She was covered in blood and clearly injured, but I didn’t have time to stop–I just needed to get home as fast as possible.
As soon as I reached the front steps, I saw Terence curled up outside, shivering in nothing but thin pajamas, his little face turning purple from the cold.
Terence had always been frail since birth–how could he survive this kind of freezing weather?
I scooped him up into my arms and asked softly, “What happened?”
Terence nestled drowsily against my neck, his small head rubbing my skin. “Mommy, Daddy said I’m bad luck and left me outside.
“No matter how hard I knocked, he wouldn’t open the door. Am I really bad luck?”
I hugged Terence tighter, tears streaming down my face, but I forced a smile. “No, sweetheart, you’re not bad luck. You’re my precious boy.”
When I was pregnant with Terence, Ramon had just gotten sick, but he still cared for me deeply.
I had morning sickness so bad that I couldn’t eat anything. I lost weight until I was just skin and bones.
He’d clumsily tie on an apron and follow recipes to make bland oatmeal for me, straining it over and over to remove every grain,
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leaving only the creamy top layer, then carefully serving it to me.
At night, when my legs cramped and I broke out in a cold sweat from the pain, he’d wake immediately, fumble to sit up, and gently massage my calf until the pain faded and I could sleep again. Only then would he lie back down.
He took care of me with such tenderness and caution, but he kept calling me “Britt.”
He thought he was caring for himself and Brittany’s child.
Pregnancy made me moody, and the next time he called me “Britt,” I snapped.
“Ramon! I’m Gabriella, not Brittany. Brittany abandoned you! She doesn’t want you anymore!”
Ramon went wild at me, shoving me away.
“Britt would never leave me! You tore us apart! Shameless–you just want to trap me with the children.”
He pushed me to the floor, and blood started pouring out from beneath
- me.
Panicked, I begged him to take me to the hospital.
He stood at the door, watching me for a long time, but in the end, he turned and walked away, leaving me with just one sentence, “You brought this on yourself.”
Before I blacked out, I crawled to my phone and dialed 911. That
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night, I gave birth to Terence prematurely.
The doctors said Terence was born weak and needed special care.
Seeing Terence now, trembling from the cold, my heart felt like it was being torn apart.
I’d failed him.
I unlocked the door, found Cassidy’s medical report, and saw that Ramon was nowhere to be found.
But I couldn’t bear to leave Terence alone in the house.
I knocked on the neighbor’s door, begging them to watch Terence for a
while.
Then I braced myself against the wind and snow and rushed back to the hospital.
The car skidded and nearly crashed through the guardrail several times, but I fought my fear and gripped the steering wheel tight.
Ramon’s promise from when I was pregnant echoes in my mind.
“Gabby, trust me. Even if I’m sick and can’t recognize faces, I remember you and the kids. I’ll protect you all.”
My eyes stung, and I pressed down on the gas pedal.
“Ramon, I didn’t need your protection anymore.
“From now on, I will protect my children myself.”
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When I arrived at the operating room and handed over the hemophilia certificate, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then, a doctor rushed out, sweating and frantic. “It’s bad! The situation is worse than we thought–tibial fracture with vascular injury and intracranial bleeding. Our equipment and skills aren’t enough. Only Dr. Riley can do this surgery!”
My heart leapt into my throat as I grabbed my phone to call Ramon.
Suddenly, there was a commotion at the door. I looked up to see Ramon, wearing his white coat, hurrying into the operating room, his face filled with worry.
