Chapter 7
"Yeah. The day I signed the papers, Matthew was out in the hallway, calling Oscar. I overheard him say something."
Nora waited patiently, holding her breath.
"He said, 'Mr. Powell, Mrs. Powell has signed. Should we let Ms. Harper know?'"
"Oscar replied, 'Not yet. Wait until the surgery is over. I want it to be a surprise for her.'"
Nora's expression darkened.
"A surprise," she scoffed under her breath.
"Yeah, what a surprise, using my life as the gift," I said bitterly.
"I'm saving this footage, in case I need it," she muttered.
Nora clenched her fist and let go. "I'll figure something out."
"Thank you," Jennifer said.
"You're welcome," Nora replied, putting the documents back in her bag and zipping it up. "You staying alive is all the thanks I need."
Before leaving, Nora paused at the door.
"Jennifer, before you go into surgery tomorrow, is there anything you want to say to Oscar?" she asked.
I thought for a moment. "Nope."
"Not even one word?" Nora pressed.
"No, really. It's been three years. If there were anything left to say, I would've said it by now," I replied.
Nora nodded, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
"Make sure you stay alive. Everything else can wait," she said.
*****
It was the day of the surgery. I woke up at 6:30 in the morning.
Preparations started at seven. The nurse came in to prepare my skin, draw blood, and help me get into the surgical gown.
Nora wasn't on duty that shift, but she sent me a message early in the morning.
[Everything's ready. East gate, white van,] Nora texted me.
At 7:45, Matthew showed up.
"Mrs. Powell, Mr. Powell wants me to take you to the OR," Matthew said.
"He's not coming?" I asked.
Matthew didn't answer directly. "Mr. Powell has a meeting today. But he said he'd be here after the surgery."
I gave a small laugh.
Like before, he said he'd show up after the surgery.
But that was only because he thought the surgery would succeed, and he wanted to be there to tell Georgia the good news.
It was never about me.
"Let's go," I said.
As they rolled me out of the room, I saw three people waiting in the hallway.
They were Milena, Georgia, and Matthew.
Milena came over and gently patted my hand. "Jennifer, don't worry. I will be waiting for you right outside."
Georgia sat in her wheelchair and smiled at me. "Jennifer, thank you."
I looked at her smile.
This was the last thing I had seen before everything faded away.
But back then, I never noticed this.
While Georgia was smiling, her fingers lightly tapped twice on the armrest of her wheelchair.
That was a gesture of anticipation.
It wasn't gratitude for me.
It was anticipation of the outcome.
As the gurney turned the corner, those three faces disappeared from view.
I closed my eyes.
The next time I opened my eyes, it would be in the operating room.
I took a deep breath.
Right then, the baby inside me gave a powerful kick.
Without thinking, I put my hand over my belly.
"Mommy's taking you out of here," I whispered.
My voice was so quiet that only I could hear it.
The doors to the operating room closed behind me.
Kelvin stood by the operating table, dressed in his surgical gown, his face mostly hidden behind a surgical mask.
He glanced at me.
I nodded.
The anesthesiologist came over and placed the mask on my face.
"Mrs. Powell, please count to ten," he said.
"One. Two. Three..." I began to count in my head.
I never made it to ten.
Everything went dark at five.
Nora filled me in on what happened after that.
Once the anesthesia took effect, Kelvin didn't go through with the operation.
He marked out the surgical lines on my belly and then used an electric scalpel to make a shallow cut along the markings.
He sliced through the skin and fascia, never even getting close to the organs.
Then he told his assistant to start the blood transfusion.
The numbers on the monitors changed as planned. My blood pressure slowly dropped, and my heart rate started to get unstable.
At the thirty-five-minute mark, the red emergency light in the operating room turned on.
The nurse rushed out to inform the family.
"Mrs. Powell has massive bleeding during surgery. Her condition is critical," the nurse announced.
Milena stood up.
Matthew had his phone in hand, dialing Oscar.
Georgia sat in her wheelchair, unmoving.
There was an expression on her face that was hard to pin down. It wasn't worry. It was more like she was waiting.
Another twenty minutes passed.
The doors to the operating room swung open.
Kelvin stepped out, pulling off his mask. His surgical gown had blood on it, blood from the transfusion bags, carefully smeared to look dramatic.
"Family?" Kelvin called out.
Milena stepped forward.
Kelvin said, "There was a sudden massive bleed during surgery. Her ability to clot was worse than we thought.
"We fought for twenty minutes, but she didn't make it.
"We did everything we could. I'm really sorry."