Chapter 3

I tilted my chin up defiantly. "What gives you the right to speak to me like that?"

Ryan was momentarily speechless, then said with concern, "Dr. Reed, don't bother with this jerk. Let's go."

"You all—" Mom was about to say something when she was interrupted by a commotion.

A middle-aged woman stormed in aggressively, pointing at me and cursing, "So, you're Derek, the ungrateful bastard? You make me sick! Dr. Reed delayed my son's surgery to save you! How dare you mention divorce? You animal!"

Getting more worked up, she grabbed the portable urinal from under my bed and splashed its contents all over me.

A pungent stench filled the air. I was stunned. Grace then rushed into the bathroom and returned with a towel to clean me off.

I did not appreciate the gesture. I snatched the towel from her and silently wiped the urine from my face and hair, cursing, "Damn it, this divorce is happening right now!"

Grace was slightly taken aback. "Derek, what's wrong with you? Please don't casually mention divorce. What have I done to upset you? Tell me and I'll change."

I replied firmly, "Change, my ass. Just divorce me already!"

She seemed shocked, probably because she rarely heard me use such crude language. Within ten minutes, Grace's extended family packed my hospital ward to capacity.

"Derek, have you lost your mind? Grace is such a wonderful wife, and you want to divorce her?" Her eldest paternal aunt, Margaret Reed, came in swinging.

"Exactly! Look at the state you're in! Without Grace, you'd be six feet under!" Her second maternal aunt, Dorothy Stone, chimed in.

"Grace gave up her opportunity to study abroad for you. Do you have no conscience?" Her third paternal aunt, Beverly Reed, joined the chorus of condemnation.

My mother-in-law, Helen Stone, sat beside the bed, crying dramatically, "Derek, you're trying to kill me! How can you treat my Grace like this? She's been so good to you, and you..."

I rubbed my throbbing temples, not wanting to deal with this group of women anymore. "This is between Grace and me. It has nothing to do with you."

"How does it have nothing to do with us?" Margaret jumped up immediately upon hearing this. "If you get divorced, how will this look for our family? Grace is the pride of our family!"

"That's right! If you dare divorce her, we'll go to your office and make a scene every day!" Dorothy threatened.

The cacophony of accusations made my head throb.

"Get out," I growled again.

Then, the group of women began physically attacking me. I knew I could not fight off so many of them.

The IV stand and everything on the table crashed to the floor. The nurses, who finally appeared after watching long enough, escorted them out.

At midnight, I was asleep when a sharp pain jolted me awake. I could not help crying out as my abdomen felt like it was about to explode.

I struggled to open my eyes and saw Grace's delinquent younger brother, Jake Reed, standing beside my hospital bed, holding a wooden stick.

"What are you doing?" I asked weakly.

"Damn it, you dare abandon my sister? I'll kill you!" Jake sneered viciously. "You have no idea what you're missing out on. I'll teach you a lesson!"

Before he finished speaking, the stick came down again, striking my head hard. Everything went black as I completely lost consciousness.