Then he turned to me—I'd been silent this whole time—and his voice softened.
"Honey, you look terrible. Are you feeling okay?"
"Is something wrong?"
Looking at the concern on his face, I felt a tightness in my chest.
"It's nothing."
"I'm just a little scared."
That was the truth.
But it wasn't the surgery I was afraid of.
Benedict smiled gently, his voice impossibly tender.
"Don't be scared. I'm right here."
"Tomorrow, once you're in the operating room, you'll just fall asleep. When you wake up, it'll all be over."
No.
He didn't understand at all.
What that surgery truly meant.
Victoria and Daphne wanted to say something more, but my parents cut them off and hurried them out.
Before leaving, my parents looked back at me.
Their eyes were full of complicated emotions.
Benedict didn't notice any of this. He was completely absorbed in his excitement about tomorrow's surgery.
He was in such a good mood that he personally cooked a whole table of my favorite dishes.
That night, Benedict was more passionate than ever, more eager.
Afterward, he held me tight and fell into a deep sleep, murmuring my name even in his dreams.
Early the next morning, I went to the hospital with Benedict.
Soon, I was wheeled into the operating room.
The moment the anesthesia entered my body, my consciousness began to blur rapidly.
Through my heavy eyelids, I saw Benedict in surgical scrubs, leaning down to comfort me:
"Fern, don't be scared. I'm right here."
"You've always wanted to see the Northern Lights, haven't you? Once you recover, I'll take a long vacation and we'll go together."
"Oh, and that necklace you've had your eye on for so long—I already ordered it for you. You'll have it as soon as the surgery's over."
"And if you're willing... I'd like us to have a baby..."
Listening to him plan our future, I couldn't stop the tears that rolled down my cheeks.
I won't make it.
Benedict.
This ending was already written. I can't escape it.
And neither can you.
The instant Benedict's scalpel broke my skin—
I heard the operating room doors slam open.
Then came a voice, frantic and loud:
"Dr. James, something terrible has happened!"
