CHAPTER 7
Racheal’s breath hitched as she was left there, alone and forgotten. The injustice of it all was suffocating.
Tears streamed down her face, not just from the physical pain but from the crushing weight of Victor’s betrayal. He had chosen Evelyn without a second thought, as if Racheal and her baby were nothing more than an afterthought, expendable.
“How could he do this?” she thought, her mind a swirl of anger, hurt, and disbelief. “I’m here too. I’m in pain too. Our baby needs help too.” But her pleas were drowned out by the sterile beeps and bustling footsteps around her. No one was listening. No one cared.
She gritted her teeth, trying to push down the rage that bubbled within her. “You’re stronger than this, Racheal. You don’t need him. You don’t need anyone.” But even as she thought it, her resolve wavered.
She was scared, more scared than she’d ever been. The pain was becoming unbearable, her body screaming for the care that was being denied to her.
Chloe rushed to her side, panic etched on her face as she squeezed Racheal’s hand. “Hang on, Racheal. I’m here. I won’t leave you.” But even her comforting words couldn’t erase the sting of what had just happened.
A nurse finally approached, looking apologetic and helpless. “I’m so sorry,” she said softly, glancing at Racheal with pity in her eyes. “We’re trying to find another room. Just hold on a little longer.”
Racheal nodded weakly, biting her lip to keep from crying out. She felt trapped, like she was drowning in a sea of pain and abandonment.
Every second felt like an eternity, each contraction a reminder of how alone she truly was. The world around her seemed to blur, the walls closing in as she fought to keep herself together.
Racheal’s mind drifted back to all the moments she’d hoped for Victor’s support, for him to be the partner she needed him to be.
But here she was, on the verge of bringing their child into the world, and he was nowhere to be found. Instead, he was behind those closed doors, choosing someone else.
The bitterness tasted sharp on her tongue, but beneath it all was a quiet determination. “I don’t need him,” she told herself again, clutching her belly as she prepared to face whatever came next. “I’ll do this on my own if I have to. For my baby. For me.”
Racheal squeezes Chloe's hand, drawing strength from the only source of support she had left. She was scared, she was angry, but she was also resolute.
She would get through this, one breath, one contraction at a time. Victor’s choices no longer defined her, and she would not let his absence break her spirit. This was her moment, and no one could take that away from her.
Racheal’s cries echoed through the hallway as she lay on the stretcher, clutching her swollen belly, her face contorted in pain and fear.
She could feel every contraction tearing through her body, each one more intense than the last.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, her vision blurring as she looked around, desperately searching for someone—anyone—to help her.
This was her first time, and she was terrified. She didn’t know what to do or what to expect, only that the pain was unbearable and getting worse by the second.
“Please, help me!” she sobbed, her voice trembling as she tried to catch the attention of the nurses rushing past. But no one seemed to notice her cries; they were all too busy attending to Evelyn, who was wheeled away into the emergency room after Victor’s desperate pleas and promise to pay anything.
Her hands trembled as she clutched the thin sheet draped over her, her mind spinning with fear and uncertainty. “Why aren’t they helping me? What am I supposed to do?” she thought, her panic rising with each passing second.
The contractions were coming faster now, her entire body tensing as she tried to endure the pain, but she couldn’t do it alone.
She needed someone to guide her, to tell her it was going to be okay, to take her hand and lead her through this terrifying ordeal. But all she got in return were the indifferent faces of strangers who seemed more concerned with the money Victor had promised than the agony she was going through.
Chloe stormed toward the group of nurses who had ignored Racheal’s cries. Her eyes were wild, filled with tears of anger and frustration as she watched her friend suffer.
“Are you all deaf or just stupid?!” Chloe screamed, her voice cracking as she pointed at the nurses. “Help my friend, you bitches! She’s in labor! Can’t you see she’s in pain?!”
She shoved one of the nurses, her fury boiling over as she gestured frantically to Racheal, who lay writhing on the stretcher.
Chloe’s heart pounded as she watched her best friend in agony, her cries going unanswered. The sight of Evelyn being rushed away into the emergency room only fueled her rage, her emotions raw and unfiltered.
Victor stood by the door watching as Evelyn was inside the emergency room, his face pale with worry, completely ignoring Racheal’s desperate pleas. Chloe’s gaze snapped to him, her voice trembling with a mixture of fury and disbelief.
“Victor, you’re a son of a bitch!” she yelled, pointing an accusing finger at him. “You think just because you have money, you can decide who lives and who suffers? You’ll pay for this, I swear!”
Victor glanced at her, momentarily startled by the outburst, but his focus quickly returned to Evelyn, leaving Chloe’s words hanging in the air.
Chloe’s anger bubbled over, tears streaking down her face as she moved closer to Racheal, gripping the stretcher as if her touch alone could offer some comfort.
“Racheal, hold on! Don’t you dare give up!” Chloe cried, her voice breaking. “They’re going to pay for this. I promise you, Victor will regret every damn thing!” Chloe’s anger burned brightly, her protective instincts on full display as she turned back to the hospital staff, still stunned by the sudden chaos unfolding before them.
Chloe’s voice wavered, but her determination never faltered. “You’re all going to be sorry! This isn’t over!” she shouted, her gaze flicking between the nurses, doctors, and Victor, who still stood in disbelief, clinging to his own priorities.
Racheal, overwhelmed by the pain and the chaos around her, clung to Chloe’s words like a lifeline, feeling a spark of hope amid the pain she was feeling.
But as her vision blurred, the pain making it harder to focus, the room seemed to spin—until, suddenly, that commanding voice sliced through the air.
“Take my niece out of this goddamn hospital!” The tall man’s booming voice rang out, his presence sweeping through the corridor like a storm. Chloe and Racheal both turned, their eyes widening as the man, fierce and unyielding, stormed toward them with a fury that matched Chloe’s own.
“Don’t they know who she is?!” he roared, his authoritative tone silencing the nurses who had frozen in place. Chloe’s breath hitched, her eyes meeting Racheal’s in shared shock and relief as the man’s words cut through the chaos.