Chapter 3
Liam's face darkened instantly, his gaze turning icy and cutting.
"Emma, what the hell are you saying?" he snapped.
Ava hurriedly grabbed his arm, quickly trying to explain. "Liam, please don't be angry. Emma didn't mean it like that. She's just really exhausted."
She turned to me, putting on a look of grievance and understanding.
She said, "Emma, I know you don't like Fluffy, but it's still a life. Last night, it swallowed the iron powder from a heating pad. If Liam hadn't found someone to do emergency gastric lavage surgery, it wouldn't have made it. I was honestly terrified..."
As she spoke, her eyes grew red again with tears.
"You were terrified?" I stared at her, enunciating every word. "Do you even realize that while you were panicking over your dog, I was almost dying?"
My voice shook, not from fear, but from overwhelming rage and grief.
"Liam!" I turned to him, shouting his name with every bit of strength I had left. "When I called you yesterday, I wasn't being dramatic!
"I was bleeding! There was so much blood! Our baby, the one we waited five years for, is gone!"
I practically screamed those last words.
The hallway went dead silent in an instant.
Liam's impatience and anger froze, his face blank with shock. He stared at me, as if he couldn't comprehend what I'd just said.
"What... what did you just say?" he stammered, barely able to get the words out.
Right then, Ava suddenly gasped and went limp, falling straight into Liam's arms.
"Liam... I'm so dizzy... Fluffy... Fluffy..." she mumbled, her voice barely hanging on.
Her voice was so weak, like she could pass out any second.
Liam's attention immediately shifted to her.
He instinctively reached out to steady Ava, his face etched with concern.
"Ava? Ava, what's wrong? Don't scare me," he said, his voice shaky with panic.
He cradled her in his arms as if she were a rare treasure.
All the words I'd just screamed, pouring out my soul, were dismissed in an instant, as if they meant nothing.
I stood frozen, watching him hold another woman in his arms. The gaping wound in my heart was torn open again, as if someone had twisted the knife deeper.
"Liam..." I murmured, my voice barely above a whisper, laced with one last desperate hope.
He finally turned to look at me, but there was no tenderness, no guilt, only overwhelming irritation and raw disgust.
"Emma, are you done causing drama?" he spat.
His voice was low, but it felt like a slap that stung deep, echoing in my chest.
"Do you even get what's happening right now? Ava's health is already shaky. Do you really have to spread this crap to mess with her?" he snapped.
Lies?
My baby was gone, and to him, it was just some jealous lie I made up?
"You'd even use our unborn child as a pawn just to get my attention?" His eyes were cold as ice. "Emma, I never knew you could be this vicious."
Vicious...
So, that was how he saw me.
I looked at him, and at Ava in his arms, the faintest hint of a smile curling at her lips. Suddenly, I didn't feel like saying anything anymore.
All my explanations, all my questions felt so empty and useless.
My body swayed, and my vision went black for a moment.
Liam didn't even look at me. He just turned and marched toward the ER, carrying Ava in his arms.
"Doctor! Doctor! Someone's passed out here!" he shouted, his voice echoing down the hallway.
I leaned against the cold wall, slowly sliding down to the floor.
Blood started flowing again, spreading into a bright crimson flower on my pale hospital gown.
I watched him disappear down the hallway, and finally, the tears broke free.
Turns out, I was not even worth a dog to Liam.
I didn't even know how long I'd been sitting there on the cold floor.
A nurse walked by, gasped, and tried to help me up, but I refused.
I just felt so tired.
From my body to my soul, there was a tiredness I couldn't shake off.
Step by step, I used the wall for support and made my way back to that empty hospital room.
The smell of disinfectant still hung in the air, reminding me of everything that had happened here.
I walked over to the window and looked down.
Soon, Liam showed up again, helping the "frail" Ava as they walked out of the ER together.
He leaned in close, talking softly to Ava, his face full of gentle focus.
The sunlight poured over them, making them look so harmonious, so well-suited.