Part 2: The Secret Hidden on the Ultrasound Screen
The silence in the examination room stretched so long that I could hear the hum of the ultrasound machine.
My heart pounded.
The doctor stared at the screen, then at me, then back at the screen again.
"What is it?" Ethan asked.
No answer.
"Doctor?" I whispered.
He cleared his throat.
"Mrs. Carter... your baby is alive."
Relief hit me so suddenly I started crying.
But the doctor's expression didn't change.
"Then what's wrong?" Ethan asked.
The doctor slowly turned the monitor toward us.
"There isn't one baby."
The room froze.
"What?" I said.
He pointed at the screen.
"You're carrying twins."
My hand flew to my mouth.
Twins.
For a moment, I couldn't even process the words.
Then the doctor zoomed in on the images.
"Baby A appears stable. However, Baby B suffered trauma from the impact."
The relief vanished.
I felt my stomach drop.
"What does that mean?" Ethan asked.
"It means the next twenty-four hours are critical."
Tears blurred my vision.
Outside the room, police officers were already speaking with witnesses from the party.
Nearly twenty people had seen Linda kick me.
Several had recorded the aftermath on their phones.
One guest had even captured part of the confrontation on video.
By midnight, officers arrived at the hospital.
Linda had been arrested.
When detectives showed me the footage, my blood ran cold.
The video clearly showed her looking directly at my stomach before attacking.
There was no accident.
No misunderstanding.
It was intentional.
The next morning brought even worse news.
The doctors discovered internal bleeding.
Emergency surgery became necessary.
As nurses prepared me for the operating room, Ethan sat beside my bed with tears in his eyes.
"I failed you," he whispered.
I looked at him.
For years I had defended him.
For years I had believed his promises that things would change.
But when his mother called me a liar...
When she humiliated me...
When she attacked me...
He had frozen.
"I needed you," I said quietly.
His face crumpled.
"I know."
For the first time since I met him, Ethan didn't defend Linda.
He didn't make excuses.
He didn't ask me to forgive her.
Instead, he handed me his phone.
On the screen was a message he had sent his mother from the police station.
You are no longer part of our lives. Do not contact me again.
The surgery lasted four hours.
When I woke up, the first thing I heard was crying.
Tiny crying.
A nurse smiled through tears.
"They're still with us."
Both babies had survived.
May you like
But the fight wasn't over.
Not even close.
