He Chose His First Love Over Our Baby

Eight months into my pregnancy, Jason's first love, Mia, shot me in the stomach.

Blood spread from beneath me. Jason called in the best doctors he knew.

The anesthesia had barely worn off when I struggled to sit up and caught the tail end of his conversation with the doctor.

Captain Jason! Caitlin is hemorrhaging. She needs surgery now!

Jason glanced over at me, barely conscious, and spoke in a voice that was completely calm.

"Caitlin's organs weren't hit. She's not in immediate danger. Mia is injured she has a congenital clotting disorder. Even a minor scrape could be fatal for her. Her case is more urgent."

He gave the order on the spot. Every unit of blood reserved for my delivery was transferred to his first love, Mia.

On the edge of death, I used the last of my strength to grab the hem of his jacket.

He frowned down at me, his voice cold.

"Mia has depression. She was in the middle of an episode. You studied medicine you know she didn't mean it."

Then he pulled out a pre-written liability waiver, seized my blood-soaked hand, and pressed my fingerprint onto the signature line by force.

"Hang on a little longer. I'll have the doctors take care of you after."

The moment the words left his mouth, he gathered Mia in his arms and walked out of the operating room.

The empty hallway filled with nothing but cold wind. No one looked back.

The baby inside me kept kicking. Once. Then again.

---

"Move! Get two IV lines in, pressure infusion get on the phone with the blood bank!"

"Doctor, the patient's blood pressure just dropped to fifty. Blood loss is over two thousand milliliters!"

"Where are those two units of packed red cells we had on reserve?"

I drifted above the operating room, watching a team of people work frantically around my body.

Dr. Brown's surgical gown was soaked through with my blood.

I tried to touch my stomach. My hand passed through the air.

Mia's shot was nothing like the graze Jason thought it was.

She had timed it between the nurse's rounds and slipped the handgun into her sleeve.

After pulling the trigger, she pressed her lips to my ear and whispered: "Once you and the baby are gone, Jason will only have me."

"The blood bank just called back. Those two reserve units Captain Jason signed them out five minutes ago."

The nurse's voice cracked. "Signed them out? Is he out of his mind? That blood is for a high-risk delivery!"

The veins on the back of Dr. Brown's hand stood out sharp against his skin.

"Captain Jason said Miss Mia has a severe clotting disorder. A scrape on her arm. He said she needed the blood as an emergency precaution."

The operating room went still.

Only the monitor kept screaming.

I watched Dr. Brown pack gauze in desperately, trying to find the bleeding.

I wanted to tell him: "Don't bother."

I never got the next shipment of blood Jason had promised.

The fetal heartbeat on the monitor slowed from frantic to sluggish to a single, unbroken tone.

The baby who had been kicking me just minutes ago went completely quiet.

"Fetal heart rate: absent."

"Patient in ventricular fibrillation prepare to defibrillate!"

"Two hundred joules. Charging. Clear."

A heavy thud.

My body jolted off the table, then dropped back down.

The ECG line flickered a few times, then went flat.

"Captain Jason said the next blood shipment from the city blood bank is ten minutes out."

The head nurse pushed open the door, eyes red.

Dr. Brown set down the defibrillator. His voice came out barely recognizable.

"We won't need it. Time of death: 8:07 PM."

I watched a nurse lift the white sheet and draw it over my face, covering the eyes that would not close.

Just on the other side of the wall, in the VIP room, Jason was dabbing antiseptic on the scrape at Mia's elbow.

"Jason did I kill someone?"

Mia curled up on the hospital bed, shoulders trembling.

Jason tossed the cotton swab into the waste bin, his voice steady.

"No. She just had a surface wound. You were in an episode you couldn't control yourself. There's no legal liability."

"But she bled so much. The way she looked at me was terrifying."

"That was amniotic fluid mixed with blood. It looked worse than it was. She has a medical background she knew how to avoid the vital areas."

Jason leaned down and blew gently on Mia's arm, which had already stopped bleeding.

"You're the one I'm worried about. You know your clotting is bad why were you running around? What if that scrape hadn't stopped?"

Mia leaned into his chest, her tears soaking into his jacket.

On the hem of that jacket, the bloody handprint I had left in my last moments was still there.

"I was scared that once the baby came, you wouldn't want me anymore. I couldn't stop myself."

"Don't think like that."

Jason ran his hand over her hair.

"I already had her put her fingerprint on the waiver. Once she delivers and her emotions settle down, I'll have her come tell you herself that everything's fine."

He spoke as though he were scheduling a meeting for the next morning.

The door to the trauma room swung open.

Dr. Brown pulled off his blood-covered mask, his voice scraped hollow.

"We lost them both. The mother and the baby."

And in the room next door, Jason was still bent over Mia, gently blowing on that shallow little scrape on her elbow.

---

"Captain Jason, the emergency record from the maternity ward needs your signature."

Nurse Maggie stood at the door of the VIP room, clipboard in hand.

Jason tested the temperature of a cup of water and handed it to Mia. He didn't turn around.

"Just leave it at the nurses' station. Can't you see Miss Mia needs someone with her right now?"

"But sir, this record is different it's about last night's patient, the one who"

"Different how? The maternity ward has emergencies every day."

Jason cut her off.

Then he tore a tissue from the box and wiped a drop of water from the corner of Mia's mouth.

"I was up all night with Mia. I don't have the energy for anything else right now. Have the deputy director sign it."

Maggie opened her mouth. Her eyes went red. She clutched the clipboard and said nothing. She turned and left.

I followed her out and watched her slide my death record into a drawer.

The little pink ID anklet the one that never got put on went in with it, tucked into my patient file.

The morgue was so cold.

I lay in the refrigerated drawer beside my baby, whose eyes had never opened. No one had come to claim us.

All I could do was drift back to Jason's side.

Mia finished her water and reached out to tug at Jason's sleeve.

"Jason, the way she looked at me last night it was so hostile. Like she wanted to kill me."

"Is she still angry with me? Is she hiding somewhere on purpose to avoid you?"

Jason pulled out his phone and looked at our empty Instagram chat.

His brow creased slightly.

Normally, if he was gone for more than two hours, my messages would come in one after another. Asking when he'd be home. Asking whether Mia was having another episode.

But from last night until now, there was nothing.

"She's just stubborn. She thinks I favor you, so she's pouting."

Jason's long fingers tapped against the screen.

I drifted closer and read what he'd typed.

"When you're done throwing your fit, respond. Mia's been through enough. Stop making it worse for her."

"The baby isn't a bargaining chip. Did you really think going silent would make me cave?"

He hit send and locked the screen.

Mia watched him, a flicker of satisfaction crossing her eyes.

She bit her lip, and the tears started again.

"What if she calls the police and has me arrested? I'm so scared."

Jason pulled out the copy of the liability waiver.

"With this, she can't touch you legally. And she's a military doctor she knows when to let things go."

"Once she cools down, I'll have her apologize to you. She did provoke you last night, after all."

I watched him quietly. Listened to him use his most measured voice to pass judgment on a dead woman.

Two nurses walked past in the hallway, speaking in low voices.

"That poor woman last night she just bled out completely."

"I know. And the baby didn't make it either. A little girl, they said. Fully formed."

Jason's hand paused on his water cup.

He suddenly remembered today was my due date.

He stood up, a strange heaviness settling in his chest.

"I'm going to check on the maternity ward."

He'd barely taken a step when Mia suddenly grabbed her arm and screamed.

"It hurts! Jason, I'm so dizzy am I bleeding again?"

Jason turned immediately and sat back down beside her, pressing his hand over hers.

A nurse murmured nearby: "That woman who died last night the name on the baby's ID anklet, listed as the father it was Jason, wasn't it?"

Jason had just started to turn when Mia let out a sharp cry and threw herself against his chest.

---

When Jason got home, the small nightlight in the nursery was still on.

Soft light fell across the brand-new crib, made up with sheets I had washed and dried myself.

The hospital bag sat open on the couch, folded with tiny onesies and diapers.

My prenatal file was still on the entryway shelf.

A sticky note was pinned to the kitchen table a list of postpartum meals I had written out in advance.

Jason changed his shoes and stood in the silence of the apartment, frowning.

He probably expected to find me on the couch waiting for him, eyes red, demanding to know why he had saved Mia first.

But the only sound in the apartment was the ticking of the wall clock.

He walked to the kitchen table and picked up the sticky note.

On the back, in my handwriting, was an emergency birth plan.

"If I hemorrhage, please prioritize saving the baby."

"If I don't make it off the table, please tell Jason don't let Mia anywhere near our child."

Jason let out a cold laugh, crumpled the note, and dropped it in the trash.

"Always with the dramatic threats."

He took out his phone and tried my number again.

A recorded voice told him it was out of service.

He opened Instagram and typed hard.

"You've made your point. Come home. The due date is any day now don't do this with your body."

"I handled the situation with Mia. She's just a patient. Let it go."

"Once the baby's here, you can take your maternity leave at home. Actually, it would be a good time to spend some time with Mia help her with some of her anxiety."

He sent the messages. No response.

Jason tossed his phone on the couch and pressed his fingers to his temple.

His other phone rang.

The caller ID showed Dr. Helen my mentor from medical school, the woman who had always treated me like a daughter.

Jason answered and slipped back into his usual formal tone. "Dr. Helen. What can I do for you?"

"Jason, where are you right now?"

Dr. Helen's voice was shaking. She was holding something back.

Jason glanced at the crumpled note in the trash and assumed I had put her up to this.

"I'm home. If she sent you to plead her case, there's no need."

"If she wants me to come to her, she can walk back here herself. She's about to be a mother she's too old for this kind of thing."

A sharp intake of breath on the other end.

"Too old for this? Jason, do you have any idea what happened last night?"

"Of course I do." His voice dropped. "Mia had an episode and accidentally hurt her. I made sure Mia apologized. What more does she want?"

"If she feels wronged, I'll buy her that jewelry set she's been looking at once the baby's born. Consider it made up."

"You have no heart."

Dr. Helen's voice broke into a shout.

"I look the other way when you favor that woman fine. But last night was her due date! You"

Before she could finish, Jason's second phone lit up.

A video call from Mia.

Jason didn't hesitate. He ended Dr. Helen's call and switched over.

Mia's face filled the screen, streaked with tears.

"Jason, come quick! I dreamed about her!"

"She had a knife she said she was going to kill me! I'm so scared!"

Jason was already on his feet, keys in hand.

"Don't be scared. I'm on my way."

At the door, his eyes landed on a small velvet box, wrapped neatly on the side table.

He had picked it up the week before at a medical conference a sterling silver baby bracelet, an impulse buy.

Engraved on it was the nickname he'd offhandedly chosen: "Annie."

He had probably meant it as a peace offering for after the delivery.

He dropped it in his pocket and pulled the door shut behind him.

By the time Jason reached the hospital room, Mia was pressed into the corner of the bed, pointing at the window and screaming.

"She's here! She's holding the baby and she came for me!"

---

The curtains were drawn shut. On the nightstand, her phone looped the sound of a fetal heart monitor alarm on repeat.

Scattered across the floor were several torn ultrasound photos the ones I had waited alone in line for, at six months.

Mia pressed her hands over her ears and thrashed across the bed.

"It's her! She texted me a curse!"

"She said she and the baby are never going to let me go. She said she's dragging me to hell with her!"

Jason crossed the room in a few long strides and pulled her tight against him.

"It's okay. It's okay. It's just in your head."

"It's not in my head! Look at the phone!"

Mia's hand shook as she pointed to the floor.

Jason picked it up. On the screen was a text from an unknown number.

"You took my husband. Me and my baby will haunt you."

Jason's expression darkened instantly.

He knew that tone too well. When I'd been pushed to the edge, I had used that same desperate register before.

"She's lost her mind."

He said it through his teeth, eyes full of disappointment.

"Scaring a sick person with the baby is this what kind of doctor she is?"

I hung in the air above them and watched Mia bury her face against his chest, the corner of her mouth curling into a quiet smile.

She knew, of course. She had known since last night that I was dead.

When she fired the shot, her eyes had been frighteningly clear.

She had even pressed the gun handle into my hand afterward, calm and deliberate, staging the scene to look like a struggle.

And now, using a dead woman's name, she was still playing the victim in front of Jason.

Jason raised his phone and dialed the medical administration office.

"Dr. Carter, it's me. About Caitlin's fellowship placement next year put it on hold for now."

"She's been emotionally unstable throughout the pregnancy. Paranoid tendencies, signs of aggression. She's not in a position to work with patients."

"Yes. I'll submit a psychiatric evaluation form."

In a few sentences, he had erased three years of my work and labeled me mentally unfit.

He hung up, then sent me an ultimatum.

"You have ten minutes to get to the hospital and apologize to Mia in person."

"Otherwise, after the baby's born, I'm not letting you behave like this anymore. I'll pull you from the military hospital and have you stay home with the baby."

Message delivered. No response.

Mia clutched his sleeve, crying so hard she could barely breathe.

"Jason, I'm never going to have children. Why would she use the baby to hurt me like this?"

Jason looked at her pale face, and something flickered across his eyes a trace of guilt.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet box he had meant to give me.

It clicked open.

The silver bracelet caught the light. The name "Annie" engraved on it looked suddenly unbearable.

"Don't be afraid. I'm not going anywhere."

Jason took Mia's hand and placed the bracelet the one that belonged to my daughter into her palm.

"This is for you. Call it her way of making it up to you."

Mia's tears gave way to a soft smile as she closed her fingers around it.

Then a crash shook the room.

The door slammed open from the outside.

Dr. Helen stood in the doorway, out of breath, hair loose, eyes so red they looked raw.

She stormed across the room and swung her hand hard across Jason's face.

The crack of the slap rang through the hospital room.

Dr. Helen's voice broke as she said it:

"Caitlin and the baby are dead and you're giving her daughter's bracelet to the woman who killed her?"