A few seconds later, Kathy's voice drifted from the room next door.
"Louis, you pulled another patient's doctor away like that. Won't she be upset?"
His reply was soft, tender.
"So what if she is? As long as you're safe, nothing else matters."
Kathy giggled, pleased with herself.
"I knew it. You care about me more than anyone."
A searing, ripping pain tore through my body.
The nurse who came to check on me went pale, her voice trembling.
"Mrs. Henson, you're hemorrhaging. I'm getting Dr. Dickerson right now."
Hemorrhaging. That explained the dizziness, the way the room swam, the frantic hammering of my heart.
But I heard it clearly when the nurse rushed to the next room. Louis's voice, low and hard.
"Hemorrhaging? It's a trick. She's faking it. Dr. Dickerson stays right here. If anyone tries to move her, I'll take it straight to the hospital director."
He was convinced I was lying. Meanwhile, I was slipping into shock from blood loss.
The nurse eventually found a doctor from another department. They barely managed to save me.
When I woke the next day, Louis was sitting by my bed.
For one foolish moment, I thought he'd come because he finally cared. Instead, he stared at me with a deep crease between his brows.
"Why are you still in the hospital? What exactly do you want? Why do you insist on making life difficult for a pregnant woman?"
The anger hit my wound like a fist. I pressed it down, forced my voice steady.
"Louis, have you forgotten that I went to the hospital for a prenatal checkup? Kathy is pregnant, and I'm not? Is that what you think?"
I held his gaze.
"I was two months along. But the baby is gone now. Because of you."
The color drained from his face. Then, in the next instant, his palm cracked across my cheek.
"You're out of your mind, Daphne! You'd make up anything to come between me and Kathy!"
The blow caught me completely off guard. I tumbled off the hospital bed and hit the floor.
The surgical wound from yesterday felt like it was tearing open.
Louis saw the agony on my face. He reached for me instinctively.
"Are you okay? Did you hit anything?"
I shoved him away with every ounce of strength I had.
"Get away from me. Don't touch me!"
In that moment, I felt a revulsion toward him I had never known before.
He stared at me, stunned, unable to form a single word.
His phone cut through the silence, shrill and jarring.