Within minutes, my fingertips were bleeding.
“Mommy, stop crawling! I don’t want treatment anymore, I don’t want it!” Lily clutched my arm and wailed.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. Be good, go home first. Don’t worry about Mommy.”
I forced a weak smile, but blood loss made my voice faint, my head dizzy, and my lips dry.
I felt like I’d soon shrivel into a dried husk under the blazing sun.
“Mommy, please stop! You’ll die from this!”
Lily turned to the tablet screen, dropped to her knees, and begged, “Daddy, please take Mommy to the hospital. I’ll be a good girl from now on. I won’t get treatment anymore…”
Her words were incoherent, tumbling out in desperation.
Richard frowned, staring at Lily, as though weighing something.
“Daddy, I’m begging you! Save Mommy!”
Lily smashed her forehead against the ground again and again, blood gushing from the cuts.
Even the guards couldn’t bear the sight. They tried to pull Lily away while pleading with Richard to stop.
“Lily, enough. Go with the guards. You’ll strain your heart like this.”
The tears I had been holding back finally broke free, my chest aching for Lily.
“I won’t go! I want to stay with Mommy!”
She struggled fiercely, trembling all over.