The longer it went, the worse it got.
In the end, the choice was clear: the child or Samantha.
Everyone in the room was watching me, their faces drawn with uncertainty. But there was no time for doubt now. We had to act.
Samantha’s vitals dropped. The baby had to come out, and fast. We couldn’t save both, and preserving the pregnancy wasn’t an option anymore.
“Get the family member to sign,” I said, voice clipped but steady. “Continue with the surgery, deliver the child, and suture immediately.”
When the surgery was finally over, the pain hit me all at once. A sharp, twisting ache in my abdomen.
I leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths, trying to steady myself.
I watched Samantha for a few minutes, then nodded at the team to move her out of the room. They came to check on me.
“We’re really sorry, Dr. Green. That was such a long surgery, and you’re pregnant…”
“We’ll talk to the director. We’ll make sure your hospital gets you the rest you deserve. You should definitely be commended for this.”
I gave them a bitter smile.
“It’s fine. I wasn’t planning on keeping the child anyway.”
The words came out hollow. I pushed myself up and started to leave the operating room, feeling the exhaustion in my bones.
That’s when I saw him.
Jason Lee.
He’d just learned the baby was gone, and his face was twisted with rage. He didn’t even hesitate. He kicked me.
“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Was the money not enough for you? Is that why you killed my child?”
I stumbled, hitting the ground. The pain was so sharp, my vision blurred. The crowd gathered quickly, people murmuring, some recording with their phones.
Jason stood above me, shouting to anyone who would listen, “My wife was fine just a minute ago! But after she came in here, our almost full-term baby is gone. And this doctor, this witch, refused my money and deliberately killed my child!”
I couldn’t respond. The pain was too much. My hands were scraped raw, my body battered. I tried to reach up and pull off my mask, but before I could, Jason grabbed my hand, yanking it away.
“Speak! Tell me why you did this!” His voice was full of fury. “That baby was hard for us to have! It was almost full term, and you didn’t even get my consent! Why didn’t you wait for me to sign off?!”
He slammed me against the wall, the force making my head spin.
As the medical staff rushed in to try to pull him away, he kept ranting, furious, “I should’ve never come to this hospital. They’re all incompetent!”
“If we’d gone to Central, none of this would’ve happened!”
He was practically frothing at the mouth, and before I knew it, his fists were slamming into my abdomen again, over and over.
The pain was unbearable now, like a knife twisting inside me. I thought I might pass out, but Jason didn’t care.
Instead, he pulled out his phone and aimed the camera at my face.
“I want everyone to see this,” he shouted. “I want every patient, every family, to see what a child-killer looks like!”
His words stung, but I could barely process anything. All I felt was pain, the kind of pain that made it hard to breathe, to think.
And then, our eyes met.
How could he not recognize me?
We’d been together for five years. Had he never really looked at me?
I glared at him through the haze of pain, but he just sneered.
“Looking sad isn’t going to change the fact that you killed my child,” he spat. “Don’t think for a second I’ll forgive you just because you look like you’re suffering.”
Then, with a vicious pull, he ripped my mask off, the string snapping back and hitting him in the face.
And then, everything stopped.
He froze, eyes wide, staring at me as if he’d seen a ghost.
“Why is it you?!” he gasped, stepping back in shock.
“Why are you bleeding so much? Honey, what’s happening?”
