Eight Chances, All Spent

As I had after the previous seven procedures, I carried the white medical transport case into her hospital room.

The moment Vanessa saw me, she pushed herself upright.

There was no hiding the urgency in her voice.

"Adrian, did they collect the baby's blood?"

That was the only question she ever asked after one of these procedures.

Damian Voss suffered from an inherited blood disorder.

She always claimed everything she did was somehow for my sake.

The truth was simpler. She kept conceiving with Damian so a private lab could try to study the baby's blood to find a cure.

She wanted a ready and continuing supply of material for Damian's treatment.

I said nothing and placed the case in the exact spot she had designated.

Before Vanessa's eighth termination, we had once expected a child of our own.

When she was three months pregnant, she ended that pregnancy for Damian.

When I learned the truth, we had a terrible fight.

I ran from the house during the argument and was struck by a car, nearly losing the use of my right hand.

It took almost three years of painful rehabilitation before I could operate again.

Back then, Vanessa held me while her whole body shook with sobs and swore, "Adrian, it will never happen again. We'll still have a child of our own."

I believed her.

That had been my mistake.

When I remained silent, impatience flashed openly in her eyes.

Erin Cassidy, one of the younger nurses, read the tension and hurried to reassure her.

"Ms. Langley, don't worry. Dr. Pierce arranged everything exactly as you requested."

Only then did Vanessa relax, relief loosening her face.

Several consecutive surgeries had left me exhausted.

I didn't have it in me to keep performing this miserable play, so I turned to leave.

Vanessa suddenly called me back, her eyes reddening.

"I'm sorry, Adrian. I swear this is the last time. Once I've recovered, we'll try for a baby immediately. All right?"

I stopped walking.

A baby?

After eight terminations, the lining of her uterus was dangerously scarred and fragile.

Without the years I'd spent managing her treatment and carrying her through every procedure, she'd have lost any chance of ever bearing a child.

At that moment, the door slammed open.

Damian rushed in with his face flushed and swung a fist at me.

"You monster. She's your wife, and you still put her through this? How many times has it been? Do you understand what you've done?"

I straightened the glasses knocked crooked on my face and raised my own fist.

Before I could strike back, a blunt impact exploded against the back of my head.

I turned and saw Vanessa gripping the metal water pitcher she had smashed into me.

Warm blood ran down the back of my scalp.

She jumped from the bed and spread both arms protectively in front of Damian.

"Enough. Adrian, how long are you going to keep causing scenes? Why would you hit Damian? You know he has a serious medical condition and stress can trigger a crisis. Do you have any professional ethics at all? How can someone who attacks a patient call himself a doctor?"

The accusations came down on me all at once.

I clamped a hand over the wound, my eyes burning.

But it hurt less than what she'd done to me, over and over, for years.

My throat tightened as I forced out each word.

"He hit me first."

She came back at me even more sure of herself.

"So what if he hit you? You ended the pregnancy I was carrying, and that child was his too. You killed his child."

Yet every time, she had knelt before me and begged me to arrange the procedure.

Looking at that righteous face, I lost whatever strength I had left to defend myself.

She had flipped victim and villain too many times for me to bother.

Blood kept dripping between my fingers, and Erin turned white with alarm.

She hurried over with a wheelchair. "Dr. Pierce, you're badly hurt. Let me take you for treatment."

I was about to sit when Damian suddenly groaned.

He sagged weakly into Vanessa's arms.

The instant the wheelchair reached me, Vanessa seized it and pushed it toward Damian.

"Damian, sit down. I'll take you to a doctor."

Erin blocked her, visibly distressed.