The Medical Doctor's mother died in his arms

The hospital corridor was completely deserted and dead quiet. Ethan Cole stood alone under the flickering overhead light.

He held his cracked phone tightly to his ear. He dialed his wife for the twentieth time that night.

The line finally connected after a long pause. Loud party music and cheering burst through the tiny speaker.

"Who is this?" Ashley Ward snapped. The secretary sounded highly annoyed and impatient.

"Put Sophia on the phone right now," Ethan demanded. His voice was low and desperate.

"Director Morgan is very busy," Ashley scoffed. Her tone dripped with pure disgust and superiority.

"My mother is dying in the next room," Ethan begged. He gripped the plastic phone tighter.

Ashley let out a sharp and cruel laugh. She sounded like she just heard a hilarious joke.

"Your mother is dying? Good. That useless old hag deserves to die," Ashley sneered. Her voice dripped with nasty poison.

"Are you insane? Get my wife right now," Ethan shouted. His eyes went wide with sheer shock.

"Director Morgan is attending Young Master Chad Bennett's dog's birthday party," Ashley mocked. She smacked her lips in open disdain.

"A dog? A dog is more important than my mother?" Ethan asked. His hands shook violently by his sides.

"That dog is a purebred aristocrat. You and your mother are filthy street mutts," Ashley spat. Her tone was incredibly harsh and demeaning.

"You eat our leftovers. You live off the Morgan family like worthless bloodsucking parasites," Ashley insulted. She laughed cruelly into the receiver.

"Young Master Bennett feeds his dog premium steak. You cannot even afford a decent hospital room for that old woman," Ashley mocked. Her voice echoed with pure arrogance.

"If you want money for a cheap coffin, go beg on the street like a good dog," Ashley commanded. She clicked her tongue in sheer disgust.

"Tell Sophia to come to the hospital," Ethan pleaded. Hot tears welled up in his red eyes.

"This is a massive pharmaceutical networking event. Die quietly in your corner and do not ruin this," Ashley ordered. Her voice was ice cold and merciless.

She ended the call with a loud click.

Ethan stared at the black screen in his hand. His chest heaved up and down in the quiet hallway.

What did Sophia actually owe his dying mother? The real answer was absolutely everything.

For four long years, Ethan swallowed his own pride. He helped build Morgan Pharmaceuticals from absolute nothing.

He took them from the very edge of bankruptcy. Now they were a massive billion dollar empire.

Sophia stood in the bright spotlight every single day. But Helen Cole fixed every major crisis in the dark shadows.

His mother shielded her daughter in law from terrible consequences. Sophia never even knew those disasters were coming.

Sophia thought she was a natural business genius. She just reaped all the rewards of Helen's silent suffering.

And now, Sophia could not even spare five minutes. She chose a rich man's pet over the woman who gave her everything.

Ethan pushed the heavy wooden door open. He stepped quietly into the dim hospital room.

Helen Cole lay flat on the white bed. Her wrinkled skin was pale like white ghost paper.

"Is she coming?" Helen whispered. Her voice was incredibly weak and raspy.

"She is stuck in terrible traffic. She is on her way," Ethan lied. He forced a very fake smile onto his face.

"Do not blame her. She is so busy with her important work," Helen murmured. She offered a frail and broken smile.

Helen reached weakly under her thin hospital pillow. Her trembling hands pulled out a thick stack of old papers.

"Take this to the factory," Helen coughed. Dark red blood spilled from her pale lips onto the clean white sheets.

"What is this, Mom?" Ethan asked. He gently wiped the fresh blood from her chin.

"The Phoenix Remedy. I prepared it specifically for Morgan Pharmaceuticals," Helen wheezed. Her breathing grew very shallow and rapid.

"Give it to Old Sam at the factory. Have him present it to Sophia in his own name," Helen instructed. She gripped his wrist with sudden strength.

"Why his name? You made this," Ethan cried. Warm tears streamed down his tired cheeks.

"Sophia will not accept it from us. Just do it," Helen explained. She smiled sadly at him.

"I will do whatever you say," Ethan promised. His voice broke into a loud sob.

"Promise me you will not seek revenge. Promise you will never return to New York," Helen demanded. Her eyes widened with sudden panic.

"I promise, Mom," Ethan sobbed. He held her fragile hands gently against his wet face.

Helen coughed up more thick dark blood. Her chest rattled heavily with every painful breath.

"Seven years ago the Ingram family framed me. I had to fake my own death," Helen confessed. Her voice was barely a soft whisper now.

"You were poisoned by the Seven Core Lotus toxin as a small child," Helen explained. She stroked his messy hair with a bloody hand.

"I brought you to Chicago in secret. I exhausted absolutely everything to find your cure," Helen gasped. Her eyes began to lose their focus completely.

She saved his life. The deadly toxin in his body was completely suppressed forever.

Her own broken body took all the damage instead. Now she was paying the ultimate price.

The green heart monitor let out a long and continuous beep. The glowing line went entirely flat.

"Mom?" Ethan called out. His voice broke into a pathetic and lonely whimper.

Helen did not move at all. Her dull eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.

Ethan dropped heavily to his knees in the dark room. The sudden silence was deafening.

He raised his right hand. He slapped his own face as hard as he possibly could.

The sharp sound echoed loudly in the room. He hit himself again and again in the dark.

The dropped phone buzzed loudly on the floor. Ethan picked it up with totally numb fingers.

"What do you want now?" Sophia Morgan asked. Her voice was completely flat and totally indifferent.

"My mother just passed away," Ethan said. His voice was completely hollow and dead.

"Stop being dramatic. I will come see her when I have some free time," Sophia sighed. She sounded extremely annoyed by the minor inconvenience.

"I am busy securing a massive contract. Do not start trouble at this critical moment," Sophia warned. Her tone was sharp and very bossy.

"Does Chad Bennett's dog genuinely outrank my dying mother?" Ethan asked. His eyes turned incredibly cold and emotionless.

"What did I even do wrong? Why are you always so difficult?" Sophia snapped. Her voice rose in great frustration.

She disconnected the line immediately.

Ethan stared at the dead phone. He felt absolutely nothing anymore.

He looked at the Phoenix Remedy papers on the bed. He pulled a silver lighter from his pants pocket.

Ethan struck the small flint. He set the ancient medical recipes on fire.

He dropped the burning papers onto the cold hospital floor. The bright orange flames ate the elegant words away.

He watched them turn into worthless gray ash. He was completely done enduring this miserable life.

Ethan wrapped his mother in a plain white sheet. He lifted her cold body onto his broad back.

He walked out of the dark hospital room forever. He carried her down the long and empty hallway.

An elderly man in an expensive black suit walked past him. They moved in opposite directions in the quiet corridor.

The old man paused near the open door. He sniffed the air and smelled the strong scent of burnt paper.

He pushed the door open and stepped directly into the empty room. He looked down at the cold floor.

Only a pile of burnt ashes remained. But one charred fragment of paper survived the hot fire.

The old man bent down and picked it up. The words Phoenix Remedy were written in elegant script on the burnt edge.

The old man staggered backward. His eyes widened in absolute shock and pure disbelief.

He clutched his chest tightly. He slapped his thigh over and over again in pure excitement.

"Find out immediately who was just in this room," the old man ordered. He turned to the young nurse beside him with wild eyes.