While I Was Dying, My Husband Welcomed His Child With Another Woman

1: 1

When my heart gave out, the hospital called Justin Vance, my emergency contact, over and over. Not once did he pick up.

Then, wheeled out of surgery after barely surviving, the first thing I saw was Justin running behind a new mother's hospital bed.

And Cecily Sullivan, my closest friend, was pressing a maternity bag into his arms.

As she turned, her eyes landed right on mine.

Cecily rushed over and pushed me away, her voice thin and unsteady.

"Davi, your heart's weak. Justin couldn't bear to put you through a pregnancy."

"So he found someone else to carry the baby. You should be grateful to him."

Lying on the cold hospital bed, I suddenly remembered seven years ago, Justin down on one knee before me, holding out a diamond ring.

"Davi, I don't care if we never have kids. All I want is you."

So it turned out those promises, only I had ever taken them to heart.

"Davi, you're not well, don't get upset, whatever you do."

"That girl stayed with Justin three years, just to give him a child and repay what she owes. She wants nothing else."

"She's no threat to your place as Mrs. Vance."

Cecily held the hand with my IV line in it, comforting me with complete sincerity.

"Three years? Repay what she owes?"

"Yes! Martha's a college student. If it weren't to repay him for funding her, why would she follow Justin with no name and no title, and put herself through ten months of pregnancy to bear him a child?"

Cecily looked at me, a little puzzled.

"What exactly are you unhappy about? You're not well, you can't carry a child, and someone's willing to suffer through it for you. You should be glad."

The words jammed in my chest until I couldn't breathe.

Four years of college, plus three years of repaying him.

Which meant that the year Justin and I got married, the two of them already knew each other.

And back then I was lost in the joy of marrying the man I loved, completely in the dark.

I frowned and looked at Cecily.

"Glad?"

"My husband has a child with another woman, and I'm supposed to be glad?"

"Your heart's weak, so we all kept it from you, coaxed you, terrified you'd get hurt. Isn't that enough?"

Cecily's patience was draining away, bit by bit.

"Davina Henson! Think it through. I'm doing this for your own good!"

"You have no child, no one at your side. When even Justin's little bit of love runs out, what will you have left to live for?"

With that, Cecily slammed the door on her way out, leaving only the ticking of the monitor.

I pulled out my phone and opened Justin's profile, ready to confront him, but then his social media feed refreshed in front of me.

The photo showed three hands, stacked from smallest to largest.

The caption:

Once I watched you grow up. Now we'll watch him grow up together.

The comments were all friends we shared:

Old schoolmates, classmates, his good friend Adrian Caldwell, my best friend Cecily

Adrian: Nice work, Jus! Now your life's complete!

Cecily: Martha's had it hard these three years. Don't you ever let her down.

Then a very familiar handle came into view.

It was my sister, Ebony Henson, the sister I'd raised with my own hands.

"Congrats, big bro! But my sister's not well, so you'll have to keep it from her."

My heart clenched, again and again, that long string of familiar names liking the post closing around me until I couldn't breathe, and the monitor let out a shrill, piercing alarm along with it.

Doctors and nurses came hurrying in.

"Davina! Davina! Where's your family?"

Remembering the countless missed emergency calls from ten hours ago, I opened my mouth.

"There's no"

Before the words were out, blood surged over my lips in great mouthfuls.

By my ear, the doctor snapped out orders.

"Quick! Go borrow universal-type blood from Mr. Vance!"

"He stocked three bags for his wife's delivery. She and the baby are fine now, ask if they can send one over first"

So he had known the surgery might kill me.

But seven years, and I'd walked to death's door more times than I could count.

Justin, with his universal-type blood, said the same thing every time:

"Davi, don't worry. Whenever you need me, I'm here."

And yet he never once set aside a single bag for me.

I closed my eyes and sank all the way into the dark.

When I opened them again, it was Justin's call that woke me.

That post had already been hidden from me.

His voice carried exhaustion, but not enough to hide the little lift of joy in it.

"Davi, I just got off the plane. Why all the calls?"

"You little glutton, is it because you know I brought you chocolates and you couldn't wait?"

"There's something urgent at the company, though. I'll have Adrian bring them home to you first."

I stared at the cold horizontal line on the screen and answered flatly.

"I'm not home. I'm in the hospital."

The line went quiet for a beat, then his voice came, quick, as if afraid I'd press further.

"I'm sorry, Davi, it's this flight, it was delayed so long. The moment I'm done here I'll come straight back to be with you."

In the background came the faint, thin cry of a baby, and a woman's low, soothing murmur.

He changed his tune at once, as if he'd been burned.

"But since you can answer the phone, you must be all right. I'll have Adrian bring the gift over first. Once your mood lifts, your body will follow."

Before I could say anything, he'd already hung up in a rush.

Staring at the darkened screen, I suddenly remembered:

All these years, every time he traveled, the gifts he brought back came in twos.

Before, I'd always assumed they were little tokens for his secretary or a business partner, and never looked closer.

Only now did I understand: they were meant for another woman.

2: 2

While I was still turning it over, the door swung open.

Adrian Caldwell walked in carrying a box of chocolates, set it down on the nightstand, and looked down at me with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

"Davina, with a body like yours, how did you end up back in the hospital again?"

The tone was exactly the same as every visit he'd paid me over the past three years.

But hearing it now, that "teasing between friends" suddenly tasted different.

I stared at the box of liqueur-filled chocolates he'd grabbed from some convenience store, and said flatly,

"Where's Justin, really?"

Adrian's smile faded, slowly, as if he'd just understood something.

He leaned back and folded his arms across his chest, done pretending.

"Since you already know, I won't waste the effort hiding it."

"Take my advice and stop lying here playing sick for sympathy. Justin finally has his little family of three, and it wasn't easy. You'd be better off just being a good Mrs. Vance than anything else."

"First, I'm not playing sick."

I looked at him and said it one word at a time.

"Second, being Mrs. Vance is something he got down on his knees and begged me to do. I never asked for it."

Adrian's face darkened. He snatched up the box of chocolates and hurled it to the floor.

"From the very start, I never wanted him with you!"

"A sickly invalid, what's there to like?"

"He was out of his mind, insisting on being with you!"

"Good thing I kept something in reserve back then and funded that girl who'd always had a thing for him, or he'd have died without an heir!"

The words came down on me one after another, and a rush of images flashed through my head

Back then, Justin had chased me hard, and his friends took turns helping him along. Adrian was the most eager of them all.

Passing along his love letters, setting up dinners for him, standing guard outside my hospital room to relay his messages when I was sick...

I used to think he was the best friend the two of us had.

So it turned out that even back then, he'd been taking Justin's side and quietly leaving him a way out.

I looked at him steadily, my chest aching, but my voice came out very soft.

"The two of you, ruining two women at once like thisdoesn't your conscience hurt at all?"

"Ruin? You're the one who ruined their happiness!"

With that, Adrian slammed the door on his way out.

The room was left with nothing but the monitor's steady, unhurried beeping.

Suddenly it all struck me as absurd.

Justin, Cecily, Adrian, Ebony... together they'd woven a web so tight there wasn't a gap in it, sealed me right in the middle of it, and then told me,

"This is for your own good."

But from beginning to end, not one of them had ever once asked me whether this was what I wanted.

Not from the start, not by the end. Not a single one.

3: 3

I don't know how much time passed before the door opened again.

Ebony leaned half her body in, hugging a huge bouquet, the smile still on her face before she could catch it, calling out warmly:

"Congrats on the baby boy"

The words cut off. The moment she saw who was lying on the hospital bed, her face went white.

The bouquet slipped from her hands and hit the floor, flowers scattering everywhere.

Her mouth hung open, as if a hand had closed around her throat, and it took her a long time to force out:

"Sis... I, I..."

I stared at her, my eyes moving from that panicked face to the flowers on the floor, then back again.

The wire in my chest slowly pulled taut, and I heard my own voice come out calmer than I expected:

"What room is she in?"

Ebony's lips trembled and she took a step back, her spine hitting the door.

"I... I don't know..."

I looked at the sister I'd raised with my own hands, my heart carrying a numb, prickling ache.

I knew exactly what she looked like when she lied.

"Ebony, you can't fool me."

Seeing there was no hiding it anymore, Ebony finally spoke in a shaking voice:

"906."

I glanced sideways at the "609" on the door and understood at once.

So it turned out that besides love, she couldn't tell numbers apart either.

I got out of bed barefoot, and despite Ebony trying to stop me, I still went up to the ninth floor.

The door to 906 sat ajar, and inside it had been set up like a party:

balloons, streamers, flowers, a cake... and a table piled with gift boxes.

Cecily held a glass, her smile sincere; Adrian stood by the window in a crisp suit.

I saw so many friends Justin and I shared too, gathered in twos and threes, raising glasses, laughing.

Someone spotted me first, and the smile froze on their face.

Within a few seconds the joy in the room was gone.

A few seconds later Cecily was the first to recover, smiling as she came toward me:

"Davi, you're here? Wonderful, come see the baby, he looks so much like Jus"

The others chimed in, all crowding forward and talking over each other:

"Davi, you're so lucky, becoming a mom with none of the pain. So many people would kill for that."

"Right, right, look how devoted Jus is to youhe even arranged a child for you."

Smiling face after smiling face circled me, saying warm things, like knives handed over wrapped in honey.

Standing in the middle of all that laughter and chatter, I suddenly felt like a joke.

Everyone was here.

They'd all known for a long time.

Only mekept in the dark, clutching that sick, weak heart of mine, still thinking I was the happiest person in the world.

Justin was bent over, teasing the baby, an expression on his face I had never seen before

soft, satisfied, as if he'd finally been made whole.

Martha Gilbert saw me and put on a meek smile, calling out sweetly, "Sister."

But beneath it lay a cold glint, like a snake flicking its tongue in the dark, silently measuring every step I took closer.

Seeing me, Justin quickly called out:

"Davi, come look. I had Martha have this child for you. Hold him."

The smile on Martha's face froze for an instant, and in the end she reluctantly held the baby out toward me.

I didn't want to take him, but Justin leaned close to my ear:

"Davi, look, the baby's smiling at you. You're a mother now toocome feel it."

I steeled myself and reached out. The instant my fingertips touched the swaddle, the baby's mouth crumpled and he burst into a heartrending wail.

Martha lunged forward at once, snatching the child back into her arms, her voice slicing shrill through the whole room:

"Sister, if you have a problem, take it out on mewhy would you pinch my baby!"

I froze, looked down at my own hand, and before I could even process it

Justin had already strode up to check.

On the baby's soft, pale leg, a clear nail mark was quickly flushing red, obviously just made.

He whipped his head around to look at me, the fury in his eyes like red-hot iron, scorching, with nowhere for me to hide.

He didn't give me half a word to defend myself. He raised his hand

a crisp "crack," and my left cheek exploded in searing pain.

The force of it snapped me backward, and I toppled to the floor.

The world spinning, a knifelike agony surged up from deep in my abdomen. I curled on the floor, the pain breaking even my breath into pieces.

"Blood... Davina's bleeding..."

"Her heart's bad... she's not having an attack, is she..."

Martha's crying, the baby's wailing, all of it blurred into a buzz in my ears, as if through a layer of water.

Only Justin's voice was clear

He was shouting:

"Move! The gurney! Now!"

By the time they lifted me onto the gurney, my mind had already gone hazy.

The lights overhead slid past one by one. Justin's face bent down over me, his lips moving to say something, but I couldn't make out a single word.

When I woke again.

Justin sat at the edge of the bed, his eyes rimmed red:

"Davi, you're pregnant. Seven weeks. We're having a baby. I'm so happy."

He paused, his throat bobbing once, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible:

"Earlier... that was wrong of me, that was my fault. Thank god the baby's okay. Don't be scared."

He reached out to touch the back of my hand where it rested outside the blanket, and I pulled away on reflex.

Justin went stiff for two seconds, then withdrew his hand, his tone carrying a careful, coaxing note.

"Don't worry. Even if Martha had the firstborn son, the one in your belly is the one that matters most."

"Tonight, I'll stay with you. I won't go anywhere."

I stared at the ceiling, tears sliding down without a sound, cold to the bone.

That was when the door was pushed open.

Cecily leaned half her body in, her words rushing, trembling:

"Jus, the baby's jaundice shot up over four hundred, he's cried his throat raw, Martha's over there alone shaking with frighthurry and go look!"

Justin's body went taut all at once, and he strode for the door.

"Davi, I'll go take one look and be right back."

I closed my eyes and turned my face to the other side.

My importance to him lasted no more than a quarter of an hour.

The footsteps grew fainter and fainter, cut off at last by the click of the door closing.

The room was empty again.

That night, I lay with my eyes open until dawn.

And Justin never came back.

4: 4

Somewhere in the haze, I half saw someone drop to their knees at my bedside.

Her face was wet with tears, her voice shaking hard.

"Davi, you have a baby of your own now... can't you leave mine alone? He's all I have..."

I wanted to say I didn't want her baby, but my eyelids were heavy as lead, and my mouth wouldn't open no matter how I tried.

She just stayed there on her knees, clutching the baby, and I don't know how long it went on before a nurse came in to change my dressing, startled, and hurried over to help her up.

The moment she touched her, she realized:

The woman was burning like a coal fresh from the fire, and the baby's cheeks in her arms were flushed red too.

By the time Justin got the news, night had already fallen.

He stormed into the room, voice pressed down low, but not low enough to hide the fury underneath.

"Davina, I know you hate me for finding someone else to carry our child. But I did that because I care about you. Don't you know what would happen if you got pregnant?"

"No matter how you feel, you can't take it out on a baby! He's innocent!"

"You're a mother now yourself. How could you be so vicious?"

He paused, and his voice went colder.

"Since you can't keep your head, the medication stops for two days. We'll talk again when you've calmed down."

And with that he didn't give me a single chance to explain. He slammed the door and left.

That night, my heart gave out.

My chest clamped tight all at once, as if an unseen hand had gripped my heart and was wringing it back and forth.

The monitor started shrieking, red light flashing on and off across the wall.

A nurse rushed in and scrambled to prep for the emergency, then froze mid-motion the next second.

"Ms. Henson, there's no money left in your account, and no new medication was ordered..."

I called out. Once, twice, over and over... no one ever picked up.

I curled on the bed, bowing my body against the pain, the dark closing in over my eyes in waves.

I don't know how long it was before, dimly, I heard Justin's voice.

"Davi, don't scare me!"

"I was wrong. I just, I just wanted to teach you a lesson... wake up, please, look at me!"

The door closed behind me, shutting Justin's voice out.

He knelt at the door of the operating room, his whole body sunk to the floor, forehead pressed to the cold ground, saying it over and over.

"Davi, I was wrong... I only wanted to scare you a little, I never meant to hurt you!"

"I, I wanted a child of ours so badly. I couldn't bear to let you take the risk. Finding someone else was wrong, but the only one I love is you..."

"Davi, can you hear me? I'm begging you, you have to get better, give me a chance to make it right..."

At last, the surgical light went out.

The doctor came out, pulled off his mask, and gave a small shake of his head.

Justin looked as though his spine had been ripped out of him. He scrambled up, staggered, and shoved through the operating room door.