My Surgeon Husband Rebuilt My Face To Match His First Love’s Chapter 05
The Baby
When I wake again, I am lying in a hospital bed.
The sharp smell of disinfectant fills my nose.
Graham sits beside me, looking worn out, his eyes bloodshot. His hand is wrapped tightly around mine, as if he is afraid I might vanish if he lets go.
The moment he sees my eyes open, his face fills with relief.
“Elena, you’re awake,” he says quickly. “Do you want some water?”
I shake my head and turn my face away.
“Did you sign the divorce papers?” I ask.
His hand stiffens around mine.
“Can we not talk about that right now?”
I almost laugh.
Before I can say anything, he cuts in, forcing a soft smile onto his face.
“I have something to tell you,” he says. “It’s good news. Do you want to guess?”
I stay silent.
The smile on his face falters for a second, but he keeps going.
“Elena, you’re going to be a mother.”
The words hit me so suddenly that my whole body goes still.
A mother?
I look down at my stomach in disbelief.
Am I pregnant?
For a moment, I do not know what I feel. Shock, fear, grief, anger, all of it rises at once until I can hardly breathe.
Why now?
This child has come at the worst possible time.
I am still trapped in a marriage built on lies.
I do not even know how to face my own reflection, and now there is another life inside me, tied to Graham in a way I am not ready for.
My chest tightens.
Graham smooths the blanket over me and lowers his voice.
“I’ll be a good father,” he says. “Our child will be happy. I swear it.”
He sounds patient, gentle, almost careful.
“Elena, I know I was wrong before. I was awful to you. But I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you if you let me. Please give me one more chance.”
He keeps talking.
“We have a child now. This baby will be born into a family with both parents. Don’t make the baby lose a father before it even has a chance to meet me.”
I close my eyes.
But a strange kind of courage rises in me, quiet but firm.
Graham sees that I am not fighting him as hard as before, and his expression softens with relief.
“Rest for a while,” he says. “The doctor said it’s still early. You need to take care of yourself.”
Then he lowers his head and gently rests it against my stomach.
His face carries the kind of joy a new father should have.
“It must be a very cute little thing,” he murmurs.
I say nothing.
That night, his phone rings.
The sound is sudden in the quiet room.
I feel Graham’s gaze fall on my face, so I keep my eyes closed and pretend to be asleep.
After a moment, he carefully lets go of my hand and walks out to the balcony to answer.
The door is not fully shut.
The night wind carries his voice back into the room.
“Violet, stop calling me,” he says. “Elena is pregnant. I want to live a good life with her.”
A woman’s faint crying comes through the phone.
“You don’t want me anymore, Graham?” she sobs. “I love you so much. How can you just throw me away?”
“Violet, I’m married. You can’t keep doing this. You need to…”
His voice cuts off.
“Violet?”
The next second, panic rushes into his tone.
“Calm down. Do you hear me? I’ll come to you right now.”
He hangs up and rushes out of the room.
…
Violet tries to hurt herself.
When I see her again, she is in the hospital room next to mine, pale and weak, with tears shining in her eyes.
She leans against Graham’s arms like she cannot survive without him.
“Graham,” she whispers, “how am I supposed to let you go? I have loved you for so many years. How can you leave me like this?”
He holds her with a pain in his face.
“Violet, why would you do something so stupid?” he says, stroking her hair again and again. “If something happened to you, how would I live?”
Violet cries harder.
“When I thought I was dying, do you know what I was thinking? I thought about how unfair my life is. I don’t even have a healthy body. I already have nothing. If I lose you too, what’s the point of staying alive?”
Graham’s eyes turn red.
He pulls her closer, holding her like something precious he almost lost.
“I’m sorry, Violet,” he says. “I’m sorry. I won’t leave you again.”
Violet looks up at him with tears in her eyes.
“I’m not afraid of dying,” she whispers. “I’m afraid of losing you. So tell me, Graham. Do you still love me?”