My Husband Donated Our Emergency Savings

My mother suffered a heart attack. We had to pay a deposit of thirty thousand dollars before she could receive bypass surgery. I borrowed money from all my relatives and friends and scraped together this life-saving sum. When I was queuing to pay the fee, my husband said, “Why don’t you go get your mom some water to keep her hydrated? I’ll wait in line and handle the payment.” When I returned with the cup of water, I saw him giving the stack of cash to a family member of a patient he had just met. “Hey, we crossed paths for a reason, man. Take this for now. You clearly need it more. We’re fine on our end, trust me,” he said boastfully and patted his chest. He had always been a show-off. A nurse stood outside the resuscitation room with a consent form in her hand as she shouted for a family member to sign. My mother’s heart monitor had already gone flat. Chapter 1 “Max! What are you doing?” I charged forward like a madwoman and grabbed the man that my husband, Mas, addressed as “John.” I reached out to snatch that stack of cash from his hand. Max, however, seized my wrist firmly. “Have you lost your mind? Quit acting crazy in public!” I stumbled and fell hard to the floor. Max straightened his suit tie and did not even glance at me. The family members of other patients nearby all turned to stare. Noticing the crowd’s attention, Max said loudly, “Excuse me, everyone! My wife doesn’t know any better. She’s never been out in the real world. “John’s mother is in the ER right now. Without these thirty thousand dollars, she’s done for. “You have to have a sense of decency. I’m a successful business owner, for crying out loud. How could I just stand by and let someone die?” John wiped his tears and said, “Mr. Grove, you’re a lifesaver! My whole family thanks you. I swear, I’ll pay you back first thing tomorrow morning!” John stuffed the cash into his jacket pocket and walked toward the stairwell. “Stop! That money was for my mom’s bypass surgery! Give it back!” I scrambled to my feet, crawling and stumbling. I tried to chase after John. Max blocked my path firmly. “Enough already! It’s just thirty thousand dollars! “Do you have to make such a scene? You’re embarrassing me!” Just then, the nurse pushed open the resuscitation room door. She held several forms in her hand and looked around anxiously. “Is the family of the patient at Bed 3 present? Has the deposit been paid or not? “The patient’s in a critical condition. We need to start surgery right now, or we’re going to lose her.” Hearing this, my legs went weak, and I collapsed in front of Max. “Max, please get the money back! “My mother’s still lying there! Without the money, they won’t give us the equipment, and she’s going to die because of it! Max just pursed his lips and said indifferently, “Will you calm down? John promised he’d pay it back tomorrow. He got two houses on the market. “Just think of it as helping out a friend in a pinch! You don’t get anywhere in life without networking, you know?” At that moment, it finally hit me. He was never going to help me get that money back. I could only rely on myself. I did not even bother to put on my shoes. I ran barefoot toward the payment counter. I pulled up PayPal and Cash App, scraping together the only few hundred dollars left in my balance. “Can I put down six hundred dollars for now? I’ll get the rest immediately. Please, just operate on my mom first!” The cashier looked at me helplessly at the counter. “Sorry, ma’am. We have to follow the hospital policy. These are expensive medical supplies. We need the full deposit upfront before we can pull them from the blood bank.” I walked to a corner and scrolled through my phone to search for any contact who might lend me money. Just then, my eldest uncle, Oswald, called. “Lainey, your mother can’t afford to wait. I pulled my savings out early and have twenty thousand dollars for you. I’ll lose the interest, but it’s fine. Just take it and save her.” Chapter 2 Tears streamed down my face. “Thank you, Uncle Oswald! Did you send the money yet?” He sighed and said, “I transferred it to Max. He insisted on adding his Amex Black Card as a payment method on my account a while back. He said it was so he could cover dinner whenever we ate out together.” My heart dropped. I hung up abruptly and rushed back to the hallway. Max was holding his phone, staring at the incoming transfer notification on the screen. I lunged at him and grabbed his arm tightly. “Uncle Oswald sent you the money, didn’t he? Hurry! Go swipe your card at the cashier and put that twenty thousand toward the deposit now!” Max rolled his eyes and slipped his phone into his pocket, then clamped his hand over it. “No way! That money is off-limits right now.” “Why? That’s the money to save my mother’s life!” Max snorted and pointed at me. “I already talked to the chief of cardiothoracic surgery. He did us a huge favor. “I’ve got to use these twenty thousand dollars to buy a couple of cartons of premium cigarettes and treat the chief to a fine dinner. You need to show a little appreciation, you know? “That’s how the world works, sweetheart. You keep the chief happy, and the surgery is basically a done deal.” I looked at him in utter disbelief. At that moment, we did not even have enough money for the surgery, yet he was thinking of using the life-saving funds to treat strangers and build connections. “Give me that money!” I reached for his pocket. “Back off! Learn some manners!” Max flew into a rage and slapped me. He straightened his wrinkled collar and put on a helpless expression as he sighed to the onlookers. “I’m sorry you all had to see that. My wife isn’t quite right in the head. She gets triggered easily. “She acts crazy at home all the time. I put up with it every single day. Honestly, what did I do to deserve this?” I touched my face and collapsed onto the floor. I felt completely defeated. Just then, an elderly white-haired doctor passed by with a ward-round cart. Seeing my state, he frowned and walked over to ask what had happened. After learning about my situation, he let out a sigh and said, “Saving the patient is what matters right now. I’m Mark Myer, the associate director of cardiac surgery. I’ll use my hospital badge to guarantee the deposit for you. Go pick up the supplies first.” I was overwhelmed with gratitude as I thanked Mark repeatedly. “Thank you so much! You just saved my mother’s life!” Mark pulled out his pen and was about to sign the guarantee form. Then, a large hand reached over, snatched the form away, and tore it to shreds. Max looked at Mark with an arrogant expression. “Stay out of it, old man! This doesn’t concern you. “I’ve got a reputation to maintain. If word gets out that my own mother-in-law needed some other guy to cosign for her surgery, I’d be a laughingstock. “People’d think I’m some broke loser who can’t even scrape together thirty thousand dollars.” Mark turned pale with anger. He pointed at Max and was speechless for a moment. “Are you out of your mind?! We’re talking about human life here!” Max looked down at him in contempt. Mark stormed off in a huff. ‘That heartless monster!’ I thought. I sprang up from the floor and bit down hard on his wrist. Just then, the nurse rushed out of the resuscitation room again and shouted at me. “Her blood pressure just crashed! We can’t find a pulse anymore! “Have you paid or not?! If you don’t pay right now, we have to stop treatment!” Hearing this, I stopped and stood in front of Max. “Please, Max, I’ll do anything! Just take out that twenty thousand dollars that my uncle set aside and use it! “Just think of it as a loan! I’ll spend the rest of my life paying you back!” Max held his bloody wrist and looked at me in disgust. “Enough with the begging already! You’re humiliating yourself. “The truth is, I don’t have it anymore.” Chapter 3 “I already sent the twenty thousand dollars to John.” My mind went blank as I looked at him. “W-What did you say?” “John texted me on WhatsApp and said that his mother’s surgery and the follow-up care are still short by twenty thousand dollars,” Max said while holding out his palms as if it were the most natural thing. “Look, I said I’d help him. I don’t do things halfway. I go all the way. “I’ve got an image to keep, so I just covered the rest for him. No way I’m letting him look desperate and cheap running around asking people for money. That’d reflect badly on me.” My vision almost went dark as I looked at him. Oswald sent the money to me to save my mother’s life. How could he just hand it all over to a stranger just to feed his own ridiculous vanity? I had to get it back! I stood up and dashed frantically toward the stairwell. Max grabbed my hair from behind and pinned me down onto a bench in the hallway. “Stay put! I’m not having you humiliate me out there!” He then turned toward the bystanders with a smile and handed out cigarettes to those around him. “Hey man, cigarette? Don’t mind her! She’s just being dramatic. Women, right? They just can’t see the big picture. They don’t get how the world works.” I collapsed onto the bench and stared at the tightly closed doors of the resuscitation room. Just then, a rapid set of footsteps echoed from the end of the hallway. My best friend, Holly, ran over as she panted. “Lainey! I sold my old car. It only got me ten thousand dollars, but it’s fine. Just take the money and go save your mother.” Max, who had been smoking nearby, saw that stack of cash, and his eyes lit up. He lunged forward in one swift motion and reached out to snatch it. “Well, well… Look at you, Holly, being all helpful and sensible! “Perfect! Now I’ve got the cash to take the chief to that five-star restaurant across the street.” Holly flew into rage. She kicked Max hard in his knee. “Get lost! Who do you think you are? How could you steal this money to go eat and drink while Lainey’s mother is dying?” Holly shielded me, grabbed my arm, and pulled me toward the cashier. Max felt utterly humiliated in front of everyone because a woman had kicked him. He chased after us in a fit of angry embarrassment and blocked the counter. “Holly, stay out of this! This is my family’s business. “As long as I’m standing here, this money is not getting handed over like some pathetic surrender! You think I have no dignity?!” Holly and I exchanged a glance. We charged at Max together. He lost his balance. We slammed into him hard, and he fell flat on his back. I seized the moment and gave the ten thousand dollars, along with the crumpled few hundred dollars, to the cashier. “Here, please just take what I’ve got!” The cashier looked at her screen, typed something in, and then shook her head. “I’m sorry, but we just got word that the cheaper stent is out of stock. “That means we have to go with the imported version. On top of what you already owe for the bed and the ER care, your new deposit is fifty thousand dollars. “Ten thousand dollars is nowhere near enough.” Hearing that, I collapsed to the floor. Fifty thousand dollars! I had already called everyone I knew. Holly had even sold her car. I truly could not borrow a single cent more from anyone. Max brushed the dust off his pants and stood up. “I told you from the start this was pointless. “Your mother already had one foot in the grave. She was never worth spending that kind of money on. “You’ll just be dumping fifty thousand dollars down the drain. You’d be better off giving it to me so I can network with the right people.” I did not say anything. I just stared at Max. I could not say how long I waited. Then, without warning, the red light above the resuscitation room went out. The lead doctor walked out wearily, looked at me, and shook his head. “I’m so sorry. We did everything we could. “She didn’t make it. We couldn’t bring her back. I’m so sorry for your loss.”