Delivery Room Shock: My Wife Is My Patient

On my very first night working the overnight shift at the new hospital I've been transferred to, I run into my wife, Willow Jensen, who claimed she needed to be away on a year-long business trip. Now, she's lying on a gurney outside the delivery room, heavily pregnant, with blood pouring from beneath her. The man kneeling beside her grabs my hand tightly, his desperate pleas ringing in my ears. "Doctor, please! You have to save her!" Chapter 1 The nurse beside the man held out the surgical consent form. "We need a family member's signature before the surgery. What's your relationship to the patient?" He took the pen. Even his hands trembled as he signed his name. "She's my wife," he said. The words made me feel a pang in my chest. My mind flashed back to a year ago, when Willow Jensen had smiled as she handed me our marriage certificate. "Zayn, from today onwards, we're officially husband and wife in every way." As if noticing my momentary daze, the man looked up at me with reddened eyes. Confusion was written all over his face. I quickly lowered my head and adjusted the mask over the bridge of my nose to hide my expression. Then, I turned and pushed open the operating room doors. "We'll do everything we can for the patient," I said. However, the relationship between Willow and me had just come to an end. After an intensive round of emergency treatment, Willow's condition stabilized. The tense atmosphere in the operating room gradually relaxed. The colleague beside me lowered his voice and gossiped. "I heard these two ended up like this because they got a little too carried away. The baby's already due, and her husband still didn't know when to stop. Young people these days do put their lives on the line when they're madly in love..." My hands stilled for a few seconds. What came to mind was the day Willow had proposed to me. Her eyes sparkled like the brightest star in the night sky, as though she wanted to give me everything good in this world. "Marry me, Zayn Stuart. For the rest of my life, besides you, I will never touch another man!" But on our wedding night, she had carefully put every piece of clothing I had taken off back on me. Her expression back then had shown a lot of pain and inner conflict. "I'm sorry, Zayn. I swore at my mother's grave that I'd mourn for her for three years. This year is the third year. Please wait for me a little longer." I believed her. My punishment for placing my trust in her was that the child I had just helped deliver was hers. A mocking smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. So it wasn't that she wouldn't touch another man because she was honoring her vow. It was simply because she didn't love me. Before long, the surgery ended successfully. I held the newborn in my arms. The baby wasn't heavy, yet the weight on my chest was crushing me. As I pushed open the operating room doors, the man waiting outside immediately sprang to his feet and rushed over. His bloodshot eyes were filled with worry and anxiety. "How's Willow?" Looking at the man before me, I recalled the name he had signed on the consent form just moments ago. Simon Shaw. It was an unfamiliar name. Willow had never mentioned him to me before. I placed the baby into his arms and offered my congratulations. "Congratulations. The surgery was very successful. The mother and daughter are both safe." The tension on Simon's face visibly melted away. When he looked at me, his eyes were filled with the gratitude of a complete stranger. He was about to say something else when Willow's hospital bed was wheeled out from behind me. She called out feebly, "Simon..." She lay on the bed, looking extremely weak. Simon immediately shoved past me and hurried to her side. Willow stroked the baby with one hand while holding Simon's hand with the other. Even her voice carried a tenderness I had never once heard from her. She said, "Simon, our daughter looks so much like you. When she grows up, she'll definitely be as good-looking as you." Chapter 2 What a picture-perfect family of three. The sight of them was so jarring that it hurt my eyes. I clenched my fists so tightly that my knuckles turned white. I barely managed to keep my composure. Willow had just come out of surgery, and I had only recently been transferred to this top-tier hospital. This wasn't the right time or place to expose the truth. After she regained a little strength, Willow's gaze landed on me. "Thank you so much, doctor. May I ask your name?" With my face concealed behind my surgical cap and mask, Willow didn't recognize me. I stared into her eyes, trying to find even the slightest trace of guilt. "Just call me Dr. Stuart." Unfortunately, Simon quickly drew her attention away, and she didn't spare me another glance. The moment I returned to the duty room, the phone in my pocket vibrated. I swiped to answer, and Willow's voice came through. "Zayn, something urgent suddenly came up at the company. I probably won't be able to come back for a while." I was infuriated and had so many questions. But just as the words reached my lips, the blow to both my body and spirit left me without even the desire to speak. My silence gave Willow the wrong idea. She thought I was sulking, so she continued talking on her own. She rambled, "I hope you understand. Once I'm done here, I'll definitely make time for our honeymoon—" "Willow." Before she could finish, Simon called her name. Along with his voice, the baby's cries rang out one after another on the other end of the line. "I have to go!" Willow hung up in a fluster. Too much had happened in a single day. The overwhelming absurdity of it all made my stomach churn, and I ended up vomiting violently in the restroom. In my dazed state, I made a phone call. I instructed, "Mail me the marriage certificate from the cabinet in the study. Tell my dad that Willow cheated on me. I want him to withdraw all financial support he's been giving her from now on." According to the schedule, I was responsible for the next patient rounds. Forcing myself to stay focused, I picked up the patient chart. Standing outside the door and looking through the glass, I saw Willow and Simon squeezed together on the narrow hospital bed. She was curled up in his arms, and he was gently patting her back with one hand. She had dark circles under her eyes from staying up all night. Even though I had completely given up on her, the bitterness in my heart still welled up uncontrollably at the sight. The knock on the door immediately woke Willow. I adjusted my mask and walked in. Although it was a hospital room, it was decorated warmly. The table was piled high with maternity and baby supplies. There was everything imaginable from large items to small necessities. Without exception, every single one of those items had been recommended by me. A year earlier, on the night before Willow left on a business trip, she had suddenly shaken me awake. She said, "Zayn, you're an obstetrician. Can you tell me what needs to be prepared for having a baby?" Still half asleep, I looked at her in confusion. "Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?" Willow answered hesitantly, saying that a coworker's baby was due soon and that they'd asked her to consult me. I had just finished a grueling 36-hour shift and was so exhausted that I was barely conscious. In the next second, Willow suddenly sat up and turned on every light in the house while dragging me out of bed. "Zayn, hurry up and write everything down," she urged. She shoved a pen into my hand with force. Then, she gave the tender flesh on the inside of my arm a hard twist. The searing pain instantly jolted me awake. I worked on that checklist until dawn broke. Before she left, Willow carefully tucked it into the inner pocket of her coat. Then, she turned and walked away without even saying so much as a "thank you". Chapter 3 Suppressing the turbulent emotions threatening to spill forth from my eyes, I walked over to the bed and began the routine examination. "How are you feeling today?" Holding Willow's hand, Simon answered gently. "Willow's feeling much better now. She was in such a dangerous condition yesterday. It's all thanks to you that she's safe, Dr. Stuart. I haven't even had the chance to thank you properly. "As soon as I woke up, I had the factory rush the production of a thank-you banner. I hope you'll accept it when it's ready." I smiled, but my gaze fell on their hands, which remained tightly clasped together. Her finger that had once been bare now sported a uniquely designed ring that matched the one on Simon's finger. Upon noticing where I was looking, Simon turned the ring on his finger. His voice brimming with happiness, he explained, "My wife designed these herself. They're the only pair in the world. They're a little ugly, but I love them." I lowered my eyes at once, hiding the emotions surging within them. The day after our wedding, Willow had taken off the custom-made wedding ring I had specially commissioned from a master jeweler. I watched as she sealed it in a box and tucked it away in the deepest corner of a drawer, never to see daylight again. "Why aren't you wearing it?" I asked. Frowning and shaking her head, she replied, "It's too valuable. If it got lost, wouldn't that be upsetting?" I didn't say another word. I simply took off my own ring and casually tossed it onto the nightstand. Whenever she was at home, Willow's ring finger was always bare. Now, however, it was firmly encircled by a ring. So when she was with me, she couldn't even be bothered to put on an act. The baby slept peacefully in the bassinet beside the bed. It wasn't hard to see traces of Willow's features on the child's face. As the baby shifted, an emerald pendant slipped out from around the child's neck. The stone was smooth and lustrous. It was obviously worth a fortune at first glance. The emerald that had been cut from a rough stone as the highlight of our wedding was now carved into an ordinary pendant and hung around the neck of Willow's illegitimate child. My heart felt hollow. Something inside me had been completely carved out at that moment. Behind me, Simon spoke in a loving tone. "Honey, I'll go buy you some breakfast. Just rest here." Willow looked at him with concern in her eyes. "You're not familiar with this place. Let someone else go." Simon waved his hand and looked at me. "Don't worry. Dr. Stuart's here. He can take me." Only after I nodded in agreement did Willow finally relax and nod back. The door opened and closed behind us as Simon and I walked side by side down the hallway. I couldn't help but feel that this whole situation was lamentable. In a somewhat derisive tone, I commented, "You have such a wonderful relationship with your wife, Mr. Shaw." Simon smiled, his eyes overflowing with happiness. "Willow and I both came from small towns. Since we're out here on our own, of course we have to understand and support each other. Thankfully, Willow worked hard and now has a successful business of her own." "If that investor hadn't been so unreasonable, she'd probably already be one of the rising leaders in the industry." I raised an eyebrow as anger began to stir inside me. From the day Willow's company was registered to every round of financing, my dad had personally guided her every step of the way. Even her biggest investor was my dad. Back then, she refused to work for Stuart Group. She insisted that she wanted to build a comfortable life for us with her own two hands. Unfortunately, she had little talent for business. Her company had been operating at a loss for the past two years. My dad had been quietly covering for her behind the scenes out of consideration for me. But in her version of the story, Dad was painted as the unreasonable investor who kept making things hard for her. She truly was an ingrate. Chapter 4 Someone suddenly bumped into my shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the person beside me was holding a red banner. Simon abruptly stopped walking. He crossed his arms and looked at me with a smirk. He said, "Dr. Stuart, go ahead and take it." The person who bumped into me handed me the banner. His hand shook, causing it to unfurl. The moment I saw the words on it, my expression soured immensely. The bolded words on the banner read, "Shameless Homewrecker." Those two words were like tight slaps to my face that left my cheeks burning with humiliation. My entire body trembled as I spoke coldly. "What do you mean by this, Mr. Shaw?" At that point, Simon dropped all pretense. His eyes slowly swept over me from head to toe. He sneered, "Willow's not here, so you can stop pretending. I noticed it yesterday outside the operating room. Your eyes were practically glued to her. We're both men. Don't think I can't tell what filthy thoughts you've been hiding." He deliberately covered his mouth and gagged exaggeratedly. Then, he looked at me with nothing but disgust and scorn. Simon mocked, "You're supposed to be a doctor who saves lives. Yet, you're fixated with trying to seduce your patients' wives. You're disgusting!" I threw the banner onto the floor and instinctively wanted to refute his accusations. But the moment I thought of those two marriage certificates—that could very well be fake—the words became stuck in my throat and refused to come out. Seeing me fall silent, Simon was emboldened and became even more overbearing. "So I was right. You deliberately chose to work in obstetrics because you wanted to take advantage of vulnerable women." He jerked his chin toward the man who had delivered the banner. "You. Hold him down." I stared at him warily, taking several steps back. "Don't touch me!" But in the next second, something heavy struck me on the head. A warm stream of blood trickled down from my forehead. By the time I came to my senses again, the hallway was already packed with spectators. With reddened eyes, Simon pointed at me and shouted, "Everyone, come take a look! This obstetrician takes advantage of women when they're weak after giving birth and tries to seduce them! Ever since he first laid eyes on my wife yesterday, he couldn't take his eyes off her!" He ordered the people restraining me to rip off my mask. Then, he grabbed my hair and exposed my face for everyone to see. The moment he saw my face clearly, a flash of jealousy passed through his eyes. "As I suspected, you are indeed very good-looking. Women would easily fall for a face like yours." As his words fell, he slapped me hard. A searing pain immediately spread across my cheek. Simon had deliberately turned the jagged side of his ring inward against his palm, and the sharp edge sliced a gash across my face. The nurses who rushed over turned pale with alarm. One of them stomped her foot anxiously before running toward the head of the obstetrics department's office. I struggled with all my strength to break free from the hands pinning me down, but the blood pouring from my wounds caused my strength to drain away rapidly. As Simon didn't return for a long time, Willow came out in a wheelchair to look for him. The moment she saw the crowd, she panicked and cried, "Excuse me! Please move aside!" She struggled through the crowd and hurried straight to Simon. She carefully checked him over from head to toe. "Are you okay? Why are so many people gathered out here?" she asked. Simon bent down to take her hand and speak smugly, like he was expecting her to praise him. "Willow, you came at just the right time. I just exposed Dr. Stuart's true colors in front of everyone! He keeps hanging around you every day because he wants to latch onto you!" Willow reached out and tapped his nose affectionately.