Take My Breath Away

Evelyn had slept a long time. By the time she was awake, Debbie and Carlos were there by her bedside.

She called out weakly, "Dad, Mom..."

Hearing her voice, Carlos darted to her side. When he saw her pale face, he held her hand. "Eve, you feeling okay? Tell me if you don't."

Debbie stroked her daughter's hair, giggling and crying at the same time. "Are you okay, Piggy? Maybe I should call the doctor!"

Evelyn shook her head. "Mom, what's wrong with me?"

She didn't have any memory of what happened, and all she could do was just lie in bed, weak as a kitten.

Carlos' face darkened. He looked at Debbie and stood up. "I'll call the doctor."

After saying that, he left the ward.

Actually, he could have called the doctor using the nurse-call button. But he wanted to give mother and daughter some space so he went to summon the doctor himself.

Debbie gently tapped Evelyn's hand. "You really don't know? Seriously? I'll tell you what happened! You had an ectopic pregnancy, and you almost..." Debbie's voice trailed off and she began crying again.

'An ectopic pregnancy?' Evelyn's eyes widened. That was a shocker. They used condoms that night. She remembered that.

How could she be pregnant? And ectopic to boot? How was that even possible?

"Didn't you even notice you were pregnant?" Debbie was angry at her daughter, but she was worried about her as well.

Evelyn shook her head. Aunt Flo had visited her once, but it was not as heavy as usual. She had thought it was because she stayed up late recently. But now it seemed that it wasn't her period but intermittent bleeding.

She also suffered from abdominal pain, but she just chalked it up to feminine pains and didn't bother to get it checked out.

"Evelyn, you're almost thirty. How could you do something so stupid? Who have you been with? I'll call him now!" How could he not be here after what happened to Evelyn?

Evelyn stayed silent, still trying to process everything.

After a long while, she said, "Mom, I'm so sleepy."

"Evelyn, tell me. Is he denying responsibility?"

"No, I-I..." It was she who pushed him away. She wouldn't let him take care of her.

"Are you an idiot? Just tell me who he is! I'll find him and bring him here!" Seeing Evelyn stammering, Debbie thought he didn't want to take responsibility.

"Mom, I'm tired. Let me sleep."

Debbie knew she didn't want to talk now, so she decided to let Evelyn have a rest first.

The next day, Evelyn managed to get out of bed and walk on her own.

After staying in the hospital room for two days, she felt a little bored, so she asked Matthew to wheel her to the garden near the inpatient building to get some fresh air.

"Eve, why can't you tell us who he is? You're a mess, but he still hasn't shown his face. You almost died. How could he treat you like this?" Matthew really didn't know what was going through Evelyn's mind.

After a short pause, Evelyn turned around and said to her brother, "I think...I need to be alone, okay? Talk to you later?"

"No, you're still very weak! I can't let you out of my sight." He knew she didn't want to talk about it, so he stopped asking. But he would be worried if he left her alone.

"I have my phone with me. You can come and pick me up in a few minutes," Evelyn said with a smile.

After a moment's hesitation, Matthew looked around and nodded. "Okay. Call me if you need anything."

"Okay."

When he was gone, it was just Evelyn. Alone.

She stood in the garden, head bowed, and touched her flat stomach, a hint of sadness in her eyes.

She had a baby once, but she didn't know. And it almost killed her.

"Evelina? That you?" She heard a familiar voice. He sounded as surprised as Evelyn.

'Oh, right. This is Y City First General Hospital. He works here.'

She didn't turn around, pretending like she didn't hear him.

When Sheffield saw her in a hospital gown and pale, he got anxious. He ran to her and took her hand. "Evelina, are you sick? Are you okay? Why didn't you tell me? What's wrong with you?"

Evelyn looked at the man in a doctor's uniform and said nothing.

It was the first time she had seen Sheffield wearing a white gown, over a sky-blue shirt and a crooked tie. He was handsome, but rakish.

There was worry written on his face, reflected in his eyes. "Oh, your face is so pale. What on earth is wrong? Tell me!" He reached out to feel her pulse.

Evelyn watched his every move. Silently, she withdrew her hand and showed him her profile.

"Evelina..." The moment he called her name, his phone rang. "Dr. Tang? Where are you? The patient's in the OR now. We're waiting for you," someone said on the other end of the line.

"Got it." After hanging up the phone, Sheffield took a pen from his pocket, caught the cap in his teeth and held her hand. Regardless of her reluctance, he wrote a string of numbers on her palm, and tucked the pen back in his pocket.

"That's my number. I'm wanted in surgery. Text me or call me—I need to know what ward you're in. I'll come visit after I'm done. Got it?"

He kissed her forehead. "Call me. I have to go."

He left in a hurry.

Looking at the phone number on her palm, Evelyn repeated it in her mind many times.

Still worried, Matthew returned to the garden after using the bathroom, but he didn't see Sheffield. When he saw his sister, he said, "Eve, let's head back to the ward."

Evelyn said nothing and sat back in her wheelchair.

Carlos had just come to her room with steaming boxes of lunch and Terilynn. When Terilynn saw her sister, she started unpacking the food. "Eve, Dad asked the nutritionist to cook you lunch. Have some soup first. It'll help you heal."

Evelyn sat down at the dining table and suddenly said, "Dad, I promise you. I'll go to America to recuperate."

Carlos was pouring her a bowl of soup at the time. When he heard her words, he paused and waited for her to continue.

And he was right.

"But you have to back off. Don't have your men spy on me or anything. I did it willingly. He didn't even know I was pregnant at all. And back then, we...used condoms. And don't blame Tayson, either. He just obeyed my orders."

"No way!" Carlos turned her down without hesitation.

The whole ward fell silent.

Looking at Carlos' deadpan face, Terilynn was too scared to utter a single word.

Carlos' attitude towards Evelyn upset Matthew, but he didn't say anything.

"Fine. I'm checking out. And I'm moving out. I'm not coming back home until I get some respect."

Carlos didn't expect that Evelyn would give him that kind of ultimatum. He thought only Terilynn would do such a thing.