The hospital lights flickered, dim and worn out. Rita sat by Faro’s bedside, holding his trembling hand. His skin was yellowing, his strength failing, his eyes dim with pain. Three failed artificial liver sessions had left him barely conscious.
The doctor whispered the verdict:
“Only a transplant can save him now… but only a genetic match will work. Your son, Cal Faros, is the only viable donor.”
Rita knew what she had to do.
South Spire, ClownCorp Tower – Cal’s Office
The elevator chimed open. Rita stepped out, pale, underdressed, exhausted. Security looked her up and down but said nothing. They knew who she was.
Inside the marble-clad office, Cal Faros sat behind a shimmering desk with Ronda Riy lounging nearby, sipping a glittering Clown Cola. Cal’s son played with a hover-toy on the rug.
Rita dropped to her knees before Cal.
“Please. Faro is dying. You’re the only one who can save him. We don’t have time for pride or grudges. He’s your father.”
Cal didn’t rise. He stared at Rita with calm detachment.
“No,” he said flatly.
Rita blinked. “W-what?”
“I said no. He made his choices. I made mine. He abandoned this family when he married you mother, his own maternal aunt and had a child with you his aunty. I don’t owe him anything. Not blood. Not flesh.”
Rita trembled. “But he saved you! When Flint stabbed you—when you were bleeding out—it was Faro who carried you to the hospital! Who begged the gods for your life!”
Cal leaned back, sipping his enhanced cola.
“And I thanked him. Once. That debt’s paid.”
Silence fell. Even Ronda Riy looked disturbed now. The girl stopped playing.
Rita’s voice cracked.
“You’re condemning your own step-father to die.”
Cal’s gaze was icy.
“I’m letting nature run its course.”
Back at the Hospital
Hours later, Rita returned, empty-handed. She knelt beside Faro, whispering the truth.
“He… he wouldn’t do it.”
Faro, too weak to speak, only blinked once. A tear slid from the corner of his eye.
Rain battered the rusted hospital windows. Outside, sirens howled as civil war deepened, and inside, Faro Faros clung to his last shreds of life—his hope now shattered by the son he once carried in his arms.
