In Exchange of Her Heart

Chapter 3: Truth

= Janine =

The door burst open, shattering the quiet hum of the room. I was propped up in bed, a book resting in my hands, though I hadn’t turned a page in what felt like ages. Reading was my only refuge, a thin veil against the storm brewing inside me after my last conversation with Richard.

“Mom,” I said, my tone ice-cold as I closed the book and set it aside. My eyes met hers, sharp and unyielding. “You’re finally here.”

She stood in the doorway, a frantic silhouette against the light, her usually composed face etched with panic. It wasn’t like her to look so unguarded, so vulnerable.

“D-Did someone visit you today?” she asked, her voice trembling.

I clenched my jaw, studying her expression as unease crept over me. Her agitation was unmistakable, her gaze flitting toward the hallway as if searching for answers she already feared. She must’ve run into Richard.

“Yes,” I said slowly, watching her reaction. “A man was here earlier. He said his name was Richard…Carter.”

Her breath caught sharply, and she pressed trembling hands to her mouth.

I felt a heavy knot forming in my stomach, suspicion clawing its way to certainty. I needed to know the truth. “He told me he’s my father.” I hesitated, the next words catching in my throat. “And that I have a twin sister.”

Her reaction was instant—violent in its intensity. She gasped, staggering back as though the weight of my words had struck her like a physical blow. I’d never seen her so shaken; her composure utterly unraveled.

“So, it’s true?” I demanded, my voice rising as the cracks in my resolve widened. “I have a twin sister. And you never told me?”

“Janine, please—”

“No!” I snapped, the force of my anger ricocheting around the room. “Don’t you dare ‘please’ me!” My voice cracked, the floodgates of a lifetime’s worth of pain and betrayal spilling over. “My whole life has been a battle just to stay alive, and now I find out I have a twin? Someone who’s a part of me, and you kept that from me? Why?!”

Emotion overtook reason as the weight of her silence crushed me. The fury, the despair, the years of exhaustion—it all boiled over in an unstoppable tide. My chest tightened, each breath becoming a desperate fight for air. My vision blurred, edges darkening as a faint ringing filled my ears.

The last thing I saw was her stricken face, her lips forming my name in a cry that never reached me before the darkness pulled me under.

The next time consciousness claimed me, the world around me was a storm of noise and motion. A team of doctors and nurses swarmed my bedside, their voices weaving an urgent symphony of medical jargon as they fought to stabilize me. My mother stood frozen in the corner, her face streaked with tears as her fingers clutched a rosary, the beads trembling in her hands.

I tried to speak, to call out, but my body betrayed me. My chest burned with a pain so fierce it stole the breath I didn’t have, and darkness soon swallowed me again.

When I surfaced once more, the chaos had subsided, replaced by a fragile stillness. The room was dim, and my mother sat slumped in a chair by the bed, her hands shielding her face as soft sobs wracked her frame. Standing beside her was Richard Carter. One arm rested lightly on her shoulders, his expression shadowed, his sharp blue eyes unreadable.

It was Richard who noticed me first. His gaze snapped to mine, piercing and alert. He touched my mother’s arm gently, his voice a low murmur.

“She’s awake.”

Her head shot up at his words. She was at my side in an instant, gripping my hand with a desperation that made my throat tighten.

“Janine,” she breathed, her voice thick with emotion. “Do you feel okay? Is there any pain? Please, tell me.”

But I couldn’t answer her. My eyes flickered between her tear-streaked face and Richard’s stoic one, a storm of questions brewing inside me. The energy to voice them, however, remained out of reach.

“You need to rest,” Richard said, his voice firm yet not without warmth. “We’ll talk when you’re stable.”

His words hung in the air, the last thing I heard before exhaustion dragged me back under, into the weightless void of sleep.

The third time I woke, the world around me was still. The room was cloaked in silence, the window revealing a darkened sky punctuated by the faint, distant glow of city lights. Beside my bed sat my mother, her hands folded tightly in her lap, her expression etched with a weariness that mirrored my own.

“Mom?” I rasped, my throat raw and dry.

Her head snapped up instantly, her eyes wide as relief flooded her face. She leaned forward, her fingers tenderly brushing my hair away from my forehead.

“You’re awake,” she whispered, her voice trembling with emotion.

I swallowed hard, the dryness in my throat making the action painful. “He said I have a twin. Is it true?”

For a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath. My mother’s face crumpled as tears pooled in her eyes, her hesitation cutting through me like a blade.

“Mom,” I pressed, my voice faltering. “Please. I need to know.”

She inhaled sharply, her grip on my hand tightening as though grounding herself. “Yes,” she finally admitted, the single word weighted with years of hidden truth. “You have a twin sister. Her name is Eleanor.”

Her confession sent a ripple through me, a weight settling heavily in my chest. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, my voice trembling as I grappled with this new reality.

“It’s complicated,” she said, her voice barely audible. “When you were born, your father and I… we made a choice. Eleanor went with him, and I kept you. We…believed it was for the best. I didn’t want you to grow up in his world.”

“His world?” I echoed, confusion and dread coiling in my stomach.

She shook her head, tears streaking her cheeks. “It doesn’t matter now. What matters is you, Janine.”

Her words cut deep, the truth of my situation settling over me like a shroud. My heart was failing, its time running out. Before I could respond, she continued, her voice cracking.

“Your father came here because he has…a solution,” she said, barely holding herself together. “Eleanor… she was in an accident. She’s brain dead, Janine. But her heart is still beating. He’s offering it to you.”

Her words slammed into me like a physical blow, leaving me breathless.

“He says you can take her place,” she continued, her voice a fragile thread. “He’ll tell everyone you’re Eleanor. You’ll live, Janine. You’ll have her heart and her life.”

I stared at her, the enormity of her plea crashing down on me. To take my twin sister’s heart, whom I haven’t met? To become her in the eyes of the world? The thought twisted something deep inside me.

“I… I can’t,” I whispered, shaking my head as tears blurred my vision. “I can wait. What if she wakes up and—"

“You have to,” she pleaded, her desperation palpable. “Please, Janine. I can’t lose you too.”

Her words shattered something within me. For as long as I could remember, she’d fought tooth and nail to keep me alive, giving up so much to grant me even a fragile chance at life. And now, she was asking me to make the most unimaginable choice.

“But Eleanor… she’s your daughter too,” I said, my voice breaking under the weight of my anguish.

My words struck her like a blow, and her tears fell harder.

“Yes,” she choked out, her voice cracking. “And this is the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. But I can’t lose you both. It would destroy me.”

Before I could find a response, the door creaked open, and a man I recognized as Richard stepped inside. His presence filled the room like a storm cloud, the unspoken tension settling thick between us.