors finally opened.
Mrs. Miller rushed forward, her voice filled with hope. “Doctor, how’s Leo? The surgery was a success, right?”
However, the doctor shook his head. “There was a rejection during the procedure. You’ll need to sign a critical condition notice.”
Mr. Miller looked stunned. “Rejection? How? Is he really our biological son?”
Mrs. Miller froze. Her eyes snapped to me who was still lying motionless on the gurney.
“Rejection? That’s impossible! We screened the match before he was born! Unless … unless he’s not our son at all!”
