"Ding!" A sound rang out, and a bright light shone directly onto the face of a woman lying on the operating table, clearly illuminating even the soft fuzz on her pale skin.
Probably blinded by the intensity of the light, the woman's tightly shut eyes fluttered a couple of times before gradually opening.
Where was she? After her eyes adjusted to the light, Winnie Quinn glanced around. Though everything was pale and indiscernible, she could still hear the clatter of medical tools and the chatter of people.
"Are we ready?"
"Yes, we're ready. We can't afford any mishaps today, or Mr. Lind, surely won't forgive us."
The voices seemed familiar. They sounded like the nurses in her ward.
Winnie wanted to raise her head to confirm, but she felt so weak as if just waking up from a deep sleep.
Moreover, why were her arms and legs tied down to the operating table?
"Is anyone there...?" Winnie could barely muster any strength to speak. Her voice was barely a whisper, but someone heard her.
"She's awake, she's awake," a medical staff responded. And galloping over was a young nurse who appeared above Winnie - it was indeed one of the nurses from her own ward.
"Where am I?" Quinn tried to lift herself, but she was still too weak to move.
The nurses exchanged glances but didn't answer. They shrunk back and continued with their work.
Not long after, a female doctor with hands in her pockets strutted into the room, displaying an arrogant demeanor, "Why aren't you ready yet? Lind has already started asking. Stop dawdling."
"We're ready, we're ready," one of the nurses quickly put a tray of medical instruments in front of the doctor, and then meekly retreated behind her.
The doctor glanced at Winnie and then sat down by her side. "Hold down her body," she ordered.
Two nurses stood on either side of her.
This situation made Winnie instantly feel a sense of foreboding, "What are you trying to do?"
"Relax, Mrs. Lind. I can't do my job if you're like this," the female doctor said. Even though she was trying to sound comforting, her voice was cold and devoid of warmth. After dabbing an alcohol-soaked cotton swab on Winnie's back a few times, she said in a detached tone, "Stay still, I'm going to insert the needle now."
"What exactly are you trying to do?" Winnie, who was totally unaware of what was happening, shouted desperately trying to shake off the hands pressing down on her. But it was of no use. The two nurses put their full force into keeping her from moving.
"I'm pregnant. If anything happens to the baby, My husband, won't forgive you," Winnie said. She had recently found out she was pregnant and was hospitalized for bed rest at Raffles Hospital after experiencing some bleeding. Raffles was her choice mainly because her husband, Reece Lind, was one of the shareholders and her sister, Raquel Quinn, who was suffering from leukemia, was also treated there. They could visit each other when they were bored.
"Mrs. Lind, do you think we'd dare to harm you without permission from Mr. Lind?" The female doctor was not fazed by Winnie's warning and arrogantly revealed a heartbreaking truth.
"What did you say? It was Reece's idea? Impossible!"
"Mr. Lind is next door. If you don't believe me, I can call him over immediately," the female doctor didn't hold any respect for Winnie. "However, I advise you to accept it. Miss Quinn's condition is worsening. If she doesn't have a bone marrow transplant soon, she'll certainly die."
What? Winnie felt as if she had been struck in the chest, like she could hear the sound of her heart breaking. Her voice trembled slightly, "This is Reece's idea?"
How was this possible! The baby in her belly was Lind Reece's. How could he agree to her donating bone marrow at this time?
They had agreed to arrange this after the baby was born.
Even if Quinn Raquel's condition worsened, as a husband and father, Reece shouldn't make such a decision to help his sister-in-law.
Isn't that absurd?
"Are you guys done?" The door of the operating room was pushed open.
Winnie heard Reece's voice, a voice filled with fury.
"Reece..." Winnie called out her beloved husband's name through teared eyes, pleading, "Please, let them release me, my stomach... it's really uncomfortable."
"What are you all waiting for, get on with it!" Reece roared, his voice, like a storm, battering Winnie, "If anything were to happen to Raquel, none of you will be spared!"
"Right away!" The female doctor behaves as if she has received a royal decree and promptly starts operating.
Struck as if by a thunderbolt, Winnie suddenly becomes fully alert. Despite her hands, feet and even her body being restrained, she still manages to twitch her waist with all her might, causing the doctor to miss her first injection.
"Mrs. Lind, don’t move…" The doctor complains impatiently, her voice loud enough for Reece to hear.
"Reece, did you make me stay in this hospital so you could prepare for Raquel’s operation at any time?" Although Winnie could not see Reece, she could sense the truth from his voice.
Her indifferent husband suddenly became caring. She thought that it was the baby in her womb that changed him, but in fact it was due to her bone marrow matching with Raquel. It was such a joke. Her husband was deeply in love with her own sister, and she knew nothing?
How foolish was she!
Realization hit as Reece remained silent, Winnie roared hysterically, "Reece, are you even human? I am your wife, the child in my belly is your flesh and blood. How can you be so heartless towards us?"
"I don't need to explain much to you. In the end, all you need to do is to be Mrs. Lind," Reece's patience reached its limit. He instructed the doctor in a stern voice, "I don’t care what you have to do. After the preparations for Raquel are ready, I must see her bone marrow."
"Yes, Mr. Lind," the female doctor got up and watched Reece leave. She then gestured for the two nurses to release Winnie. She leaned down and spoke to her, "Mrs. Lind, we were supposed to give you anesthesia, but to ensure the quality of the bone marrow, I have to offend you."
Fury filled Winnie's eyes as she glared at the female doctor. A sly smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, "My baby had better be fine, or else…"
Before she could finish, Winnie felt a harsh blow to her forehead. Her vision darkens, and she loses consciousness.
The female doctor exhales a sign of relief and discards the tray in her hands.
"Doctor, look, she's bleeding. It seems like she’s having a miscarriage…" The nurse is really frightened, but her following words are shut down by the female doctor’s stern gaze, "Well, if she miscarried, she miscarried. Didn't you see how little Mr. Lind cared little about this child?"