Chapter 4
Page kept her eyes on my swollen belly, a greedy look flashing in her gaze.
Just as everyone was about to take us to the hospital, she suddenly put on a show of pain, her face going pale.
Vernon held everyone back.
He said, "No need to trouble yourselves. The medical team I arranged has been on standby right here.
"Dustin, carry Page and help me get Britney to the medical room."
He was all nerves, clearly worried.
Dustin didn't suspect a thing.
Once Page was inside, he headed out by himself.
The pain became unbearable, and cold sweat soaked my entire body.
My mind was hazy, and I instinctively called out, "Vernon."
I was desperate for him to lean on.
But when I looked up, he had his back turned to me.
He ordered the doctors, "Bring over the two dead babies that were prepared in advance.
"This plan cannot fail."
Coldness gripped my heart, and I mocked myself for being so weak.
Even now, I still clung to some foolish hope about him.
But soon, I let myself slip into unconsciousness, my soul slowly drifting away from my body.
Ten minutes later, two lifeless infants swaddled in black cloth were carried in.
Vernon turned around, shutting his eyes for a second. His fingertips trembled, but his voice was cold as ice, not a hint of warmth.
He ordered, "Start the C-section.
"Remember, both babies my wife delivers are stillborn.
"The twins belong to my sister-in-law, Mrs. Kinsman."
He was desperate to wrap things up, as if every extra second was unbearable torment.
But just as the doctor was about to begin, his face turned ghostly pale and he dropped to the floor in shock.
"Vernon, your wife is not breathing anymore!" the doctor blurted out, his voice trembling with panic.
The smell of disinfectant pressed in like an airtight net, wrapping the medical room in suffocating despair.
As his leather shoes scraped across the icy tiles, Vernon whipped around, disbelief etched across his face.
The veins in his neck suddenly bulged, standing out stark and tense.
"What did you just say?" Vernon rasped, his voice hoarse with shock.
He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
After shoving the doctor aside and bursting into the medical room, Vernon saw me lying there, motionless.
I had been screaming in pain just moments before, but I was now eerily silent.
"Impossible," Vernon rasped, his voice barely more than a whisper.
He froze, a hoarse sound escaping his throat.
His pupils shrank, and his sharp gaze was suddenly flooded with shock and disbelief, like a raging storm.
He stood there, as if paralyzed by shock, unable to move a muscle.
He couldn't wrap his head around it. Just yesterday, I was right next to him, softly complaining about feeling nauseous and saying I wanted soup from that dessert place downtown.
But there I was, sprawled on the delivery bed, utterly motionless.
My lips were ghostly pale, with no sign of a pulse beneath them.
In the next second, Vernon lunged to the delivery bed, desperate to break the panic clawing at his chest.
But the chill of my cheek under his fingertips was like a poisoned needle, stabbing deep into his heart.
Tears fell before he even realized it, his hands shaking as he reached to feel if she was still breathing.
He couldn't feel the slightest breath.
Vernon stared blankly at everything in front of him, utterly stunned.
His bloodshot eyes swept over the grim-faced doctors, like a beast about to snap.
"What happened to her? Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on her? Save her right now!" Vernon shouted, his voice cracking with desperation.
He was hysterical, screaming at the doctors.
The atmosphere was so tense, it felt suffocating.
The senior doctor's face was full of unease.
He adjusted his glasses and finally spoke, struggling for words.
He said, "Vernon, when we came in, your wife was already not breathing. Her heart had stopped."
He wanted to say, "She was already gone."
But Vernon roared, "Bullshit!"
He kicked the treatment cart beside him, his eyes clouded with menace.
Vernon shouted, "She was fine when I brought her in. She was just about to give birth.
"And now you're telling me she's not breathing?
"Did I pay you all just to sit around and do nothing?
"Run the tests. Use the defibrillator. Give her the best meds you've got. I don't care what it costs, just bring her back!"
The doctors, shaken by his fury, didn't dare argue. With trembling hands, they wheeled over the defibrillator, applied the gel, and flipped the switch.
The electric current surged through my body, making it convulse sharply.
Vernon felt his heart twist in his chest.
"She'll be okay. She has to be," Vernon told himself, refusing to accept any other outcome.
The ECG monitor stayed stubbornly flat, a straight line. Therew as no sign of life.
Ten minutes later, the senior doctor took off his stethoscope and slowly shook his head.
He handed the report to Vernon, his voice weighted with grief.
The doctor said, "I'm sorry for your loss, Vernon.
"Your wife was already extremely weak, and her health was poor from the start. Her body simply wasn't strong enough to carry a pregnancy.
"We advised ending the pregnancy a month ago.
"All her indicators were already flashing red back then. If we'd performed surgery in time, she might have had a chance.
"But now, there's nothing we can do."
"Impossible..." Vernon whispered to himself, barely audible.
He stared at the report, but none of the words made sense, he couldn't process a single thing.
"Didn't you say her health was stable lately?" Vernon choked out, his voice shaking.
He was half questioning the doctor, half trying to convince himself it wasn't true.
After all, he was the one who knew she was in danger, but still forced her to keep the pregnancy.
Vernon told himself that she would be fine.
But the senior doctor just sighed and shook his head.
The doctor said, "The previous tests did show her indicators improving. We thought she could hang in there a bit longer.
"At least long enough for a safe delivery. But for some reason, her body just gave out all of a sudden.
"She just couldn't pull through."