Mike carried his wife in his arms and flew towards the hospital as fast as possible. Once he landed on his feet, he rushed through the entrance and demanded the receptionist to get a stretcher and a doctor to care for his wife.

“It's an emergency!” He shouted at them, startling everyone there.

A female doctor hurried over upon hearing about the commotion and immediately checked on his wife's condition. Realising that his wife was in a dangerous situation, she quickly gave instructions for the nurse to take the patient in.

Mike followed behind them with sweat pouring down his face and stopped outside the room while they took his wife in. There, he began walking back and forth in front of the door repeatedly with concern on his face.

A few minutes later, Samuel reached him and asked, “Did they take her in?”

Mike nodded wordlessly, continuing to walk back and forth while clapping his hands together. His friend could see that he was deeply troubled and worried for the wellbeing of his wife.

“Mike,” said Samuel, putting his hands gently on his friend's shoulder to reassure him. “She's in good hands.”

“I hope so,” said Mike, shrugging his friend's hand off his shoulder and walking back and forth nonstop.

While they waited, nurses walked in and out of the room hurriedly. Each time they walked in or out, Mike would desperately ask them whether his wife is safe or not. Instead of giving him a concrete reply, they merely told him she is currently being treated and that the doctor will tell him.

“Man!” Samuel said, looking annoyed by the recent nurse that spoke irritably at them for constantly asking the same question. “Couldn't they be considerate?”

Mike shook his head and said, “No, Sam. It's not their fault. It's my fault for constantly asking them the same question so many times over, but… I'm just so worried.”

Samuel did not say anything as he merely patted his friend on the back in a reassuring way. Just then, the doctor came out this time looking distressed.

“Doctor!” Mike said, jumping at her the moment he caught sight of her walking out of the room. “How's my wife? Is she safe? She will be fine right?”

“Just a minute…” she began and hesitated, realising she did not know his name.

“Mike,” he said, introducing himself as he figured out why she paused.

“Mike. Actually, it was good of you to bring her because she is really weak,” the female doctor said, but her smile was filled with sadness, “but I fear that she is slipping away.”

The blood in Mike's face seemed to have gotten drained from the shock of hearing such an unwelcome news. Samuel saw the state his friend was in and turned to ask the doctor in his place.

“What do you mean, doctor?”

The doctor turned to him and immediately said, “She has gone into labour, however her blood pressure is very weak and that's why she ended up with a complication that's now a risk to her life.”

Samuel widened his eyes in shock and began slowly asking, “You mean… she will...?”

The doctor shook her head and said, “We will not give up whatever chance we have to save both the mother and her child. If I don't, I wouldn't be doing justice to my duty as a doctor.”

Samuel felt reassured and smiled at her while nodding in agreement. He recognised her as the doctor that helped deliver his son several days ago, and had faith in her ability. There was just that the small doubt he had on the worried look she put that made him feel anxious.

“Please, doctor… please… save my wife,” pleaded Mike, recovering from his shock and putting both of his hands together in desperation. “I don't care what happens to my child but… please… I cannot live without my wife. Please… save her doctor…!”

She looked at him sadly and touched his hands with hers. Without saying another word, she whipped around and walked back in while giving further instructions to the nurses. For a while, the nurses kept going in and out as they brought in the necessary goods for the operation.

For nearly an hour, both Mike and Samuel remained silent as they sat in waiting chairs provided beside the walls of the room. Mike had his hands together in prayer, hoping for the best while Samuel looked down at the ground with worry. During that time, Samuel heard his close friend muttering his wife's name under his breath and felt a rise of great worry for him.

“It'll be fine, Mike,” he said in a reassuring voice, and Mike merely nodded his head wordlessly in agreement while continuing to mutter his wife's be understood his breath.

Several minutes later, the doctor walked out of the room looking very tired. Mike and Samuel quickly shot out of their chairs to their feet and moved anxiously towards her.

“Doctor…?” Mike asked slowly in an apprehensive voice.

“The baby was born successfully and healthy. Congratulations. It's a girl,” she informed them with a small smile on her face.

“A girl?!” Samuel exclaimed, thrilled to hear the news. He turned to his friend and said, “Mike! It's just like you and Grace wished for! She gave birth to a girl!”

Mike nodded at his friend, smiling happily at the good news. However, he was more concerned for his wife and turned back to the doctor to ask her about Grace's condition.

“How is my wife's doctor? She is fine right?”

At his question, her smile slowly faded and she looked depressed. Instantly, Mike registered that there was something wrong, and his smile faded from his face. Even Samuel understood that something was wrong and his smile, too, faded like writing on a whiteboard that was rubbed with an eraser.

“I'm… sorry to say this but… your wife… she's… passed away,” the doctor informed them in a heavy voice.

Mike's eyes slowly widened until they were big and round as he was filled with horror at the loss of his wife. He could not believe that his wife was gone, and the very thought of not being able to see her, watch her smile, and talk to her again utterly destroyed him.

From beside him, Samuel exclaimed, “What?! Grace's gone?! But you said you'll save them both!”

“I did all I ever could, sir,” she replied weakly, and looked close to tears. “I've… managed to help a lot of patients, and I gave her my utmost attention and care but… I...”

She trailed away, leaving a deadpan silence span between them. At that moment, there was a thud sound that came from Mike collapsing to his knees as his legs no longer supported him.

“Mike?” His friend asked, looking shocked to see his friend fall like that.

Mike did not respond, with his eyes widened to the limit and unblinking. He began muttering like a chant his wife's name repeatedly in a voice devoid of emotion.

“Grace… Grace… Grace… Grace… Grace…”

His close friend became very shocked by the sudden behaviour his friend was showing and said, “Mike! Snap out of it! Come on, man!”

He knelt down and shook his friend's shoulder only for him to sway vaguely before going back into his kneeling position with the same expression on his face. That was when Samuel realised the shock of losing Grace had caused Mike's mind to snap and lose all sense of himself. Sure enough, when the doctor kneeled and checked on him, she only shook her head sadly at the unfortunate thing that had happened.

“Mike!” Samuel shouted desperately, but his friend could no longer hear him with only the thought of his deceased wife filling his mind, making him continuously chant her name without pause.

[ ====== ]

“Mike lost his mind,” repeated Samuel after recounting the events that had occurred at the hospital tearfully. “My best friend... he's… not there anymore…!”

“Sam,” said Sarah slowly, moving forward and hugging her husband tightly by wrapping her arms around his back.

She was shocked by what had happened, and was deeply hurt to see her husband crying like this at the loss of his close friend. Sarah looked up at the ceiling of the house, but that was not what she was looking at as she shouted in anger.

“Are you satisfied now, God?! Satisfied that you destroyed two lives for your entertainment or whatever?! What wrong did Grace ever do to you? What mistake did Mike make for him to deserve this fate?! What have they done wrong to end up like this?! Why?!”

There was no answer, and she did not expect one from a being that was not there in front of her. She also did not waste her breath scolding a being that she believed was a cruel being, and turned her attention to her weeping husband.

“Sam…! Sam…!” She said gently, releasing him from her tight hug and began wiping away his tears. “Crying isn't a solution right now, and Grace wouldn't be happy to see us cry like some children that lost their toys. We're adults, and we have a duty to perform.”

Samuel slowly recovered from the tragic feeling and looked at her in wonder. She smiled at him and rubbed his hair gently to reassure him that everything will be alright.

“So, what about their daughter? Where is she now?” She asked him curiously.

“She's being taken care of by the nurses at the hospital,” he replied, suddenly cracking a smile on his saddened face. “She's really cute, much like her mother.”

“Oh! I'm sure Grace would've been happy about that,” replied his wife, smiling happily, “and what about Mike?”

Samuel paused for a moment before saying, “I admitted him to the mental instability institute because it's dangerous for him to stay outside. I… hope that he'll get cured soon and returns to us with the same old vigour he always had.”

“Yes.” Agreed his wife, nodding in understanding. “What about their daughter? What should we do?”

“I… want to look after her,” replied her husband in a quiet voice. “She's all that's left of the love between Grace and Mike.” He looked up at her and asked, “W-Will you... mind raising her with our son?”

Sarah looked at him in surprise before asking him, “Sam, I may have bossed you around, but I never once disagreed with your decisions. I may have tried to convince you, but I never said no outright and… I too want to raise her because she is the only remaining piece of the family that we once wanted to live together with.”

He looked at his wife in happiness before moving to hug her tightly while saying, “I'm happy, Sarah! Thank you for being my wife!”

“And I, too, am lucky to be graced by such a loving husband,” she replied as she hugged him back, and the two remained happily intertwined like that for a while.