All Comments on 'The Last to Know'

Just totally unsatisfying to spend the time reading it and then to come to that ending.

And well told. A simple misunerstanding can, and has led to a lot of grief in some lives. Some get a second chance, some just get to now that it was a mistake.

Life can hurt.

Great read!

the story isn't bad but the premise is absurd! NO ONE destroys their marriage, their whole life like that on a simple hunch! no talking, no questions? pregnant woman with no relatives just leaves her job, packs and disappears? really?

Damn.

How much can a person hate?

He is a father, now. He is bitter. How can he not find therapy to get over his hate. Because it is hate he is holding onto, DAILY. He is not a happy camper.

The children will just bring back his deep feelings of injury, so for his sanity he has to find forgiveness and hopefully start a dialogue with Bev and see if they can bring back his trust and finish their lives together as a complete family... mother, FATHER, and their 2 grown children.

For me the ending was just right. He's contented, he did the honorable thing for his son and now wants to be left alone to forget his ex-wife-good for him. It seems naive to believe that therapy is going to reconcile him to his wife's stupid behavior, let alone make him happy.

The thought that the premise is unrealistic can only be entertained by those who are unaware of the truly nutty things that people do to their marriages. Disappearing from home for years because of some mental delusion is not all that uncommon.

Definately an interesting read. But, does it end here?

Not much tension here unless you believe in miracles! Very interesting people and a very sad story

Even the parts repeated 3 or 4 times.

Hasty actions by an immature couple lead to years of regret. Now Jack just seems to be happy in his own misery. Maybe Jessica or James should pull him out of it.

Help him to realize that his ex was an unbelievably stupid person, to a degree that no other woman he might meet in the future will be likely to equal. Then he might be able move on from just being content and think about the possibility of happiness.

Force themselves back into their fathers life guilt him into donating part of his liver but can't do 3 simple things for him.

He should have cut all contact with them as soon as he knew they broke their word and let Bev know where he was, shows that the kids take after their mother only think about themselves.

Overall a good story and well written. It is a story that again points up a frequent failure in many relationships and that is a failure to communicate between partners.

yes the internet makes finding someone easier, but people could be found fairly easy back in 1945 too. unless jack changed his identity/left the country. if bev really wanted to find him it could be done WAY before the internet....

What a selfish prick he is. Most people would jump to help save someone's life - more so if it was their son despite only just finding them.

He has been content, wallowing in self pity for 20 years and is now scared that if he takes any action to come to terms with her leaving he might actually be happy and be able move on.

I can tell by the comments that a lot of the commenters have not been seriously BURNED BY LOVED ONES! I was & to the day she died I would never trust her again! When you open your heart, then have it torn apart by the one you trusted, it makes a big difference in a person's reactions.

As to his "therapy", not everyone wants to relive the pain & anguish these situations bring. So if you haven't "walked a mile in his shoes", then don't be too ready to judge & jury. Besides, this is just a fictional story, no matter how close to real life it may be.

I, too, found the premise to be unbelievable. Beverly leaving without a word, on virtually no evidence, was a necessary ingredient of the plot, if you want to set up this disappearance-without-a-trace device. However, people just don't work that way, unless they are seriously unhinged. THAT is what makes it so difficult to willingly suspend my disbelief here.

I find writing to be so much more believable and enjoyable when characters drive the plot, and not vice versa. This just doesn't feel real, the main character is not noble, or strong or manly. He is only rigid, cold, ill-tempered, and unworthy of attention or any emotional investment. He is incapable of growth, and therefore, is unredeemable.

I think this story is another attempt to portray a man as victim of woman, and for him to wrap his victim-hood around himself as armor. You are only a victim so long as you keep seeing yourself as a victim, and relish your pain as somehow validating and defining you. The lead character a LOSER, and not a noble one. Only another butt-hurt whiner, who is best ignored.

He isn't a father, he's a sperm donor and not by his choice.

He isn't selfish for being reluctant to donate a part of his body to a someone only related by DNA.

Not many people would for strangers even if they after they are dead.

If it were otherwise there would not be all the begging for people to get on organ donor programs or long waiting lists for donor organs.

Abandoned without a word over nothing, what bigger betrayal is there?

Story held my interest. I wanted to see how it ended, but it was just...done. No emotion felt. I know essentially he was emotionally dead inside, but I just felt..."this is it?"

I didn't need or want a happy ending but it feels unfinished.

After the transplant, when he woke up and found his bitch of an ex wife there, he should have contacted the meanest, ugliest Great White shark of a lawyer he could find and turned him loose. Lawsuits flying, restraining orders all over the place. His wife fucked him over twenty years earlier, then his “kids” tracked him down and did it again. Yep, lawsuits abound. He put his life on the line in accordance with the terms of a contract they all agreed to. And “oral” contracts ARE enforceable. Look it up. They should pay for their arrogance.

You do like spineless male characters, don't you?

Read it a couple years ago. This story is screaming for more chapters. You have talent and a great imagination. Too bad you stopped. Miss communication has changed the course of lives many times. What should of been is a haunting theme and you explored it well. 5

the story was really good, but the ending sucked. You left it wide open for more, it feels like the story just stops. I would love read additional chapters.

A story that is realistic. As far as everyone wanting more. Or wanting the story to end in a different way. What part of "Goodbye Bev" didn't do that. She made a life altering decision. It was her fault and he moved on. He is not being an asshole or anything else. All he wants is his life as it is. And he made it clear he would be a part of the kids lives. What more did you expect. She needs to go away and stay away. She is good at jumping to conclusions and running away. As far as I can see when your good at something keep it up. Jack will never be able to have any kind of a relationship her. No man who was deprived of what he was would.

My wife's cousin borrowed my phone. Then she read my texts to a female friend who found out her live-in boyfriend was cheating on her. I was merely giving her advice and solace. My wife's cousin took my phone to my wife, and we are now separated...not legally divorced. Financially speaking, I am now better off than I ever was while married to her. But, if she decides to marry again, she must first divorce me. And, by law, would be awarded half of what I have accumulated over the past 10 years...not a penny of which she helped in any way, to acquire. Her family, except for her baby sister, have no love or compassion for me, at this point in time. And, now, if I had to choose whether to take her back or not, the answer would be ,"Not!"

Choosing moral superiority leads to a lonely life.

Stupid decisions often last a lifetime and often hurt a lifetime. She pulled the plug and disappeared, he decided that he would never find her and simply moved on and tried to bury his past. It was a perfect decision until.... This is a perfect story on how life is a bitch, you marry one, and you ever so slowly, die. The only thing missing was a shouting match between him and his ex-wife. One note, he got as far away from his hurt as he could while staying in Canada.

The stupid bitch should have talked to him

assnomeous, dredged through dribble, empty of companionship, etc. good basic pretext, tooooooooo many words. LOVE slap hapy papy #9

A good read, very enjoyable. Thank- you.

If I had written this, I would have considered to have Jack say 'No' to the transplant. Then have them tell their mother that her son not getting the needed transplant, is a consequence of the decisions she made, 20 years ago.

Needs a happy ending - they get back together etc.

A good, though sad story. All because of a refusal to communicate, on Bev's part. The plot seemed well thought out and the characters believable. Made feel sorry for both Jack, Bev and their children, as they all suffered from Bev's impetuous decision.

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I have read other such transplant stories. One being 'Instrument of Vengeance', by Hooked1957.

If you read further you will find spoiler(s) for that 'fic, so be warned.

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The reason Hooked1957's tale sands out is because it is the only one, (so far that I have found), that has the potential donor refusing to make the donation. He refuses to provide the donation for the lover his wife left him for. All other transplant stories deal with the recipients being the offspring of the donor and none of them have the donor refusing. I have always felt such a refusal would bring different level of drama to such a story. Unfortunately, I do not have the patience or talent to write such a refusal story.

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Huedogg2's 'Second Chances' and FD45's remake, with the same title, offers a different take on the reaction by an aggrieved donor. All three are good reads and I recommend them.

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Again, just to reiterate, I truly enjoyed this story by Wasted_Raven.

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Thank-you

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Pasqual

lol. So the father was like a six year old who gets told no at TOYS R US. gotcha

ah-duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Not much since you left it open! I hate people that do that!!!

I agree with pummel187 but would add that you can't be "over" something if you decide that you can't visit an entire city or province because of being hurt once 20 years ago. I understand it was a terrible pain unlike anything else in his life but he still hasn't dealt with the emotions properly - by refusing to allow himself to be happy, only content, he displays that he isn't moving on.

And why wouldn't he want to reconcile with her in some manner? Not romantically but if he had moved on or dealt with those emotions he may have been able to be friendly with her or at least visit his children. Instead he pouts and grumps and refuses to act like a mature human being.

I can only imagine the pain and horror that Jack experienced... Yes, I said horror. He was a hard working man going through a stressful time at work and his wife disappears... She only contacts him through a lawyer. Demanding a divorce with no contact and/or explanation. Jack had to question every aspect of their life together. He had to wonder about her fidelity and if she ever loved him. He must have questioned his manhood, his entire married life, indeed. All of those thoughts must have tortured him for years ... Until ... he finally disassociated his current life from his former reality. In that fashion, he isolated his sanity, away from the madness and sadness that could lead him to a deep depression ... IF ... He chose to take that mindset. Decent story, but only average as almost no one that I know, likes a story that is left without a conclusion.

sad, happy for a life saved, no clear or good ending. about 1 page too long.

A good story but spoiled by the ending, just to sudden, too quick, I liked the characters although he was a hard case, to hard for his own good, but your character, the plot was ok.

The saddest part of this story was that Jack was locked in his hurt for 20 years and could not get past it, even when the opportunity was right before him. His refusal to even go near Vancouver was all the evidence required to recognize that he had in fact never moved on, did not build a good life for himself, and chose to wallow in his self-pity and sense of being wronged. Of course he was wronged, as we all know, and that level of betrayal can and does alter lives, usually for the worst. Was he wrong? No, I’m not laying blame, but his twenty years of pain was indeed sad, and in the final analysis, for all four of the broken family.

Good story, bad ending...