Love's End Leads to New BeginningsChapter 1
My husband, an obstetrician, had insisted I endure a natural birth, even though I carried a massive four-kilogram baby. His reasoning was grounded not in compassion or medical necessity, but rather in his irritation, believing that I was burdening the kind, accommodating nurse.
“Millie is not your servant,” he had scolded, eyes sharp with disapproval. “Why do you keep ordering her to bring you tea and water? Pregnancy is no excuse for acting unreasonable!”
Enduring wave after wave of relentless contractions, I cried out until my voice was raw, my hand gripping the bed’s guardrail so tightly that it finally gave way under my grip.
The baby’s head was wedged in my pelvis, immovable. Exhausted, desperate, I looked to my husband, the man I had trusted and shared a life with, who held medical knowledge and skill that could save us both. “This is your child too,” I pleaded, each word a plea through my ragged breaths. “Give me a C-section. If we wait any longer, we may both die.”
But he only sneered, folding his arms dismissively. “Stop trying to get out of it! As a doctor, I have the right to refuse surgery. As your husband, I refuse to sign for it. If you have enough energy to scream like this, you could have given birth already.”
With a sharp gesture, he directed the nurse to silence me, stuffing a rag into my mouth.
My cries faded, becoming a shadow of agony in the sterile room, even as echoes of laughter and murmurings of passion seeped from the nearby bathroom. The life I had been nurturing for nine months now felt like a weapon, tearing at my insides, flooding me with pain.
After a night spent together, he held Millie close in the morning, his tone warm and sympathetic.
“Gia must learn her lesson. Millie, go find another doctor to handle the delivery. Then we’ll go home together.”
Yet there I lay, motionless, cold, my breathing stilled as I slipped into a final rest.
——
“She’s so loud! Does anyone not feel pain during childbirth?” he sneered. “She’s probably exhausting herself by making things difficult for everyone instead of just focusing.”
Peter buttoned his coat and flipped up collar to hide a telltale mark on his neck.
“Doctor, a baby weighing over three kilograms meets criteria for surgery. Gia’s baby is already a giant at over four kilograms. What if complications arise?”