Chapter 1

The world was a mess of twisted metal and screaming sirens.

I lay on a gurney, the pain in my pelvis a sharp, grinding agony with every bump of the ambulance.

My water had broken, a warm gush that now felt cold against my legs.

"We're almost at Northwood General," a paramedic said, his voice tight.

My baby, my first child, was coming, and I was broken.

Ethan. My husband. He was a trauma surgeon at Northwood. He would take care of me. He had to.

The emergency room doors burst open, a blur of lights and urgent voices.

They wheeled me into a bay, shouting medical terms I barely understood.

"Pregnant, late twenties, major trauma from the interstate pile-up, fractured pelvis, active labor."

I searched for Ethan, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm against the pain.

Then I saw her. Jessica.

My cousin, or more like a sister, the one my family had always doted on.

She was on another gurney nearby, looking pale but mostly annoyed.

"My back hurts a little," Jessica whined to a nurse, "I was in that pile-up too, a little fender-bender, but I'm pregnant, you know."

Pregnant. Due around the same time as me.

A doctor rushed over, not to me, but to Jessica.

It was Ethan.

My Ethan.

He knelt by Jessica' s side, his face etched with concern.

"Are you okay, Jess? Don't worry, I'm here."

He touched her forehead gently.

I tried to call out, "Ethan!"

My voice was a weak croak, lost in the chaos.

A nurse beside me said, "Dr. Miller, your wife is here. Severe injuries, active labor."

Ethan glanced over, his eyes meeting mine for a split second.

There was no recognition, no warmth, just a flicker of something I couldn't name.

He turned back to Jessica.

"She needs an epidural, now," Ethan ordered a passing anesthesiologist, "She's in pain."

"But Dr. Miller," the anesthesiologist began, looking towards me, "this patient is critical, suspected pelvic fracture, needs an urgent C-section assessment."

"Jessica first," Ethan said, his voice firm, leaving no room for argument. "My wife has a high pain tolerance, she' s been practicing Lamaze. She can wait."

He didn't even look at me again.

He just prioritized Jessica.

My world tilted. The physical pain was nothing compared to the sharp, cold dread spreading through my chest.

This was the man I loved, the father of my child.

And he was choosing her.