I Returned From My Own Funeral

Chapter 2 He Let Our Baby Die for Her

'Then what about me? What am I supposed to be? What about me and the baby?'

Amid the panicked shouting of the intern and nurses, Lydia finally lost consciousness. When she woke again, her stomach felt unnaturally flat.

'My baby… where is my baby?'

She scanned the room, but the crib was empty. A terrible sense of dread gripped her heart. Clenching her teeth, she forced herself upright despite the pain, silently telling herself that the baby had to be in the nursery and would be fine. And she had to find Ethan. He definitely knew where her child was.

Lydia threw off the blanket and struggled to her feet, dragging her weakened body toward the door. Her eyes were red, and she fought back the tears that threatened to fall. Just as she reached for the handle, voices outside stopped her.

It was Ethan and his friend, the obstetrician Lucas Reed.

"Ethan, have you completely lost your mind?" Lucas snapped, his frustration breaking through. "How could you do this to Dr. Lancaster? If you hadn't transferred all the blood bank reserves to Room 432 and kept me trapped there, she never would've lost the baby from hemorrhaging during labor!"

Lucas's anger boiled over. "You can't let your mind unravel just because Vivian used to be your first love. You're married now! You have a responsibility to Dr. Lancaster!"

'What…? Vivian is Ethan's first love? Didn't he say they are only classmates? And my baby…'

Tears streamed down Lydia's face before she even realized it. She instinctively touched her stomach, the hollow ache of loss hitting her. The child she had longed for, the life she had dreamed of protecting, was gone forever.

And it had all happened because of Ethan's selfishness.

Ethan's voice was hoarse. "I couldn't accept even the slightest possibility of something happening to Vivian. And regardless of our past, she's still a patient."

"Dr. Lancaster is a patient too!"

Ethan fell silent, the weight of her words pressing down on him. After a long moment, he finally said, "She'll understand. Besides… the reason I first noticed Lydia was because, like Vivian, she also has Rh-negative blood."

The moment Lydia heard those words, she broke down completely. She clutched her mouth, collapsing weakly onto the floor as tears blurred her vision. Each sob, each pang of grief, she swallowed back, forcing the pain down into her chest.

She had misjudged him. She had believed, blindly and foolishly, that Ethan's love for her was unshakable. And because of that faith, she had lost her child. All the gentleness and all the responsibility Ethan had shown were nothing but hypocrisy.

She dialed a number she had once thought she would never call again.

"Dad… come get me. I want to go home."

The voice on the other end sounded surprised, but when he heard the rasp in her tone, understanding washed over him.

"Yes," he said quietly, before adding, "Is there anything else you want me to do?"

"Find a way to make Ethan sign the divorce papers."

*****

After ending the call, Lydia unlocked her phone. Almost immediately, the once-silent contact list came alive with activity. One contact in particular kept sending messages without pause.

A: Miss Lancaster, I'll come pick you up and take you back to Meridia in one week.

Lydia glanced at it but did not reply.

Footsteps approached. She put her phone away and looked up just as the hospital room door opened. Ethan carefully helped a beautiful woman in a hospital gown inside. Vivian's eyes were slightly red, her complexion pale and fragile as she leaned weakly against him, her wrist wrapped in thick bandages.

"Dr. Lancaster, I'm sorry. It's all my fault you lost your baby..." Vivian whispered.

Lydia clenched the blanket tightly and turned her head away. "I don't want to see either of you right now. Get out."

"Lydia." Ethan frowned, his expression dark with displeasure. "Watch your tone. Vivian is still a patient."

Those words struck Lydia like a blade through her chest. Her eyes stung as she glanced at Ethan, only to see him looking at Vivian with concern and pity.

Vivian was a patient. So what about her? Wasn't she a patient too? She had just lost her child, the child who should have survived.

"Ethan, don't be like this," Vivian said softly, and her words somehow softened his expression.

"This isn't your fault," Ethan said gently. "Your health is already fragile. You don't need to stay here apologizing to her. Besides, if she hadn't deliberately passed by your hospital room this morning, how would you have gotten the wrong idea and thought you were interfering in our relationship?"

Ethan's eyes then turned cold, disappointment flashing across his gaze. "There are so many hallways in this hospital. Why did you insist on walking past Vivian's room? And you still dare say you didn't do it on purpose?"