The Anesthesia Wore Off, So Did My Love

Synopsis

I was wheeled into the operating room three days after my daughter was born. My room was still filled with unopened gifts from visitors. I hadn't had a chance to open them. My husband, Eugene Lambert, stood by the bed holding a document, his gaze colder than the rain outside the window. "Sign it," he said. "Amy can't wait." I had given birth not long ago. I could barely sit up. The C-section incision still burned, sending a tearing pain through my body. I forced myself upright and saw the words on the cover of the file, "Consent for Heart Transplant Surgery." My hands trembled. I said in a hoarse voice, "Eugene, I gave birth to our children. Twins. Have you seen them?" He didn't answer. "The girl is quiet. She eats and goes right back to sleep. The boy cries a lot. The nurse said he looks like you." I tried to smile. "Go see them, okay?" "Natalie," he cut me off, tossing a pen onto the bed. "Sign it." The pen rolled toward my hand. Three years of marriage, and I thought I knew him well. He was cold, yes, but not cruel. He was simply trapped, unable to move on from Amy. I believed that once he came to his senses, he would finally see me. Now I knew. He wasn't unable to move on. He had simply never intended to.