Oil is thicker than blood

3.4b An engine cannot run on blood.

Hannah walks into the kitchen. She walks up to the first kitchen help she sees. 

"Hi. Mrs Bellmond dishes are unedible. Like usual, I suppose." 

The girl rolls her eyes. "You know that I have a name, right?" 

"Yes, and you know that Mrs Bellmond hates it if we address the staff by name." 

"I think for me, you can make an exception." 

"Fine. Katlyn," Hannah over-pronounces her sister's name. "Can you please," she also over-pronounces that word, "make me a sandwich." 

"Fine. What does the lady want on her sandwich." 

"Well, you know I can't have cheese or ham because of my liver. Can you make me a fish sandwich?" 

"Sure, coming right up." Katlyn rolls her eyes again. She opens the cupboard and starts slicing some bread. 

"And stop with the eye-rolling." 

Katlyn throws the knife down. 

"You know what, Hannah, I had it with you." 

Hannah gasps. "Katlyn, please. I arranged this job for you, but with that attitude, I dunno how long you can keep it." 

Katlyn rolls her eyes again. "A yes, you arranged this job. From the goodness of your heart. You made a deal with Mr Bellmond where you can play Richard's trophy wife all day, and I can do actual work in the kitchen." 

Hannah crosses her arms. "You think being a trophy wife is easy? Richard is a pig!" 

Katlyn glares at Hannah. "Wanna trade? We can just switch places. Just like old times. I bet nobody will notice. I put up with Richard, and you work here." 

Hannah shakes her head. "No way in hell." 

Katlyn picks up the knife and continues slicing the bread. "I thought so. You have grown fond of Richard, have you?" 

Hannah shrugs. "Maybe. Is that so bad? He is my fiancé, after all." 

"To put it in your words: he is a pig." 

"I know. But he is my pig. And thanks to him, we can eat well. We can breathe clean air. We can live a life of luxury." 

"You mean you can." Katlyn snaps. 

"That is not true. You can live a life of luxury. I am a mere servant." 

"That might be true, but you still live a better live than back when you lived on the street." 

"I dunno about that. At least on the streets, everything was on my terms." 

"You know, if you don't want the job here, fine. Just quit. I am not stopping you." 

Katlyn throws the sandwich at Hannah. "Fine. I inform the chef. I'll put in my two weeks' notice. 

❖

Hannah is waiting in a hospital room. She never liked the buildings from city Twenty-Two, and the hospital room was no different. Concrete floors and walls. There was a large window, but the curtains were closed. Not that it would matter. The smoke was so thick that no sunlight was coming through. 

Richard is sitting next to her. He is playing on his phone. 

"Richard, can you please show a slight amount of interest in me?" Hannah snaps at him. "I am stressing out." 

"Oh." Richard looks up from his phone. He looks at Hannah and smiles. "You look great in a hospital gown." He places his hand on Hannah's leg. 

"You know what." Hannah slaps his hand away. "I preferred it when you didn't give me attention." 

Richard shakes his head, mutters something that sounds like "woman, amirite," and looks back to his phone. 

A doctor enters the room. 

"Miss Malone," he exclaims. "I am afraid we have bad news." 

"What is it?" Hannah asks 

"The illness has progressed too far. I am afraid the only thing that can save you is a liver transplant." 

"I am sure we can get her to the top of the waiting list." 

The doctor sighs. "It is not that simple. Hannah has a really rare tissue type. To find a match, we are going to look at your relatives." 

"She does have a twin sister." 

"Identical twins?" 

"Yes. Identical twins." 

"That is perfect. Identical twins always have the same tissue type. You can contact her and ask if she wants to make a living donation." 

"I haven't spoken to her in months," Hannah says. 

"No problem. I am sure we can track her down. Thank you for your time, doctor." 

"You are welcome." 

❖

Jack walks into the morgue. 

"Good evening." He tells the mortician. "One of my patients just died of lung cancer. Two hospital workers are coming down here soon to store him." 

"I am afraid there is no room." 

Jack is confused. "According to my paperwork, drawer 715 is free." 

"Oh. Richard Bellmond personally rented that drawer." 

Jack is even more confused. "Since when does the hospital rent out the morgue? What the hell did he store there?" 

"I don't know, and I didn't ask. Now if you excuse me, I am going to discuss with the workers where to put the body." 

The mortician leaves the room. 

Jack checks if the mortician is gone and then opens the drawer. To his surprise, there is a corpse in there, from a girl in her mid-twenties, with long straight black hair. 

"What the hell." 

The girl has a large gash on her abdomen, but it seems to be glued shut. Did she die during an operation? But if she did, why hide the body and keep it a secret? 

And then suddenly, he sees it. Only the tiniest thing, but still enough, so it takes Jack by total surprise. Just a small twist of her finger. 

She is not dead. 

Jack picks up the girl and places her on the table. He feels her pulse. Her pulse is weak existent. She even seems to be breathing very faintly. 

❖

Jack sits at the bedside next to the girl. He hopes the IV with blood will do its work and that she will recover. After a while, she opens her eyes. She looks with her bright green eyes and whispers something, almost inaudible. 

"Please don't kill me." 

Jack is taken aback. "Noone is going to kill you. You are in the hospital. You are safe here." 

She whispers again. "My sister and her husband. They tracked me down. They wanted me to donate my liver. When I refused, they kidnapped me." 

Jack is dumbfounded. "No, you can't go to the police. My brother-in-law is very powerful. Nobody can know." 

"Ok, I won't tell anyone you are here. By the way, my name is Jack." 

"Nice to meet you, Jack," she exclaims. "My name is Katlyn."