Chapter 2
658 Words
Hadley's POV:
Even the moment Tucker walked away, I had already changed his reserved three-person table into a two-person table.
But when I saw Caroline glance repeatedly toward the restaurant entrance before quietly lowering her head again, a dull ache still spread through my chest.
The moment Caroline blew out her birthday candles, the wristband on my arm suddenly flashed an alarming red light.
My mother's vital signs were dropping rapidly.
I mechanically grabbed my daughter's hand and rushed out, repeatedly dialing Tucker's number.
Busy signal. Hang up. Busy signal.
Finally, on the last attempt, it connected.
My voice was dry. "My mom, she…"
Laughter and noise came through the line. Margaret spoke with a teasing smile.
"Hadley? We were just making a bet here. The first bet was whether Dr. Tucker would come after I held my breath for one minute."
She paused, her tone turning even more amused.
"And we also bet whether you would keep calling one after another."
Amused laughter erupted in the background.
Tucker's voice came through lazily. "What is it, missing me?"
I tightened my grip on the phone until my knuckles turned white, pulling Caroline into the car.
"Go to my mother's hospital room. Now."
He cut in impatiently.
"Another private room upgrade for your mother? The eight-bed ward was already arranged because of me. I told you I need to avoid suspicion. Besides, didn't you stay in a sixteen-bed ward back then? Why are you being so delicate now?"
The call ended abruptly.
I sat behind the steering wheel in silence, watching the scenery outside blur backward.
Back then, during my brain surgery, I was so poor I could only afford a sixteen-bed ward.
He slept on the floor beside my bed under a thin blanket. At night, when the pain kept me awake, he held my hand in the dim light, tears falling onto my skin one drop at a time as he said,
"Hadley, I will never let you suffer like this again."
Now he was the best doctor in the hospital, yet all the suffering had been doubled and returned to me.
By the time we arrived at the hospital, my mother was already covered with a white sheet.
My hands trembled as I lifted it. A doctor approached.
"The patient bit down on her oxygen tube herself. We were unable to save her. Please accept our condolences."
My voice broke. "How is that possible?"
Caroline cried as she reached for her grandmother's hand, accidentally pressing the playback button on a tablet by the bedside.
The screen flickered in dim light.
Margaret's voice was soft and sweet.
"Dr. Tucker, I know this is our last time. I do not want a title. I just want to have your child."
I quickly pressed pause and forced a smile toward Caroline.
"Mom will ask your teacher to pick you up. Go play with your friends first, okay?"
*****
The moment the door closed, I took a deep breath and pressed play again.
Behind the camera, the man remained silent, his breathing heavy and uneven.
Margaret continued. "Hadley's second child… I was careless and switched the medication. The miscarriage drug was given instead of a pregnancy support injection, so she can never have children again."
My hand holding the tablet began to shake.
So the miscarriage diagnosis report from back then was also fake.
Her fingers traced across the man's chest.
"Your mother still has no idea that I'm the student she's sponsored for ten years. Your whole family did so much for me. Let me bear a child for her as repayment, alright?"
Silence filled the room.
Then I heard Tucker's hoarse but clear voice.
"…Alright."
- Writer
