Abandoned on the Operating Table

I finally found a suitable kidney donor, but something happened right before I was scheduled to get the transplant.

My condition perfectly matched the case my husband's first love, Yvonne Sullivan, was writing about in her thesis, so my husband, Charles Gunner, refused to perform the surgery himself and insisted on handing me over to her for practice.

"Yvonne's the surgeon on paper, but I'll be present to ensure that nothing goes wrong. What are you so worried about?" he said impatiently when I refused to sign the consent papers.

Ignoring my frail state, he grabbed my jaw so forcefully that I could hear my bones creak.

"I'm scared of dying!" I said. "You know better than anyone how complicated my case is. Yvonne has just graduated. How could she be able to do this well?"

Yvonne heard what I said and ran out of the room crying.

Charles jabbed his finger at me. "Then don't do the surgery and just wait to die. You ungrateful thing—I don't even know what to say to you."

Then, he ran out after Yvonne, leaving me alone and helpless in the hospital room. I could do nothing but wait for him to come back and perform the surgery for me.

"Don't worry, Rachel," one of Charles' coworkers tried to comfort me. "If he really refuses to do the surgery, we can… Well, we can always call that person. He's pretty authoritative in the medical field."

I know he was just trying to comfort me. The person they were talking about was Charles' sworn enemy. He would never agree to help Charles' wife.

The surgery was set to begin in an hour, yet Charles was still nowhere to be found.

My palms were damp with sweat as I waited nervously. I had waited so long for this kidney—was it going to be wasted like this?

Half an hour before the surgery, Charles finally appeared.

He walked in, his neck covered with hickeys, and signed the necessary papers.

Then, he told me that he would be handling my surgery himself.

I did not have the capacity to care about the hickeys. All I cared about was whether I could survive, so I just nodded, tears streaming down my face.

I was wheeled into the operating theater. As the doors swung closed behind me, Yvonne appeared before me, dressed in surgical scrubs.

I widened my eyes in shock.

The anesthesiologist continued administering the anesthesia.

Right before I lost consciousness, I saw Charles give Yvonne a hug.

He leaned in close against her ear intimately and said, "Just give it your best. I'll have your back no matter what happens.

My heart went cold at that moment.

Yvonne stepped up to the operating table, where I was still half-conscious, and smiled. "Don't be scared, Rachel. I've only attended three operations, but I'll do my best to treat you."

Charles looked at her proudly.

Despair engulfed me as I sank into darkness.

Charles forcibly roused me from the anesthetic a whole hour later. I did not know what happened during that time.

When I woke up, there was a bright light shining into my eyes, seemingly to check if my pupils were dilating.

Nearby, I could hear the frantic voices of the interns.

"Dr. Gunner, maybe you should take over! Rachel almost cut the patient's artery. If you allow her to continue, something terrible could happen!"

"Yeah, Dr. Gunner. I think you should take over. It's your wife, after all. You would be upset if anything happened to her, right?"

Even after hearing their pleas, Charles looked back at Yvonne, who was trembling while holding the scalpel, and said, "I trust Yvonne. Besides, if she dies, I'll sign a liability waiver as her husband. Don't worry, guys. The hospital won't get sued."