A Heartbeat, A Hysterectomy, A New Beginning

Synopsis

The surgical lights above me were blinding. The anesthesiologist's voice sounded distant, like it was coming from the far end of a tunnel. "Mrs. Jackson, relax. We're going to perform an emergency C-section." Cold anesthetic flowed into my spine. Within moments, everything below my waist went numb, but my mind stayed terrifyingly clear. I could feel the scalpel slicing into my skin. There was no pain. I only felt a strange, unsettling tug deep in my muscles. Voices buzzed around me, sharp and urgent. "Blood pressure?" "Eighty over fifty. It's still dropping." "Heart rate?" "One forty. Fetal heart rate is dropping, too." "Start transfusion. Now." The operating room erupted into controlled chaos. My eyes stayed open, fixed on the blinding light above me. My mind drifted back to thirty minutes earlier, when my husband, Joe Jackson, burst into the ward with bloodshot eyes. He grabbed the doctor's arm, veins bulging across the back of his hand. His voice was hoarse, breaking apart with panic. "Save her. I only want her alive. Do you hear me?" The doctor tried to steady him. "Mrs. Jackson has a rare blood type. She's hemorrhaging, and the fetus is already hypoxic. We need to operate immediately, but the risks—" "I don't care about the risks," Joe roared, like a wild animal barely under control. "Save her. I don't need the baby. I only want Vera alive." At that moment, I thought he cared about me. I thought he cared about his wife, the woman who had been married to him for two years, carrying his child, now lying on an operating table bleeding out because of a car accident. Then the operating room doors swung open again. Joe's assistant, Harry, rushed in and leaned close to whisper something urgently into his ear. Joe's face darkened instantly. "What did you say? Elaine was in an accident, too? Where is she now?" "In the operating room next door," Harry said. "She was in the same car when the crash happened. She went into premature labor. Massive hemorrhage. She's also Rh-negative, but the blood center is low on supply—" Joe turned sharply toward me on the operating table. I'd never forget the look in his eyes, pain flashing through them before it slowly settled into something cold, almost cruel. "Take her blood," he said indifferently, pointing at me.