Brother-in-Law's Crisis, Wife's Drifting with Childhood Friend

My wife's brother Vito Reed fell from a height while installing an air conditioner and wanted to see my wife Vita Reed before he died.

I hurriedly called Vita, but it was her childhood friend Toby Lee who answered the phone.

"We are going to go rafting and will be back in two days. Don't be angry, Ron!"

"Vito is in the ICU. Come back soon!"

I shouted anxiously, but I heard Vita's angry scolding, "Vito is very healthy. Don't curse him!"

Before I could explain, he hung up the phone.

I called again, but the phone was turned off.

Seeing Vito die, I could only cry and apologize, "I'm sorry. I didn't get Vita back."

Three days later, Vita finally came back.

But she said I killed her brother.

I had just returned home from shopping for groceries when I received a call from the boss of the construction site.

"Vito fell from the eleventh floor while installing an air conditioner. He's now in the hospital. Come here quickly!"

Hearing that, I quickly put down the food in my hand and ran to the hospital.

During that period, I kept calling Vita, but no one answered.

Vito was Vita's younger brother. He just turned eighteen that year. After finishing the SAT, he was sent by Vita to a construction site to experience life.

At the time, I strongly opposed it. Vita was a backbone of the hospital and I had made some money from stock trading. There was no need for Vito to work to make a living.

But Vita was determined, and Vito didn't want to disappoint her who was his only family since childhood, so he agreed.

But I didn't expect something like that would happen!

When I arrived at the hospital, Vita still didn't answer the phone.

The doctor in charge of the treatment wore a mask and looked at me apologetically, "The patient is too seriously injured. Just go and see him for the last time."

The last time?

I was so frightened that I could be unsteady on my feet.

Vito was only eighteen years old. Before he went out that morning, he smiled and told me that he wanted to eat steak. Now...how did he become a dying man?

"Ron..."

Vito was wearing an oxygen mask, and his face was covered in blood and was completely different from his original lively face.

I burst into tears all of a sudden, holding his hand tightly and shaking my head.

"You can't die. You are our only family..."

"Ron, where's my sister?"

I cried and shook my head, not daring to tell him that his beloved sister had not answered my calls yet.

"Let me see my sister for the last time, okay?"

His voice was already quite weak, and I knew that might be the last time they would see each other.

I was totally panicked.

But I could only pretend to be calm and said, "I will definitely help you call your sister back."

After leaving the ward, I called Vita again.

Fortunately, the call finally went through.

"Ron Gray, what's up?"

It was Toby who answered the phone!

"I forgot to tell you that we are going to go rafting and will be back in two days. Don't be angry, Ron!"

His tone was smug, but I ignored it and yelled into the phone,

"Vito is in the ICU. Come back soon!"

I shouted anxiously, but I heard Vita's angry scolding, "Vito is very healthy. Don't curse him!"

On the other end of the phone, Vita was impatient and disgusted.

"Come back quickly. Vito is really dying..."

Before I could finish, he hung up the phone again.

I could clearly feel that Vito's breathing was gradually getting weaker on the hospital bed.

He was like a glass that would break if touched slightly.

I accompanied him from childhood to adulthood. Since he started middle school, I had been the one who picked him up and dropped him off every day.

Rather than saying he was my brotherinlaw, he was more like my son.

That was his only wish before he died, and I must help him realize it!

I pinched my thigh hard and forced myself to calm down.

Vita had just left the house not long before, so if I chased them now, there was a high probability that I would meet them at the highway intersection.

Then I hurriedly walked out, holding on to the wall. I drove straight towards the highway to intercept them, not daring to waste any time.

Sure enough, I saw Toby's car!

In the passenger seat, Vita was laughing so hard that her body was shaking. I didn't know what they were talking about, but their actions were very sweet.

She was always reserved in front of me and never willing to show such a lively side of her.

I felt angry, but thinking of Vito lying on the hospital bed, I got out of the car and walked over quickly.

When Vita saw me, the smile on her face froze for a moment, then she rolled down the window with a sullen face.

All the warmth she had while she was just chatting with Toby disappeared.

"Ron, why are you here?"

She looked at me with disgust, as if I was something shameful and shouldn't be there to disturb them.

"Come back to the hospital with me."

I leaned on the car window and asked her to leave with me in a calm voice.

She rolled her eyes at me and looked at me with contempt and incredulity.

"What? Vito just said this morning that he was going to rest today. In order to keep me from going out, you can even come up with such a lame excuse!"

Vita was sure that I was lying to her and was about to roll up the car window.

I quickly blocked it with my hand and almost got pinched and bled. She quickly stopped me, and her originally contemptuous face was now full of anger.

"Get lost! You are becoming more and more shameless. If Vito didn't like you, I would have divorced you long ago!"

After saying that, she shook my hand off fiercely.

Toby cooperated with her and flew out with a step on the accelerator.

I quickly chased after them and shouted, "I swear everything I said is true! Vito fell from the eleventh floor while on duty for a coworker today and is almost dead now!

"Please, go back and see him!"

I shouted and my tears almost flowed down again.

Thinking of Vito's weak appearance, I couldn't control my tears anymore.

I couldn't catch up with them. When I was finally about to fall down, their car stopped.

I ran up excitedly, but saw Vita get out of the car in high heels, looking at me with disgust.

"Ron, your trick is no longer useful."

In the past, I cried every time I wanted to win her back.

But I didn't expect that she would still think about me like that at such a critical moment!

Before I could say anything, Toby in the driver's seat also got out of the car.

He took Vita's hand and persuaded her, "Vita, let's go quickly. We will be too late."

After he finished speaking, he shook his head and sighed, "Vito likes you so much, but It turns out that you only treat him as a tool."

"You have no right to speak here!"

I couldn't control myself anymore and looked at him angrily.

But I didn't expect that Vita was even angrier than him.

A slap immediately hit my face.

Vita was so angry that she was shaking, "Ron, are you through? I just want to go out for fun. Why you have to stop me in this way? Let's get divorced when Vito goes to college!"

After saying that, she walked away smartly in her high heels.

I stood there, watching the exhaust fumes from their speeding car, and my eyes were welling with tears.

When I returned to the hospital, Vito was still alive.

"Vita... isn't she here yet?"

I wiped my tears and didn't dare to speak, but Vito seemed to understand everything.

He forced a smile and reached out to squeeze my wrist.

"Ron, you have suffered much over the years..."

When I heard that, I couldn't control myself anymore and burst into tears.

"I'm sorry, Vito. I'm useless!"

"No... you are the best person to me. My sister..." Before he could finish his words, his tears kept flowing out and his words were unclear.

"After I die, scatter me in the sea. I don't want to be buried underground. I'm afraid of the dark."

When Vito was very young, Vita had just started working.

Since there was no way to keep him with her all the time, she locked him in the room.

Sometimes when it was late and she wasn't home, Vito would curl up in a small corner alone and not dare to open his eyes until she came back.

Only I knew those things.

I nodded while crying and promised him, "Don't worry. I won't let you down."

As soon as I finished speaking, the cardiac monitor showed a straight line.

He had held on for two hours, but couldn't hold on any longer.

I couldn't stop crying. The doctors and nurses came in and expressed their condolences.

He was alive and well the day before, but now was dead.

I threw myself on him and cried my heart out.

He just wanted to see his sister who was his only family since childhood.

He didn't even realize such a simple wish.

It seemed that Toby's position in her heart was more important than even that of her closest brother!

I stayed with Vito's body in despair while numbly contacting the funeral home.

Originally, I wanted to give Vita another call.

But I accidentally saw Toby's Moments.

He and Vita had arrived at the drifting site. They were now wearing life jackets and preparing to drift.

Vita snuggled up to him, looking extremely sweet.

I smiled sarcastically and turned off my phone.

When I came to my senses again, the funeral home had already handed Vito's urn to me.

I took Vito's urn back home.

The sea burial was scheduled for three days later. During those three days, I bought white calla lilies to mourn him.

During those three days, Vita didn't call once.

I was heartbroken and just as I was about to leave with the urn, I received a call from Vita.

"Tell Vito to check his SAT scores today."

Vita's tone was cold. If she hadn't been unable to get through to Vito, I didn't think she would have called me directly.

She didn't explain to me what she had done in the past three days at all and treated me like a complete stranger.

"Got it." I replied coldly.

Just as I was about to hang up the phone, Vita thought of something and said, "Vito's grades are pretty good, so he should do well in the SAT. You find a restaurant and let's have dinner together to celebrate it today."

I didn't say anything.

Vita didn't know yet that the brother she cared so much about had turned into the ashes in my hand.

"Are you listening?"

She sounded impatient, "Remember to tell Vito that. He is probably having a good time and hasn't been answering my calls."

"Let's talk about it later."

I gave her an ambiguous answer and hung up.

If I continued to talk with her, the sea burial would be overdue.

After a while, Vita called again.

"Ron, how dare you hang up on me!"

She scolded me through the phone, and I was already exhausted.

"Talk to him yourself."

I texted her an address and turned my phone off.

I wondered if she could still be so arrogant when she found out that her brother had been burned to ashes.