Chapter 4 On the Brink

I was kept under house arrest. The door was locked, and the window was slightly cracked open.

I went on a hunger strike. The first day, the food the nurses sent was returned without even getting touched.

Lawrence came the second day, holding a bowl of soup.

He sat on the edge of my bed and scooped a spoonful. He blew on it and tried to feed me. "Have a sip."

I turned my head away. He grabbed my chin and force-fed me the soup. I choked until I coughed, and tears drenched my blanket. "Why must you kill him?" I glowered at Lawrence, my throat burning. "Tell me, why!"

He put the bowl down, wiped the soup off my lips with a tissue. He was gentle. "Because he'll be born incredibly unhealthy, and no responsible father will bring to the world a life that's destined for suffering."

I cried until I was shivering. "How can you say that he's unhealthy? Do you know what he means to me? I have a frail body, and I took three years of medication as well as hundreds of injections just to have him! I nearly got myself killed!"

Lawrence's fingers froze for a moment.

I gripped his wrist tightly, and my nails nearly dug into his flesh. "Even if he is unhealthy, both our families are rich enough to raise him! We have money, and we have the manpower! Tell me, what are you really afraid of?"

He looked at me, and his lips thinned into a line. Something flickered in his eyes, though only barely. He was about to say something, but someone opened the door.

Tiffany was outside, her coat stained with blood. "There's a C-section in the ER, Lawrence. The patient is bleeding excessively, and the chief wants you there."

Lawrence stood up and shoved the bowl into my hand. "We'll talk when I come back."

He left in a hurry and didn't turn back. The door closed, but Tiffany didn't leave. She slowly came in and locked the door.

"You're just prolonging your suffering, Melody."

I shrank on my bed and looked at her cautiously. She smiled and took out a syringe from her pocket, then took the cap off.

"What are you doing?"

"It's alright." She held my arm down with force greater than I thought. "It's oxytocin. I'll release you from the pain."

I thrashed and struggled, but her other hand was already holding my leg down.

The moment the needle pricked me, I screamed, "I dare you, Tiffany!"

A short while later, my stomach began to contract violently, and the pain turned everything around me white.

Tiffany pressed the bell and told the swarming nurses, "The patient is having an emergency. Prepare for the procedure."

I was taken out of the bed and pushed into the operating room. As the blinding light shone, I heard Tiffany's voice speak overhead, "Prepare the anesthesia."

I wanted to scream and struggle, but my limbs felt like lead, and even my tongue was starting to go numb. I was awake, more than ever.

I watched Tiffany take the surgeon's position. I watched the nurses huddle around me, and I watched them take their positions, following Tiffany's orders.

No one thought this was wrong. No one looked at me. Tiffany leaned down, the eyes above her mask curled in glee. She leaned in close enough to whisper to my ear, "That baby's not unhealthy at all."

My pupils shrank.

"I changed the report. I want to take away your baby and your uterus. You'll never have children of your own."

Every single word seared my mind.

"Lawrence agreed to it. He told me to do this for you. Do you know why?" She patted my cheek. "That's because I'm pregnant."

My mind was blank. She slid on surgical gloves and picked up the scalpel, then she tilted her head. "Take a nap, Melody."

The scalpel glinted coldly, and it slowly moved toward my stomach. I couldn't even move a finger, yet tears kept streaming down my cheek.

Just then, someone kicked the door open. "Stop right there!"